How can you check if your home is secure?

Whether you are moving into a new home or you’ve been in the same house for years, regular security checks are vital for keeping your home secure.

Do you know what locks your doors have? Who has keys to your house? Are you advertising your home to possible burglars? Can someone easily break into your garden? If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’ or ‘I don’t know’ then keep reading.

1. What locks do your doors have?

The most common door lock is the euro cylinder. Unfortunately, breaking into a property with a standard euro cylinder lock is easier than one would think. It can be snapped in just 5-10 seconds with basic shop-bought tools. Anti-snap or snap safe cylinders provide cutting edge features to protect against attacks including cylinder snapping.

Anti-snap locks are made of high security euro lock cylinders designed and tested to protect against lock snapping. To ensure the highest levels of safety for your property your locks should be tested against certain standards.

As important as the lock certification is, ensuring your lock is fitted by a professional locksmith is crucial. Incorrectly fitted locks can leave your property vulnerable to break-ins, regardless of the standard of your locks.

2. Who has keys to your house?

One of the first things you should do when you move into a new home is to change your locks. You can never know if the developer or previous owner looked after their lock security or if they still have keys to the property. Whether you recently moved into a new home or have been in the same house for years, you can’t be sure there aren’t people with keys to your existing locks.

Protect your home from unwanted intrusions by simply changing the locks. It takes less than a day and is much more cost-effective than being robbed.

3. Are you advertising your home to burglars?

Burglars will break into houses where they believe there is something worth stealing to make the best use of their time.

Ensuring your valuables aren’t visible from outside is a simple way to prevent yourself from becoming a target.

Investing in more advanced security measures such as CCTV and video doorbells, can be a good idea if you have lots of valuable items in your home. While for many burglars this tells them you have something worth stealing, the higher chance of being caught on camera often acts as a deterrent. It is believed that 67% of domestic burglaries could be prevented by  CCTV.

4. Can someone easily break into your garden?

Whether you’re staying at home or going on holiday, an unsecure garden is a massive risk to your family and household.

Keep any roots into or out of your garden secure, making sure you lock your gates from the inside using a good quality padlock and ensuring any kids living in or visiting your house know how important it is to keep gates locked.

Using sheds and storage buildings to hide valuables and tools can prevent thieves from easily getting them out of your garden. This also ensures they can’t be used as a weapon or aid to get into your house. It is ultimately more important to make sure you have secured your shed properly – using a high-quality lock and an alarm can ensure your valuables stay safe.

Find more tips on how to secure your garden and how to secure your garden office.

Your home is where you and your family should feel safest, but we often expose ourselves to more risks than we know.

At Halls Locksmiths we can undertake a home security survey for your home to expertly advise you on the best methods to secure your home. Our security solution experts want to provide you with the most honest advice and the best products to help you protect your home. We are happy to help with anything you need to provide you with the peace of mind you deserve.

For more advice on securing your home or to upgrade your home security, visit our store or call our friendly team on 0115 9780141.