Keeping your possessions and family home safe is obviously a priority for all of use, but making sure your home has the best security available is out of many peoples budgets. Fear not though, because there are a number of ways you can improve the safety of your home without investing hundreds of pounds, here are 5 of the best tips.
Signs as the first line of defence
The first thing a burglar generally does when assessing whether they will attempt to break into a house is wha the exterior looks like. Because of this you should make your home appear as difficult to break into as possible, which you can even do on a budget.
Why not try putting up a few “beware of the dog signs” whether you have a dog or not. You can also try putting up recognisable home security signs whether you have it installed or not, as this will make them think twice about approaching your front door.
Budget Security Cameras
Splashing out on a full CCTV setup would obviously be damaging to your wallet, so what are the ways around this? Appearance is everything in budget home security, and it is as much about putting off potential burglars than catching them.
While the most basic home CCTV equipment can set you back £170, you can pick up fake cameras for a tenth of the price. Some of these are solar powered which means they can rotate and also have a flashing light on the side to appear as if it is recording, very convincing to the unsuspecting eye.
For a truly bargain basement approach, why not try placing an old webcam on the outside of your home.
The Right Locksmith
One of the most basic home security precautions is ensuring you have functional locks on your doors and even windows. While installing locks of differing standards can be pricy, there are still ways you can get the best for your budget.
Locksmiths are not regulated by the UK government, which means that the price and skills of many locksmiths vary with no real rhyme or reasoning. Locksmith trainers MPL Locksmith Training suggest you do your homework, make sure that the locksmith you go for has had all the proper training and their course was recognised by the NCFE.
With these types of qualifications you can guarantee a certain standard which at least won’t leave you having to call out another locksmith a week later because the first one did such a bad job.
Security Lights
According to research done by Aviva insurance, burglaries increase by as much as 20% in the winter months, meaning the dark nights play a big part in the confidence of thieves. One of the simplest ways to combat this is to keep your home as well lit as possible.
When money is no issue, the obvious answer is to kit your entrances and garden with movement sensitive security lights, however if you are on a budget this just isn’t possible.
There are plenty of little tricks to combat this so why not try leaving your television, front room or doorway lights on if you need to leave the house for any reason on an evening.
Prepare a Red Herring
Assuming the worst has happened and someone has broken in, there are still precautions you can take to make the burglary as less painful as possible. Many people generally keep their important personal belongings in the same places such as the bedside draw or under their mattress.
Its thought that a burglar will generally spend between 8-12 minutes in your house, so they don’t exactly have time to browse. What this means is that they will generally go straight for the usual hiding places.
Changing up your hiding places will immediately waste plenty of their time. With little time left, they will get desperate and grab anything in plain sight, so why not place a red herring object that you can take a loss on such as an old laptop or phone.
Alternatively you can adopt some more obscure hiding places that are so obvious they would never guess. Try putting your important belongings into a plastic bag and hiding them in the bottom of a box of cereal, or in the sleeve of a hardback book.
Hopefully these 5 tips will help those of you who cant afford a state of the art security system or 15 camera CCTV set up to keep your home safer than it currently is. If you have any other useful tips why not leave a comment blow.