Ten easy ways to improve your home's security

House with external lighting

Like insurance, effective home security is an unromantic but essential part of keeping your family and possessions safe. You might sleep in a property for a thousand nights without getting any benefit from keeping your doors locked, until an opportunist thief decides to try your handles on the 1001st night. An alarm might be an inconvenience whenever you have to deactivate it, but the mere presence of a bell box could deter criminals. You might never know if someone’s attempted to access your property or outbuildings – and ignorance is bliss if they fail to gain entry.

Home security doesn’t have to be expensive or complex. In fact, some of the tips on our list below are cost-free and take mere seconds to accomplish. Yet following these simple steps could minimise your chances of contributing to 2022’s crime statistics…

 

  1. Leave a light on overnight. Burglars love to work under cover of darkness. A well-positioned low-energy bulb can provide affordable illumination throughout a property’s ground floor at minimal cost, as well as helping you move round safely.

 

  1. Add external lighting. The same principles apply outside. Solar lanterns, LED soffit lights and driveway lamps all illuminate the outside of your home, preventing anyone skulking in the shadows. Motion-sensing floodlights are another great investment.

 

  1. Install a smart doorbell. As well as supporting two-way video calls with delivery staff (who can be told to leave parcels in a safe location if you’re out), many smart doorbells automatically record movement – and often in high definition clarity.

 

  1. Always check doors are locked. It takes seconds to test each doorhandle before going to bed, ensuring it won’t open. Don’t be blasé about balcony doors or upper windows – thieves could make their way to higher storeys by jumping or climbing.

 

  1. Never leave accessible windows open. Hammering a chisel into a gap between window and frame could pop even a locked vented window wide open, especially on the ground floor. Trickle vents are designed to provide sufficient overnight airflow.

 

  1. Don’t advertise impending absences. It’s tempting to post on social media about an upcoming holiday/business trip/major event. If criminals see this, they might plan an opportunistic ‘visit’ while the property is empty, knowing they’ll be undisturbed.

 

  1. Store keys well away from the front door. There are numerous stories of keys being ‘fished’ through letterboxes, giving intruders access to your home and vehicles. Store keys in a cupboard or drawer, or anywhere they can’t be seen from outside.

 

  1. Never leave valuables on display. High-value items like laptops are desirable commodities. A burglar could smash a window and grab something they know is there within seconds, making their escape long before anyone inside can react.

 

  1. Close ground floor blinds before going to bed. Following on from the last point, an obscured window gives a criminal no idea what’s inside – a large and hungry dog, for instance. They’ll be less likely to risk breaking in without knowing what to expect.

 

  1. Wedge doors shut. Patio doors can be secured with a horizontal plank or pole that stops the sliding pane from moving. Equally, wedging something solid underneath a pull-down handle makes the door impossible to open from outside, even using force.

 

 

 

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