Key Tags for Lettings and Estate Agents: Labelling Systems, Security, and Surviving the September Turnover

A lettings or estate agency runs on keys — and the tag on each one is either a working system or a liability. The rule that matters most costs nothing: the property address never goes on the tag. This guide covers the labelling system that replaces it, the kit a branch actually needs, and getting both in place before the September turnover buries the office in key handovers.

Why the address never goes on the tag

A key with an address on it is a burglary kit in one piece. Keys get lost — dropped at viewings, left in cafés, posted back late by outgoing tenants — and a found key labelled Flat 3, 12 Station Road tells whoever holds it exactly which door it opens. It is a security incident, a data-protection headache, and the kind of thing landlords and insurers ask hard questions about afterwards.

The industry answer is a code system: every key carries a short reference — a number, or a letters-and-numbers code — and the code-to-property register lives separately, in your management software or a locked file. A found key then says nothing at all. Engraved tags suit this perfectly: a code doesn't peel off, fade, or get rewritten in biro until it's illegible, and our wooden house key tags come either with standard labels or engraved with your own codes and numbering.

A labelling system that survives contact with a busy branch

• One code per key set, engraved, never handwritten. If it can smudge, it will.
• Register kept separately — software or locked drawer, never on the board itself.
• Duplicate sets get their own suffix (14A, 14B), so a missing duplicate is visible at a glance.
• Contractor and cleaner keys carry their own tags — the Please Return This Key XL keyring is 200×80mm of polite pressure that comes back to the office far more often than a bare key does.
• Master and spare sets stay obvious — the Spare Key XL keyring stops the office set walking out on a viewing.

September: the turnover month

If your patch includes student lets or a summer-heavy changeover cycle, September is when key management stops being admin and becomes the whole job — check-outs, check-ins, cleaners, contractors and new tenancies all wanting the same keys in the same fortnight. A branch that goes into it with every set coded, tagged and registered spends the month letting property; a branch that doesn't spends it looking for keys. Everything here is made to order, so the sensible sequence is tags ordered now, system in place before the rush peaks.

The rest of the branch kit

Handover keyrings that keep marketing. The classic move at completion: the new owner's or tenant's keys handed over on a keyring engraved with your logo — which then lives in their pocket for years. Logo keyrings and oval company fobs do the same job in different shapes, and the double-sided large oval takes logo one side, contact details the other.

Negotiator name badges. Viewings and valuations are trust exercises conducted by strangers — a wooden name badge with a first name and the agency logo does quiet work at every front door.

What we don't make: key safes, key cabinets and wall-mounted lockable boards are metalwork — buy those from a security supplier. We make everything that hangs off the hook inside one.

Ordering for a branch

Tags and keyrings are made from FSC-certified oak veneered MDF, engraved to order in our workshop in North Wales. Add your codes, numbering or logo in the personalisation box — black and white logos engrave sharpest, and the free design service checks artwork before cutting. Branch-scale orders reach the automatic bulk discounts quickly: 10% off at 20 units, 15% at 50, 20% at 100, applied at checkout with no quotes and no minimums — which is how multi-branch chains typically order.

All items are made to order. Dispatch time is shown at checkout. UK orders via Royal Mail Tracked 24. International via Royal Mail International Tracked.

Frequently asked questions

Should key tags have the property address on them?
No. A lost key with an address on it identifies exactly which door it opens — a security and data-protection risk. Use a code or number on the tag and keep the code-to-property register separate.

What should be engraved on an agency key tag instead?
A short reference code, a key number, or the branch name and phone number — enough for an honest finder to return it, nothing that identifies the property.

How many tags does a branch need?
Count managed properties, multiply by key sets held (typically two to three per property), and add spares for cutting cycles. Most single branches land in the 50–100 range, where the 15–20% bulk discounts apply automatically.

Are wooden key tags durable enough for daily branch use?
Yes — engraved oak veneered MDF handles daily pocket-and-drawer life well, and the engraving cannot rub off the way printed or handwritten labels do. They are not designed to live outdoors on a hook in the rain.

Can keyrings carry the agency logo?
Yes — upload it with the order. Black and white artwork engraves sharpest, and most colour logos convert well; the design service confirms anything unusual before we cut.

Also see: the full keyrings range, wooden name badges and business signs.