What Is The Biggest Deterrent For Burglars
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- 28-09-2022

How To Deter Burglars
The thought of your property or household being burgled is frightening, especially as burglars can claim hundreds of thousands of UK victims each year, taking an immeasurable emotional and financial toll on households and families, even with home insurance covered.
Most burglars and organised gangs of criminals also pose threats of violence depending on how desperate they are to take from you; they could seriously hurt you or others in the process.
It is essential to learn how to deter and prevent them from targeting your home or premises. There are so many top tips, and home CCTV systems or tools you can invest in that will help make you aware of such circumstances, prevent access and deter them from happening.
Here is an in-depth look at how you can make your household as safe as possible with the most effective deterrents.
Outside defences
High fences are incredibly challenging to climb, yet if your burglar were to climb over, they would be visibly shielded, which is why it can often be better to install lower gates, fences or garden walls so that their actions are on full display.
Those fences with trellis on top are pretty difficult to climb, making them the best choice. Lock all garden gates at the rear or side of your household or property, which will help prevent access.
Prickly hedges, spiky plants and bushes surrounding your front yard or garden can act as a deterrent to burglars from attempting to jump over your fences or trudging across your land to gain entry.
Outdoor light with a motion-activated sensor is something we would encourage you to purchase. The motion-activated light will naturally come on whenever someone is nearby or close to your back and front doors; they are often made with energy-saving LED bulbs.
We would also advocate for installing a gravel driveway, as it will make a noticeable noise when walking on, and if you're not expecting guests, it could help detect and deter intruders.
Appearances Of An Empty House
You can find plug-in timers for your household lamps and ceiling lights; however, we don't recommend trying to fool potential burglars by only lighting up the hall when you leave your home.
You may want to light up the landing, the upstairs bathroom or bedroom lights, and each time you go out, vary the lights that are on to confuse them. Visible lighting will make your home a less easy target for criminals and avoid unwanted attention.
We highly recommend homeowners utilise a high-quality plug-in timer as a radio or TV, yet make it a talk station instead of music. Talking voices are off-putting and more likely to deter home burglaries from occurring, as this offers the appearance of an occupied house.
You must ensure you shut all the windows, even the upstairs and small ones, when you leave your home or property, even those at the rear of your property like your garden. Keeping them open is an absolute no-no for burglar-proofing your house.
Even as you're moving about your home, we recommend closing downstairs windows if you go upstairs, or if you're planning a trip away, we recommend you get a trustworthy neighbour to shut the curtains at night if you intend to keep them open as you leave. You can always return the favour when they go on holiday!
Security Upgrades
Outside doors, such as your front and back, are often thick enough to allow a five-lever mortice lock to latch on and prevent break-ins of burglars. Ensure all mortice locks are of the British Safety Standard BS3621.
You'll find that the strongest type of wooden frame usually doesn't involve window catches that allow you to pull the window securely onto the frame using a key. It's best to fit two locks onto your largest windows and ensure you take the keys out when you've locked them.
Lock all doors and windows when leaving your property, even if it's for short trips to the corner shop and there aren't any other family members inside.
The safest forms of double glazing will have bolts shot into the frame to provide additional home security. Toughened glass isn't always the best glazing material; many recommend laminated glass as it is more likely to stay in place when smashed, ultimately slowing down potential burglars.
Toughened glass is known for shattering into small parts, which isn't safe for those with households of small children.
You must make your patio doors as safe as possible with a security bar or purpose-made lock. Patio doors are highly susceptible to break-ins; therefore, they present a significant security risk, so it's best to do all you can to ensure your patio is secure.
If you have french windows with both sides open, you must fit locks onto both; if you only fit one onto one part, the other will be a vulnerable point that burglars will get the better of.
Consider opting for mortice bolts at the top and bottom of your doors, fitting them skillfully into the frame, not your other door.
Many would encourage you to buy a spare pair of keys and leave them with a relative, friend or neighbour. Some of the book's oldest tricks are leaving your spare keys under ornaments, wheelie bins or planting pots; it's a massive risk and will be one of the first places potential home thieves will check.
You also want to ensure that when leaving your house, your keys aren't left in the keyhole or within sight of your letterbox, many burglars are opportunists, and if they notice abandoned keys, there will be nothing to stop them from trying.
