Whether you are going away, moving house, or have just become a bit complacent, there are many simple things that you can do to make your home safer. Here, security experts advise on the best ways to avoid being burgled.
Be more secure than your neighbour
“Thieves are generally opportunists,” says Anthony Neary, managing director of safe.co.uk. “If they are in a street looking at various houses, the one that is the least secure will get targeted. If you’ve got lights outside your property and someone else hasn’t, they will go for the people who haven’t got the lights.”
Get a security light
The evening is a common time to be burgled, says Neary. “Around September/October time, when the dark nights come in; you’re more at risk then, as the thief is hidden.” Security lights are an inexpensive deterrent: “A thief wouldn’t want to advertise that they’re trying to get into someone’s house. If there are lights flashing on, they are doing that.”
Ellie Morrison is the senior category manager for electrical, lighting and smart home at Toolstation. “One of our top-selling smart items is a floodlight that also records,” she says. “Having that at the front and back of your house, with the added benefit of being able to record anyone that comes on to your property, is definitely one of the strongest [deterrents].”
“Make sure that tools, or any equipment that would help someone to break into property, are not readily available,” says Neary. “It might sound obvious – people don’t tend to leave things lying about – but a lot of people have got garden sheds that are full of tools that will help someone into your house. So shed security becomes really important, and people just ignore it. It has probably got a very basic lock on it.” If you can make it more secure, that will really help, says Neary. “Again, it comes back to opportunists. They will look in a shed, not necessarily to steal things, that’s a misconception; people aren’t going to steal power tools and lawn mowers. It is to get tools out of there that can get you into someone’s property and you don’t have to carry them around.”
Sort your locks out
“Locks are probably one of the easiest things to replace,” says Wayne Perrey, a DIY expert and presenter. “Let’s say you’ve moved into a new property or you’ve lost your keys, so there is a set out there somewhere: it is really easy to change.
“If you’re locked out, you need a locksmith. But if you’re able to open the door, then on the side edge of the door there are normally two screws. You can undo those screws and it allows you to remove the barrel cylinder. Take that down to your DIY store and match it like for like. There will be an exact same barrel available, which will have a brand new set of keys.” Make sure the lock is an adequate standard for your insurance policy, he adds: “It should be a five lever mortice lock.”
Trim your hedges
“The downside to hedges is that they are a hiding spot,” says Neary. “People want them for privacy, but creating little nooks and crannies in your garden is not a good idea, so keep your garden trimmed as best you can.” Perrey recommends putting in prickly plants around boundaries: “Hawthorn and other spiky plants will discourage people from being able to access your garden: they can’t just jump over the fences, because they’re going to get scratched.”
Embrace smart security
Smart security, “allows you to keep an eye on what’s happening at your property at pretty much any time,” says Neary. “You can be abroad on holiday and easily see anything that is going on.”
“Eighty per cent of the doorbell market is now smart doorbells,” says Morrison. “There are a lot of cameras where you can set up motion detection and just keep aware. So if something happens around your property, if someone drove into your gate post, for example, you would then have a record, and you would be able to use that for any claims that you need to make. You can also add things like sensors on to your doors and windows that can be tied into either recording or alarms, to alert the intruder that they are being watched,” or produce “a loud noise to summon help. It would also send you a push notification. A lot of it is about your awareness of your property, but also scaring off any potential intruders.”
The downside is this can mean you obsess over home security when you aren’t there, says Neary: “As technology improves, we’re more informed all of the time, and security is just another aspect of that. So if you’re on the beach and your phone pings, nine times out of 10, it will probably turn out to be nothing, it’s a cat or whatever, but you don’t know so it will increase anxiety. But I think that’s just modern life.”
Think about where cameras and sensors are positioned, says Perrey. “My internal Ring alarm used to go off all the time,” he says, which caused him to panic. Eventually, “I realised it was pointing at an area where there is major sunlight coming through, and if a cloud went past quickly across the sun, it thought somebody was walking into the lounge.”
Consider an alarm
“Over the last 10 years, alarms have become a really easy DIY install,” says Neary. “There are no cables any more, they run from batteries which you need to remember to replace. You should always have a siren externally: it’s a great deterrent.” What about the cheaper option of a fake alarm box? “Anything you can do that creates a deterrent is a benefit, even if it’s not actually doing anything.”
