Are Cheap Padlocks Any Good | When a £20 Lock Is Fine (and When It Isn't)
CEN grades, closed versus open shackle, and the honest answer on whether a budget padlock is ever worth buying. From a locksmith in Richmond.
A £20 padlock from the hardware aisle at Homebase looks reassuringly solid. It's chunky, it's shiny, it clicks shut with a satisfying clunk. And for a lot of Richmond homeowners, that's where the research ends.
Here's the problem: padlock security is one of the most misunderstood areas I deal with on jobs. People spend £800 on a composite front door with a Ultion cylinder, then secure their side gate with something a bolt-cutter can shear in four seconds. The gate leads straight to the back garden. The back garden has French doors.
So. Are cheap padlocks any good? Sometimes, genuinely yes. Often, genuinely no. The answer depends on what you're locking, not how much you spent.
The Myth: Price Equals Security
The common belief goes like this: a heavier padlock is a stronger padlock, a padlock from a known brand must be decent, and anything north of £15 is probably fine for most uses.
None of those are reliable rules.
Weight tells you about the casing material, not the lock mechanism or the shackle hardness. Brand name matters only if the brand certifies its products to a rated standard. And "probably fine" is doing a lot of work when you're relying on it to protect a garage full of tools worth several thousand pounds.
The thing that actually tells you what a padlock can resist is its CEN grade.
What CEN Grades Actually Test
CEN (the European Committee for Standardisation) grades padlocks from 1 to 6 under EN 12320. Each grade defines a minimum resistance to specific attacks. Most budget padlocks sold in UK DIY shops either don't carry a CEN grade at all, or scrape a Grade 1.
| CEN Grade | Attack Resistance | Typical Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minimal, resists simple manipulation | Internal storage, low-risk |
| 2 | Resists basic tools | Garden sheds, low-value |
| 3 | Resists moderate force and picking | Garages, moderate risk |
| 4 | Resists sustained attack with tools | Commercial storage, high-value |
| 5–6 | Resists determined attack, specialist tools | Industrial, very high risk |
A Grade 1 padlock is not a security product. It's a deterrent. It tells an opportunist the gate is closed. A Grade 3 or above, tested under the full EN 12320 protocol (which covers pulling, cutting, sawing, picking, and drilling), is a security product.
Sold Secure ratings map roughly onto this. A Sold Secure Bronze padlock broadly aligns with CEN 2–3. Silver aligns with CEN 3–4. Gold is CEN 4 and above, and those locks go through additional physical attack testing that the CEN standard alone doesn't require.
A £20 padlock will not be Sold Secure Gold. It will not be CEN Grade 3. In most cases it won't display any grade at all, which tells you everything.
Open Shackle Versus Closed Shackle
This matters as much as the grade, and it's almost never mentioned on the packaging.
An open-shackle padlock is the classic shape: a U-shaped bar with exposed metal above the body. That exposed shackle is what bolt-cutters attack. Even a hardened-steel shackle can be defeated if there's enough exposed length to get a cutter around it.
A closed-shackle padlock (sometimes called a shrouded or guarded shackle) has the body partially or fully covering the shackle. There's very little purchase for a cutter. Lockmaster, Mul-T-Lock, and Abloy all make closed-shackle padlocks worth considering. Abloy's PROTEC2 range is picked-resistant by any realistic standard. It's not cheap. It's also the kind of thing I'd put on a unit in a Mortlake storage yard or a side access gate in Ham where the garden tools include a ride-on mower.
If the fitting itself (the hasp, the staple, the bolt-through anchor) is weaker than the padlock, you've wasted money on the lock. A Grade 4 padlock on a flimsy hasp screwed into softwood with 25mm screws is still a weak point. But that's a separate post.
Where a Cheap Padlock Is Actually Fine
I'll be honest with you: there are situations where a £15 open-shackle padlock is the right call.
- A garden gate that leads only to a front path with no access to the rear of the property.
- A tool box inside a locked garage, where it's a second layer rather than the primary barrier.
- A storage unit that contains nothing of value and that you'd genuinely rather replace than spend £80 on a lock.
- A temporary closure on something that's being repaired, where the lock comes off in two days anyway.
The key question is: what happens if this lock fails? If the honest answer is "not much," then a Grade 1 open-shackle padlock is proportionate.
Where It's False Economy
The places I see budget padlocks doing real harm, in the sense of providing false confidence:
Garden sheds in East Sheen and North Sheen. These often contain £1,500 to £3,000 worth of garden machinery, bikes, and power tools. Insurers know this. A lot of home contents policies have specific exclusions for outbuildings without a minimum-grade padlock and a proper hasp. Check your policy schedule. If it says "approved padlock" or "minimum CEN Grade 3," your £20 lock may have quietly voided your outbuilding cover.
Side gates giving rear access. Petersham and Richmond Hill properties in particular often have long side returns. A back garden with French doors or a conservatory is a much softer target than the front door. The side gate padlock is the first line of defence, not the last.
Van and trailer security. This is commercial territory, but I see it on small-business calls across the TW9 and TW10 postcodes. A Budget padlock on a trailer hitch or van back door is an invitation. Sold Secure Gold, closed-shackle, hardened steel: that's the minimum.
Garages used as workshops. A Richmond tradesperson with £8,000 of tools in a garage in St Margarets does not want a Grade 1 padlock as their primary deterrent. The maths are not in their favour.
What to Actually Buy
For a garden shed or side gate where security genuinely matters, you're looking at £40 to £80 for a credible padlock. Brands worth considering: Mul-T-Lock's C-Series (closed-shackle, hardened steel, pick-resistant), the Abloy PL series, and Abus at Grade 3 or above. Abus is the one brand that actually labels its retail products with CEN grades clearly on the packaging, which makes buying in-store easier.
For higher-risk applications, a Sold Secure Gold closed-shackle lock in the £80 to £150 range is not extravagant. Compare it to your excess and the value of what's inside.
For genuinely low-risk situations, buy whatever's cheap and accept it for what it is: a visual deterrent, not a security product.
The £20 padlock isn't a scam. It's just honest about what it is, if you know how to read it. Most people don't, which is why this myth persists.
If you're in Richmond or the surrounding TW postcodes and you're not sure whether your outbuilding, gate, or storage is properly secured, Rapid Response Locksmiths covers the area with an average arrival under 30 minutes where possible. We'll give you a straight answer on what you've got and what, if anything, needs changing. Pricing is confirmed on the call, no surprises.
Priya Nair, Security and standards specialist
Priya is the one who reads the test reports. She handles the survey work, the insurance questions and anything where the British Standard actually matters, and she will happily explain why the number on the box is not the number that counts.
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