How to Be Safe in Your New Home

You have just moved into your new home and can’t wait to get everything organised just the way you like. However, before you get carried away with decorating and buying new furniture you need to make sure that your new home is completely secure. Here is my guide to what I think you should do as soon as possible to ensure you and your new home are fully protected.

1. Change your locks

When you are given the keys to your new property you have no idea how many other sets of keys are still in circulation. The old owner could have given a set to a tradesman and not got them back or perhaps to friends or neighbours as a backup. If this is the case there is always the possibility that someone could let themselves straight into your home completely uninvited – not a nice thought! In addition, if you are burgled but there has been no ‘forced entry’, your insurance company may refuse to pay out. To avoid this happening to you get in touch with a good local locksmith who will quickly change your locks to good quality British Standard ones.

2. Make sure outbuildings are securely locked

Garages, sheds, summer houses etc. usually contain items that are expensive to replace e.g. gardening equipment, power tools, bikes, garden furniture etc. They are usually easier for a burglar to target so it is essential that they are protected with the correct type of secure lock. Again a good locksmith will be able to help with any lock repairs or lock replacements that are needed.

3. Check burglary history

It is a good idea to find out if your new home has been recently burgled. This is because if it has, you are unfortunately statistically more likely to be broken into again. It is not nice to find out your lovely new home is vulnerable in this way, but it is much better to know so that you can take precautions by beefing up your security. Fitting a visible alarm system or CCTV system is a good way to let potential burglars know that your security has been upgraded.

4. Secure WiFi connection

Many of us use iPads, laptops, pcs smartphones etc. to pay bills, bank and shop etc. To protect all your financial information, it is essential that you do this via a secure wifi connection. This means setting up your wifi with a password to ensure your neighbours or eavesdropping criminals cannot gain access to it.

5. Be a good neighbour

The people who live next to you can be your biggest help at keeping your home secure. They can spot dodgy looking callers when you are not at home and get in touch with you if there are any problems. Neighbours who are about during the day e.g. older people or people with young children also act as a good deterrent for burglars who do not want to be spotted lurking in the vicinity. Getting to know your neighbours and being a good neighbour is good socially and can help keep your home safe too.

6. Choose reputable tradesmen

Now that you have a new home you will probably have a number of jobs that will need doing in order to get it looking the way you want. New homes are often targeted with flyers through the door offering the services you are likely to need. Most will be genuine but some won’t. Always take the time to check out any tradesmen you are going to employ. It is better to ask family and friends for recommendations or look tradesmen up on Google and check out their most recent reviews.

Producing useful content for interest