Wherever you live and however grand – or otherwise – your home, of course, you’ll want to keep the bad guys out. The Americans have a word for making it harder for someone to break into your home. It’s called “hardening”, explains The Prepared.
Since hardening your home to keep the bad guys and girls out is all likely to come down to the security you maintain, here are some tips and suggestions.
Appearances
A more secure home is going to be the one that does not draw attention to itself. Give up any ostentatious displays in favour of anything that makes your home just one normal place amongst others – nothing special.
Doors and windows
These are probably the first things you think about when home security springs to mind – and for good reason, too, because these are by far the most common points of entry.
The place to start for any review of home security, therefore, is with the external doors and the locks on them. As the Master Locksmiths’ Association explains, locks on these doors should conform to BS3621, ensuring that the door can only be opened with the correct key whether you are coming in or going out.
You can check whether the locks on your doors currently conform to the British Standard by looking for the kitemark that is stamped onto the lock.
Understandably perhaps, locks on the windows are often overlooked because of bigger worries about the doors. But all manner of locking devices are also available – from Lock Monster, for example – to help keep your opening windows more secure.
Having taken care of upgrading the security of your doors and windows, though, don’t forget to use those locks – and change them if ever they are compromised.
Alarms, cameras, and early warning systems
Supplement the security of your upgraded locks with suitable alarms, cameras, and early warning systems to alert you to attempts at break-in and intrusion.
You’ll find a huge choice these days of alarms and camera systems. An article in Good Housekeeping on the 21st of July 2021 offers a comprehensive review of some of the top-selling smart alarm and camera systems currently available. They are smart in the way that they link all the devices in your home – sensors, keypads, cameras, and audible alarms and sirens – wireless via your wi-fi.
Lighting
But improving the security of your home doesn’t have to involve any fancy or sophisticated installation.
Your defences against can be improved no end simply by fitting some motion-detection lighting on the external walls of your home.
Visit Amazon’s online store to get an idea of the very wide range of lights available – including those that are solar-powered – at especially affordable prices.
Securing the perimeter
A briefing note by Lincolnshire Police draws attention to the importance of maintaining the fencing around the back garden of your property – letting such fencing fall into a state of disrepair not only weakens your defences but suggests to any intruder that the rest of your home will be equally insecure.
The briefing recommends fencing that is at least 1.8 metres tall and, to prevent intruders from crawling under it, as close to the ground as possible.
Any gates into the back garden, including those at the side of your house, should be the same height as your security fencing.
Security and the law
When upgrading and installing security around your home – including the fencing – you are unlikely to need planning permission for the works. Nevertheless, it is worth checking that none is required before you invest heavily in any new scheme.
You might also want to keep in mind the legality of any security measures you take. You are perfectly entitled to set up CCTV security cameras for the protection of your home, asserts the Online Spy Shop, but you might fall foul of the Human Rights Act and its protection of your neighbour’s privacy if the cameras are pointed directly at their bedroom windows.
You might also want to check out the Crime Prevention Website which explains the many laws likely to have some impact on any security measures you may take – even when these are on your own property but might also border the public highway. The law can be complicated with respect to measures such as electrified fencing, for example, especially if someone is injured and holds you liable for those injuries.
Don’t dig out or lay man-traps, advises the website – they are almost certain to be illegal.
Insurance
Whenever you have improved or upgraded the security of your home, don’t forget to advise your insurers exactly what you have done and explain the extent to which your home is better protected.
Your greater attention to security will have helped mitigate the risks of insured losses or damage – so, your insurer may reduce the cost of your insurance premiums.
Summary
You are entitled to the quiet, peaceful, and undisturbed enjoyment of your home. You are entitled to take whatever measures are necessary to keep intruders out.
So, take a look at the security that currently protects your home and consider the many ways in which those safeguards can be improved and made still stronger.
Leave a Reply