How to protect your home

We all want to feel safe and secure in our own homes and want to avoid an unwelcome visit from a burglar at all costs. 
Home security covers a number of different areas but this guide outlines a few simple steps that might help to protect your home and deter would be thieves.

	Shut and lock windows and doors when you are out		Leave valuables on display
	Make your house look occupied using lights and radios on a timer and outside lighting		Leave your car keys so that they are visible or reachable from the door or window
	Shut and lock your side gate		Hide keys under your doormat or in plant pots
	Plant prickly plants in your garden		Forget to lock away and secure valuable items or tools that can be used to break in with
	Secure sheds and garages		Park your wheelie bin by your side gate as it provides a handy step!
	Install a good burglar alarm		Put empty boxes for expensive items by your bin as these advertise what’s inside your house

Visit a new Crime Prevention site which contains free, comprehensive and up-to-date crime prevention advice to help you improve your home and personal security and over time will expand to provide security guidance for all types of buildings and situations.

Outside the house

• Consider installing a good quality burglar alarm to your property.
• Use low level dusk to dawn lighting around the outside of your home.
• Consider using prickly plants as boundaries; criminals do not like climbing through prickly plants and hedges.
• Crunchy gravel driveways are a good deterrent as thieves do not like to be heard.
• Don’t forget to protect your shed - install metal grills over windows, reinforce hinges and invest in a good lock.
• Consider securing valuable items inside your shed or garage using security cables or chains with robust padlocks.
• At the front of your property keep boundary fences and hedges low to allow as much natural surveillance as possible from neighbours, passing pedestrians and traffic.
• The rear garden should have a secure boundary.
• Secure garden furniture and ornaments with bolts or to a concrete base using metal pins and make sure they are security marked.
• Expensive plants can be secured in the ground using wire and pegs around the root ball.

Inside the house

• Most burglars enter property through insecure doors and windows so fit good bolts and locks to all doors and windows and ALWAYS USE THEM.
• Use a timer device to make your house look like there is someone home.
• Don’t leave valuables on display where they can easily be seen through a window, especially car keys.
• Photograph items of jewellery, antiques and other items that may be difficult to describe.
• Always back up home computer records on disc and store them safely in case the computer is stolen.
• Mark valuable items with your postcode using an ultra violet marker or use a forensic marking kit. Property marked will be less attractive to the thief and easier to identify if stolen.
• Consider purchasing a safe for storing valuables.
• Don’t keep large amounts of cash at home.
• Shred all receipts and utility bills to avoid criminals using your identity.

To download this information into a handy leaflet, please see our fact sheet.