According to Police statistics, homes with no security in place are five times more likely to be burgled than those with simple security measures.
Making a few changes can make a big difference to keeping you and your home safe from intruders.
Here are some simple steps that can help prevent a burglary:
1. Reinforce your door locks
Don’t make it easy for burglars, lock your doors, even when you’re at home or in the garden as many criminals have entered homes through open doors or windows.
Check your locks and replace any defective or weak ones with a quality mortice lock which will make it harder for any potential burglar to kick the door in.
2. Keep your valuables out of sight
Remove valuables from view of ground floor windows and keep bikes locked up or safe in the garage.
3. Trim your trees
Large trees with long branches can provide a burglar with the cover needed to break in, you should consider trimming any branches or shrubs that are obscuring windows or door entries
Make sure the fences around your garden are in good condition and ensure that gates are locked to prevent entry to the rear of your home.
Keep ladders and tools stored away, don’t leave them outside where they could be used to break into your home
4. Light up any dark areas around your house
Having motion detector lights can prove to be a great deterrent as burglars don’t want to be seen.
Leave your porch and sidelights on at night.
5. Strengthen your Patio doors
As Patio door locks can be weakened through general use, they can be easy to force open and they can be lifted off their runners. Additional security locks costing under £20 can be easily fitted to provide extra security.
6. Install an alarm
Fitting a security alarm can substantially reduce the chances of your home being broken into as most burglars will go elsewhere if your home has an alarm.
Getting a professionally fitted alarm can be expensive but there are some quality DIY alarm systems that can be purchased for under £250.
If you can’t afford to have an alarm fitted, a fake alarm box can also act as a deterrent.
7. Make your home look lived in
If you’re going on holiday, cancel any home deliveries, let a trusted neighbour, who can keep an eye on your property, know that you are going away.
Leave a key with a family member who can collect any mail and put your bins out when you are away.
Use a timer that turns on lights randomly in different rooms, making it less obvious that you are away.
Although tempting, don’t post any announcements or pictures of your holiday on Facebook or any other form of social media either before or when you are away.
8. Callers to your home
Don’t open your door to strangers without checking their identity. You can check the identity of any visitors by calling the company they are claiming to be from i.e. gas, electricity, water and police.
When checking their identity, don’t use any numbers provided by the caller, use the numbers listed in either the telephone directory or those provided previously by your suppliers as any numbers given by the visitor may be bogus.
What’s the Likelihood of being Burgled?
Although the likelihood of being burgled is slim, those unfortunate enough to be burgled will be faced with the expense of replacing any broken locks and items stolen during the burglary.
Make Sure that You are Insured
Although its often it the wealthy residential areas that are targeted by burglars as they assume that these homes contain a lot of valuables, it doesn’t matter whether you live in a one-bedroom flat or a five-bedroom detached house, it’s important to make sure that you have the right protection in place in case something should go wrong.