With the recent hot weather all over the UK, Locks in the City would like to offer some Summer Home Security advice. Whilst this is not an exhaustive list, we feel it covers the main points for keeping your home as secure as possible during Summer.

Lock Your Door

This may sound like rather obvious advice. We all lock the door when we go out to work for the day. Do you lock the door if you’re out working/socializing in your back garden all day though? If not, you should do. Many of the jobs required in the garden over the Summer involve noisy equipment. Mowing the lawn, cutting hedges etc all involve tasks where your hearing is, at best, limited. The likelihood is, that you wouldn’t hear anyone walking straight into your home off the street. In the time it takes to cut, edge and dispose of the grass cuttings from an average sized lawn, a potential burglar could have stolen hundreds of pounds worth of your valuables. Locking your front/main entrance door, is a simple way to drastically reduce this risk.

Lock Your Windows

Recent temperatures in London have been hot, really hot. Understandably, there is a temptation to leave first floor windows open, even when residents leave home for the day. Locks in the City’s advice is DON’T! Leaving a window (even first floor) open all day whilst you are out, is an open advertisement to a would be thief. If you are worried about the room getting too warm whilst you are out, draw the curtains to limit how much sunlight penetrates the room. Shut and lock the window before you go out. Ensure that you properly shut and lock all of your windows, not just the ones on the ground floor. If you have uPVC windows and absolutely have to let some fresh air in, lock your window in the ‘ajar’ position. However, we would not advise that you do this with any windows on the ground floor of your property.

Secure Your Shed

Most garden sheds house a myriad of expensive items. Ranging from the lawn mower to the family bicycles. Consequently, it is worth investing in some worthy protection. Your shed, is after all, an extension of your home. Ensure that the doors are fitted correctly and that they both close completely flush to the hinge and to each other. If your shed has a window, consider boarding it up (from the inside) to make it more secure. If you don’t wish to board it up, at least obscure the view from the window to prevent prying eyes looking in at your property. Secure the doors with a sturdy padlock and chain. Check that the padlock and chain meet your home insurance requirements and that the contents of your shed are adequately covered.

 Security Whilst You Are Away On Holiday

To successfully leave your home at it’s most secure whilst you are away on holiday, you need to make it appear as though you are still at home! Below are a few hints to help you with this process.

• Under NO circumstances, state on social media that you are away on holiday! Anybody could quite easily find out where you live, depending on your privacy settings. A potential burglar would know how much time they have to safely remove all of your valuable possessions – without the fear of being caught, if you have just updated your status on Facebook with the fact that you are away and for how long!
• Ensure that someone puts your bin out for you on the allocated day. If you don’t have any rubbish then ask the person helping you to wheel your bin out anyway. If you still have bag collections then ask your helper to put one of their bags out in front of your house.
• Make sure that your post is either collected/removed from the letter box on a daily basis and put out of sight. Alternatively you can arrange with your Post Office to have your mail delivered to an alternative address whilst you are away.
• Ask a friend/neighbour to water all pots & plants at the front of your home and if possible to mow the grass.
• If possible, ask a friend or relative to open and close your curtains each day.
• Give the illusion that you and your family are still at home by setting timer switches for table lamps at different times in different places, throughout the house/apartment.
• Cancel your milk round. An ever increasing supply of pints of milk sat on your doorstep, clearly shows that nobody is at home!

Should you require any further help or guidance regarding the security of your home and/or business premises then please do not hesitate to call Locks in the City on 07921 000672 or 0800 955 8672. Alternatively you can email us from our contact page.

With thanks for the use of the photograph of the shed to Tenchi uder the Public Domain licence.