Not every security improvement costs $500. That’s a misconception I encounter regularly — the idea that meaningful security is something you invest in when you own a property, and that renters are stuck with whatever hardware their landlord installed (or didn’t install). In reality, a significant proportion of the security vulnerability in Parkside’s rental properties can be addressed for very little money, and in many cases for no money at all.
Parkside’s rental market is active: 37.6 percent of residents rent, which at a suburb population of around 5,000 represents a substantial number of households in various stages of figuring out their security situation. The suburb’s older housing stock — Federation and Victorian terraces on Sturt Street, Vine Street, and Arthur Street; 1960s and 1970s apartment blocks near Greenhill Road; converted cottages east of Fullarton Road — comes with a range of original and post-original security hardware in varying states of adequacy.
This guide is practical and deliberately ranked by impact and cost. The highest-impact changes that cost nothing are first. Inexpensive hardware that any renter can buy and install with landlord permission follows. Professional locksmith work that represents genuine value for a renter’s dollar is last.
No item in this guide requires ownership of the property. All require landlord permission for any permanent modification — but most are either entirely reversible, covered as reasonable security measures under SA tenancy law, or items a landlord should be willing to approve on request.
Free: Habits and Adjustments That Cost Nothing
The biggest security gaps in Parkside rentals are often behavioural, not hardware-related.
Check every exit point actually deadlocks before you leave
This sounds obvious. It isn’t practised consistently. In a share house — or even a single-occupant Parkside unit where you’re in a hurry — the difference between “I pulled the door shut” and “I turned the key in the deadbolt” is the difference between a latched door and a locked one. A passage latch can be opened in seconds with a credit card on some door styles. A deadbolt cannot. If your door has both, use both.
Test whether your deadbolt actually shoots fully
Open the door. Turn the key. Watch the bolt. Does it shoot to its full length — typically 20mm for a standard deadbolt? Or does it stop after half travel? A bolt that doesn’t fully extend isn’t providing adequate security. This isn’t a hardware problem you need to buy your way out of — first, check whether the strike plate aperture is obstructed, whether there’s paint around the face plate blocking the bolt, or whether the bolt is hitting the frame edge rather than entering the keeper cleanly. Sometimes the fix is wiping paint from around the bolt — five minutes, no cost.
Lock up when you’re home, not just when you leave
Opportunistic daytime burglary — someone entering a property while a resident is present in a rear room or on a balcony — is more common than most people assume. A deadlocked front door when you’re at home in a Parkside ground-floor unit costs nothing and closes a real vulnerability.
Note which windows are lockable and get in the habit of using them
Ground-floor sash windows in Parkside’s Victorian and Federation rentals often have original swivel-arm fasteners. These hold the sash closed but don’t secure it. However, many renters don’t even use the fastener — leaving windows slightly open when going out “to let the air in.” A closed and fastened sash window, even with an original fastener, is meaningfully more resistant than an open one.
Under $30: Hardware You Can Buy and Install Yourself
Several worthwhile security improvements fall within a small hardware budget and can be fitted without professional help or permanent modification to the property.
Door security bars
A telescoping security bar — the kind that angles between the doorknob and the floor — prevents a door from being opened even if the lock is defeated. These work particularly well on rear doors or doors leading to private courtyards. They cost around $15 to $25 at hardware stores and leave no marks on the property. Note: these are an internal security measure — they prevent entry from outside when you’re home, not when the property is unoccupied.
Sash window wedge locks
A small metal or plastic wedge fitted to the inside of a sash window’s lower sash track prevents the sash being raised beyond the wedge position. These are available for under $20 for a pack of four, require no screws (they use friction or adhesive), and leave no damage. They convert a sash window from “closed but openable” to “closed and locked” without touching the original hardware.
Sliding door security bar
A track bar for a sliding glass door or a French door sits in the floor track and prevents the door from sliding open. These cost around $10 to $20 and can be removed and taken when you leave. They provide meaningful resistance against a door that would otherwise slide open even if the lever handle lock is deficient.
Door frame reinforcer strips
Standard door frames in Parkside’s older rental stock are sometimes deteriorated around the strike plate area — the timber is soft or cracked, meaning the strike plate itself can be kicked out with force regardless of the lock quality. A door frame reinforcer strip — a steel channel that fits over the door frame around the strike area — reinforces this point substantially. These cost around $25 and require three to four screws into the frame, which is a minor modification most landlords will approve as a security measure.