“I would say you get what you pay for,” disagrees Morrison. “I would expect that if someone is a professional burglar, they would know which ones are fake and which ones aren’t. I also think that old-fashioned alarm systems with an alarm box are not generally what people have anyway. Most of the time it is less obvious cameras, and it is about catching people in the act. Floodlights kind of do the same thing as a fake alarm box.”
Make friends with your neighbours
“If you are friendly with your neighbours or if you’ve got a group of people to keep an eye on the street or estate, that is fantastic,” says Neary. “Neighbourhood Watch still exists. It is phasing out, I suspect, because it’s so easy now to have smart security, but it’s still a good idea.”
If you are away, make your home look lived in
“You want your bins to be put out if you possibly can,” says Neary, which is also why getting on with your neighbours helps. “You can get TV simulators, which are very cheap. They are on a timer and can come on at 6pm and go off at 10pm, and it lights up the room in a TV style with a flickering light. You don’t want mail to collect if you’re away for long periods – people can see through the door and, if there is a mountain of post, that is a problem.”
“I use smart lighting inside,” says Morrison, “which, if we’re on holiday, we can turn that to a schedule that randomises. The lights come on, so it seems like someone’s at home, and it’s not an old-fashioned timer that plugs into a lamp and comes on for an hour a day,” the regularity of which can suggest there is actually no one at home.
Should you leave your curtains open or shut? “I would leave them half down, but then have lighting that comes on at various times in the day,” says Morrison. Closing the curtains, says Perrey, “lets people know that you’re away, so I wouldn’t do that.” “I am sure curtain timers exist but they aren’t readily available,” says Neary. “Curtains should be closed at night,” if you can get someone to do that for you.
Don’t post about your holiday on social media until you get back
“With holidays, a big one is not promoting it on social media,” says Neary. “You are literally giving someone a roadmap of who’s in and who’s not.”
Get a dog – or even just a dog sign
“Again, it’s another deterrent,” says Neary. “If your neighbour’s got a dog and you haven’t, they would generally target you rather than your neighbour. Even if you’ve not got dogs, signage to say you have is better than not. That is much easier than having a real dog.”
But Perrey says there is a school of thought that if people have “beware of the dog” signs, it implies that they don’t have an alarm system, as the animals will set it off, “and dogs can easily be persuaded with treats. So maybe don’t put those signs out. But also be aware that systems like Ring are adaptable so that pets don’t trigger them.”
Having a dog means Neary has a housesitter when he goes away which, as long as they are someone trusted, can be the ultimate way to keep your home secure.
Use key safes wisely
“I do think key safes are a good thing,” says Perrey, “because the alternative is you tend to put them underneath a mat or a plant pot. But if you do have one, don’t have it on display. I recommend storing it out of sight.”
Make sure you use a police-approved version, advises Neary, “as some of them are fantastically secure,” and would take 10 hours and a lot of noise to get into. “Unfortunately, there are really cheap lock boxes that you just look at them the wrong way and they’ll open.”
Make sure windows are secure
Aside from always closing and locking windows, Perrey says that everyone should check double glazed windows to make sure they are installed securely: “With a UPVC window, the glass is held in with beading that runs all the way around, so if your window fails or the double glazing is steamed up because the sealant inside has gone, you can replace the glass: the beading is taken off and you can just change it. Most of the time, the beading is on the inside of the house, but some are on the outside: if you want to break in, you could literally just pop off the beading, take the glass out, and climb in. So check your double glazing, because that could be a big issue.”
Don’t forget to lock up
“Everyone at some point goes out and forgets to lock up,” says Neary. “It comes down to the person just not being on it.” He has spoken to ex-burglars about how they entered properties: “It is incredible how many people don’t lock doors, don’t close windows, just take no precautions whatsoever. That was the most common thing from the burglars. People leave things outside like ladders that just make it so easy. More than anything else, people are completely unaware of security and how important it is.”
Lastly, if you think you are being burgled, “keep out of the way and ring the police,” says Neary. “Absolutely do not confront someone because you risk getting seriously hurt.”
