The number of home burglaries has been decreasing in recent years, but they still pose a threat. With more than 240,000 burglaries a year, it still remains vitally important that UK homeowners be aware of the threat and take proactive steps to reduce the likelihood of becoming a statistic.
Happily, keeping thieves away from your home is a lot more straightforward than you might think. In many instances, it simply comes down to following common sense. In this post, we’ll run through some tried-and-tested strategies that should significantly reduce the chances that a thief will target your house.
Think Like a Thief
When you look at your home, you see a warm, loving dwelling. When a thief looks at your home, they see a potential bounty. Whether they attempt to get that bounty depends on whether they have a realistic chance of succeeding.
Homeowners can go a long way towards keeping their properties safe by looking at their homes through the eyes of a burglar. Take a look at your house: are there easy access points? Would this house be worth your time? If yes, then you’ll know you need to bolster your home’s security.
Take Action When Security is Compromised
Most homes are inherently secure. However, there are times when that security is compromised. At that point, your chances of being the victim of a burglary can increase significantly. As such, it’s important to take action quickly when there’s a chance that someone might take advantage of the temporary lapse in security. For example, if you lose a bag that contains your keys and a document containing your address. While it’s unlikely that it’ll be picked up by a burglar, it’s better to be safe than sorry and call a locksmith to change your locks. Similarly, while a busted window latch may not automatically be viewed as a top priority, remember that to a burglar, it might be just what they’re looking for.
Add Automatic Lighting
Burglars are a bit like vampires. They feed on others, and they hate the light. Even the most committed of burglars will think twice about targeting a property if there’s a chance that they’ll be seen. Adding automatic lighting to both the front and back of your home increases that chance.
Install an Alarm System
Along with lighting, the things that burglars really hate are noise that attracts others to their attention. Even if they managed to get into your home, a loud alarm system will usually be enough to get them scampering away. After all, there’s nothing worse than a sound that, in effect, says there is a burglar here.
Don’t Advertise the Goods
Finally, it’s best to avoid advertising what’s on display in your home. There’s no advantage to you to show passersby that you have expensive items in your house, but to a burglar, it can be what motivates them to try to enter your property. Frosted windows, blinds, or simply keeping your goods out of view should suffice.