It would be best if you didn't solely rely on your dog to protect your home. Many council tenants still require permission to have a dog or pet inside their property, so obviously, you will have to invest in some forms of outside protection, like security systems.
However, if you have a barking dog that has been trained and is ready for intruders, a dog sign on your front fence or gate door can be a deterrent.
Once alarms sound, many burglars will get hold of whatever they've managed or not managed to steal and run away and hide. We highly recommend getting high-quality burglar alarms installed by a professional security company.
You'll want a loud alarm system that draws attention so your neighbours will do something if you're not home.
Security Precautions
UV marker pens in the UK will typically cost you around £1 from local security or stationery shops. Once you've purchased one of these pens, we encourage you to use them to write your house number and postcode across the bottom of your valuables.
Suppose your possessions are found after being stolen; the police can then use a UV light to read your details, track you down and return your things to their rightful place; your home or property.
The writing can fade, so we recommend going over the details with your pen each year as the writing can fade, adding a sticker outside your house to let potential burglars know that your possessions are marked.
Photograph your property to keep your valuables safe, especially small items like jewellery, against a ruler to emphasise its scale. Pictures of your belongings can help police officers, shop owners or local authorities track down your things, so it's best to keep photographic evidence.
Most electrical items like jewellery, mobile phones and others tend to have digits that can be ID'd as a serial number to prove their legitimacy. Take photographs or note down these numbers and then upload them to a website known as the Immobilise Website.
It is a free service frequently checked by the police and other local authorities if they ever receive and recover stolen goods.
Garden & Shed Security
It's significant to postcode any of your belongings of value inside your sheds, such as your lawnmower or spare car parts. Postcoding your vital possessions will make it more challenging for thieves to sell your items with postcodes and house numbers ingrained or painted across them.
When ensuring your shed is protected from burglars, cover any existing windows so that they are prevented from viewing the items inside.
Get yourself a good quality padlock and the hasp and staple to complete it for all side doors of your garages or sheds, should you have them. We highly recommend bolting the hasp and staple to your door frame as this will provide extra strength.
We recommend smearing glue over the heads of any visible screws, or perhaps you can utilise anti-tamper screws, as this will be more challenging for burglars to unscrew and could frustrate them into giving up.
We recommend tightly locking your bikes to something bulky or fixed to the ground if you cannot fit them into a shed or alleyway or don't have one, for example, a workbench or ladder.
If there's any chance of a loud sound occurring when a thief tries to unlock or break the chain, it will wake you up or alert the neighbours before they can get away.
We wouldn't recommend leaving your things lying freely around your garden or backyard. Even if you're dipping in and out of the house on hot summer days to fetch food or other belongings, don't do so unless you're with other people that could watch your valuables whilst you do so and avoid leaving things out at night. Burglars could use your absence as a way to steal things from outside or to break into your house.
Contact your local security system installers or authorities, and they can assist you in setting up an efficient system that allows you to view the outside of your property and log evidence of any happenstances you can utilise. CCTV cameras keep surveillance footage of your garden or front yard. Home neighbourhood watch schemes and systems are ways you can deter burglars away from your garden and household.
Can electric gates deter burglars?
The idea that electric gates aren't an effective deterrent to burglars is somewhat of a myth. Many argue that large electric gates may lure burglars to your household or property, making it more lucrative to them as it perhaps implies that your home has far more to protect inside. However, many who argue this point fail to understand that most existing burglars are opportunists.
If there isn't an easy way to go about it, many will give up for fear of getting caught; thus, they are often easily deterred by prominent glaring security installations. The sheer presence of electric gates tends to imply that your property has more sophisticated additional security measures that are difficult to get past, which would put them off even more.
In short, electric gates can provide a mental and solid physical deterrent to burglars, as they will present far more risk of being caught than a beneficial opportunity for those looking to steal large amounts of household items or cash.
Contact your local authorities or security system providers for more advice on what devices or fences would be most suitable.
If you are looking to improve your home security in Tyne and Wear or Northumberland, you will need to consider the advantages of security gates.
Follow the link below for bespoke design and installation of domestic security gates throughout Newcastle Upon Tyne, South Shields, Sunderland, Northumberland, Washington and Gateshead.