---
title: "A New Tower in Poniente, and the Keys You Never Saw"
description: "Builders, snagging teams, agents and show-flat visits: a new flat has been opened by many hands before yours. Who they were, and when a new cylinder helps."
url: "https://locksmithbenidorm.es/blog/new-tower-and-the-keys-you-never-saw/"
business: "Locksmith Benidorm"
---

# A new flat, and the keys you never saw

Before you collected the keys to your new flat, a lot of other people had them. Who they were, and when a new cylinder is worth it.

24 September 2026 · 4 min read

Benidorm is still growing upwards. New towers keep going up in Poniente, one development alone adding 280 homes, and the Ensanche Levante plan approved by the city council allows 780 residential homes and 1,564 tourist homes in towers of at least twenty floors. That means a steady stream of people collecting the keys to a flat nobody has lived in.

It feels like a fresh start. For the lock on the front door, it rarely is.

## Who has had a key before you

A new flat’s door is installed long before it is sold. Between then and the day you move in, keys may have passed through:

- **The builders and subcontractors**

  finishing the interior, the kitchens, the electrics.
- **The snagging and aftercare teams**

  checking and fixing defects.
- **The developer’s sales staff**

  , if the flat was shown to buyers.
- **Estate agents**

  , if it was resold before completion.
- **Cleaners**

  preparing the handover.

Most of these people are perfectly trustworthy. The point is that nobody can tell you how many keys were made, where they all are, or whether every set was handed back.

## The construction cylinder

Some developers fit a temporary construction cylinder while work is going on and change it at handover; others leave the same cylinder in place from start to finish. Ask the developer which yours is. If they cannot say, assume the second.

## What changing it involves

Usually just the cylinder, not the lock. The cylinder is the part your key turns, and it is changed from the edge of the door with a single screw. A new one comes with its own keys, which only you hold. It is also the moment to choose a better one: anti-snap and anti-bump cylinders cost little more than a basic one.

## When to do it

On the day you move in, or before your furniture arrives. After that, it tends to slip down the list. If the flat will be let to holiday guests, do it before the first booking.

## Also worth checking

- **The street door and the garage.**

  They are the community’s, not yours, and managed by the administrator. Ask how access cards are issued and cancelled.
- **The balcony door**

  , which in a new building can still be settling in its frame.
- **Every key you were given, in every lock**

  , from both sides.

If the front door itself sticks or rubs, that is a job for the developer’s aftercare, not a locksmith, at least until the warranty ends. And if you are ever locked out of the new flat, how the door is opened without damage is explained on [the door opening page](https://locksmithbenidorm.es/door-opening-benidorm/).

## Changing the cylinder on a new flat

How a cylinder is measured from photos, what to choose for a front door, and how the visit is booked around your move.

[Read more](https://locksmithbenidorm.es/lock-change-benidorm/)

## Need hands on the door rather than advice?

Ring, or send a photo of the lock and your location on WhatsApp.

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[+34 678 583 290](tel:+34678583290)

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