Pro Tip: Before buying any security hardware, confirm your landlord’s permission in writing — a simple text or email is fine. Frame it as: “I’d like to add a sash window lock and a sliding door security bar at my own cost — these are removable and won’t damage the property. Is this okay?” Most landlords say yes immediately.
Under $100: Small Locksmith Jobs Worth Considering
Some improvements are worth the cost of a professional locksmith visit even for a renter — because the landlord may cover them, because they’re so inexpensive relative to their impact, or because only a licensed locksmith can do them correctly.
Cylinder replacement on the front door
If your current front door cylinder is a builder-grade or budget cylinder — typically evident because it feels loose or slightly wobbly when the key is inserted, or because it has a very simple key profile — upgrading to a quality cylinder is a relatively inexpensive job. The cylinder itself typically costs $40 to $80 for a quality mid-range option; a locksmith visit to fit it takes 20 to 30 minutes. The total cost is typically under $120. Ask your landlord to cover this as a maintenance item — if they decline, the expenditure is worth considering anyway, especially in a property where you’re storing valuables.
Rear door deadbolt
A rear door in a Parkside rental that has only a passage latch is a security failure. Fitting a deadbolt is a permanent modification to the door, but it’s a maintenance improvement that any landlord should be willing to fund. Request it in writing, citing the absence of a deadbolt as a security deficiency. If the landlord approves, the work will likely be covered under their insurance or maintenance budget. If they decline and you have a specific security concern, you can engage a locksmith at your own cost — SA tenancy law permits this in defined circumstances — with appropriate documentation.
Sash window sash stops
A locksmith fitting sash stops to the ground-floor windows of a Parkside Victorian rental typically charges for an hour’s labour plus hardware. Total cost usually under $100. The result is that each ground-floor sash window can be locked in either the fully closed position or a ventilation-open position — providing security and airflow simultaneously. This is a common addition to older rental properties that landlords regularly fund as a maintenance matter.
The Renter-Landlord Conversation: How to Frame It
The most underused lever Parkside renters have is simply asking clearly and in writing for security improvements to be addressed.
Many landlords don’t invest in security maintenance unless a tenant raises it. The landlord isn’t necessarily negligent — they may simply not know the rear door has a passage latch only, or that the sash window latch is painted shut. A clear, written request citing a specific security deficiency (not a preference, a deficiency) is often acted on.
Frame security requests as maintenance, not upgrades. “The rear door has no deadbolt — it can’t be properly secured” is more effective than “I’d like a better lock on the back door.” The first is a maintenance failure; the second is a preference. Under the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (SA), a landlord is obligated to maintain premises in a reasonable state of repair and security. A rear door with no deadbolt in a suburb where the property crime risk is measurable is, on that standard, a deficiency.
Document the request in writing and keep the response. If a landlord agrees to fix something, that’s good — follow up if it isn’t done within a reasonable time. If a landlord declines, that creates a record you may need later.
A Common Scenario on Greenhill Road
I’ve been called to a number of Parkside rental properties on and near Greenhill Road — a major arterial that runs along the suburb’s northern boundary, with apartment blocks and converted terrace buildings on both sides. The security pattern I see most consistently in these properties is a good-quality front door with an adequate deadbolt, and a completely unsecured rear or courtyard access.
On one specific callout, a renter had contacted me after raising a rear door security issue with her landlord twice over six months and getting no response. The rear door opened to a shared courtyard accessible from the building’s rear lane. The door had a passage latch. No deadbolt.
She had emailed her property manager on both occasions. We confirmed the property manager had received the emails. On that basis, the cost of fitting a deadbolt — about $140 all up — was recoverable from rent under SA tenancy law provisions relating to urgent repairs where the landlord has failed to act. She arranged the work, kept the invoice, and deducted the amount from rent with written notification to the property manager. The property manager acknowledged it without dispute.
That outcome isn’t always available — the specific legal provisions apply only in defined circumstances. But it illustrates that renters in Parkside aren’t powerless on security matters, and that clear written communication is the foundation of any escalation.
What a Locksmith Can Do in One Visit
If you want a professional assessment rather than a DIY checklist, a locksmith security check on a Parkside rental property typically covers: all external door hardware (does every door have a functional deadbolt?), window security at ground level, side gate hardware, and overall key security (when was the cylinder last changed?). The assessment visit itself takes 45 to 60 minutes; any recommendations can be priced separately and triaged by priority.