Taking precautions to protect your home will reduce the risk of burglary and give you and your family peace of mind. It will also help to reduce your annual home insurance premium.
Follow these ten tips to maximise your home security.
1. Know the basics
A third of intruders enter a property through a window, and nearly two thirds through a door. Don't make it easy for them - a basic security check when you go out, including shutting and locking all doors and windows goes a long way when it comes to preventing a burglary.
Forgetting to make simple checks may leave you unprotected financially too - your home insurance policy may not cover burglaries where there was no forced entry.
2. Install an alarm
The sight of an alarm on the wall of your home can be enough to put off a would-be intruder. Basic alarms start cost around £30 from a DIY store and can be installed easily. There are also more sophisticated security alarms on the market, which will need to be installed by a professional, including a monitored system that will alert your local police station in case of emergency.
3. Make it look like you're in
When you're going out, leave your property looking like someone is home. Use timer switches so lights and even radios turn on and off at certain times of the day. Choose which lights you put on a timer carefully - a light on in a directly visible window can highlight your absence. Keep your curtains open during the day, with valuables out of sight.
4. Use your garden as security
Maximise the natural protection a front and back garden can offer. Here are some tips:
- Thorny and prickly hedges and bushes make it difficult for thieves to climb over them...
- ... But keep them trimmed back so a burglar could still be seen by a passer-by
- Use gravel and pebbled paths in the approach to your house - they're noisy to walk on
- Use high, strong fences that are difficult to climb over or pull over
5. Lock everything away
Don't neglect to protect outside spaces such as sheds, garages and greenhouses - which can be an easy entrance into the rest of your property. Lock doors that adjoin outside areas to the rest of your home, fix strong padlocks to external doors, and replace old doors with heavy duty ones. Never leave a spare set of car or house keys in view.
Always pack items away at the end of the day - leaving garden equipment or a ladder outside overnight is an open invitation for opportunistic thieves.
6. Join a neighbourhood watch scheme
There are over 150,000 locally-based neighbourhood watch schemes in the UK, and putting a neighbourhood watch sticker in your window indicates that your street is watching out for suspicious activity - putting out a strong warning message to would-be intruders.
7. Take care when answering the door
If you're not expecting somebody, take the following steps to confirm the identity of a caller:
- Ask who the caller is
- Look through your door's spyhole
- Keep the chain on the door
- Ask for identification
- If in doubt, don't let them in
8. Mark your belongings
Write your postcode and surname on expensive items likely to be targeted by thieves, such as electrical equipment. Where possible, use a permanent marker that's visible rather than an ultra-violet pen, as thieves may be put off from taking something they can see has been marked.
9. Secure all entranceways
Keep all entrances to your home as secure as possible, including front and back doors, side passageways or communal entrance halls. Don't leave side paths open - add a locked gate at the entrance. If you live in a converted house with communal areas, speak to other residents about putting a speakerphone on the main door.
Your door should include a standard Yale lock, as well as a lower mortice lock, chain and spyhole to view callers before you open the door.
10. Take extra precautions before going away
If you're going on holiday or will be away from home for an extended period, take the following steps before you leave:
- Cancel milk, newspaper and other subscriptions
- Set timer switches
- Be extra careful when locking up
- Ask a friend or family member to house sit, or call round regularly
- Ask a neighbour to keep an eye on your property
Useful links
- Home insurance - get a quote for buildings and contents insurance
- Crime - find out crime statistics for Plymouth
- Police station - details of your nearest police station
- Neighbourhood profile - what's it like in Plymouth?
- Home security - alarm and security companies near Plymouth
- DIY stores - buy alarms, locks, doors and windows
How to lower your home insurance premium
- Fit a NACOSS standard burglar alarm
- Ask your insurer for details of their approved door and window locks
- Invest in a home safe to store valuables
- Install double glazing
- Use outdoor security lights
Your comments (2)
Liam (Trafford), on 29/01/2008 at 15:24
CCTV - I would like to install a camera system which would provide good quality images in the event of a theft/burglary. The cameras should be battery driven, PIR, with movement sensors and transmit images to the internet, easily mounted and no need for wires).
Is such a system available?
edd (South Somerset), on 29/01/2008 at 13:36
Security lighting is a good way to deter would-be burglars from your property. A low energy light fitting on a dusk to dawn sensor is more effective than large floodlights on movement sensors, and generally use less electricity.
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