Keeping Your Home Secure While You Are Away

Plan Before You Lock the Door

Going away, whether for a fortnight in Cornwall or three weeks visiting family overseas, is meant to be relaxing. The last thing you want is to spend it worrying about the house you have left behind. A little preparation in the days before you go can make an enormous difference, and most of it costs nothing at all.

Start with the basics. Check that every external door locks properly, including the back gate and any side entrance you rarely use. Test your window locks, and make sure a downstairs window is not left slightly open for ventilation once you have gone. If you have a burglar alarm, confirm it is working and that your keyholder details are up to date. Tell your insurer if you will be away for an extended period, as many policies reduce cover after a set number of days, often 30 or 60, unless the property is visited regularly.

Think about keys too. Never leave a spare hidden under a plant pot or in a fake rock; those spots are well known. If someone needs access, lend a key in person to a person you trust, and let them know your dates clearly.

Make It Look Like Someone Is Home

Burglars look for the obvious signs of an empty house: unlit windows night after night, a letterbox overflowing, bins that never appear. The aim is not to build a fortress, but to remove the giveaway clues.

• Use plug-in timer switches for lamps rather than leaving one light on constantly. Set a living room lamp for the evening and a bedroom light for an hour or so before you would normally go up.
• Consider a timer for a radio or a smart speaker playing a talk station quietly. A murmur of conversation is surprisingly convincing.
• Avoid leaving curtains and blinds fully closed for weeks. Some neighbours will notice, but so will anyone watching the street. Timed lights behind half-open curtains look far more natural.
• If you have a driveway, ask a neighbour to park on it occasionally, or leave a car there if someone can move theirs.
• Keep the garden tidy before you go. An overgrown lawn after a fortnight is a subtle hint that nobody is about.

None of this needs to be expensive. A pack of timer plugs costs a few pounds, and they are arguably the single most useful purchase for anyone leaving a home empty.

Ask a Trusted Neighbour to Help

A good neighbour is worth more than any gadget. Before you go, have a quiet word with someone you trust and ask if they would mind keeping an eye on things. Be specific about what you need rather than leaving it vague.

• Ask them to push any post through the letterbox or, if you prefer, collect it so the hallway does not visibly fill up. You can also arrange a postal hold or redirection for longer trips.
• Ask them to put your bins out and bring them back in on collection day.
• Leave a contact number and an email address, plus the details of anyone else who has a key.
• If you are friendly enough, mention whether they can park a car in your space so the house does not look abandoned.

Do the same favour for them when they go away. These small reciprocal arrangements are how streets quietly look after themselves.

Keep Your Trip Off Social Media

This is the mistake people make most often, and it is entirely understandable. Posting a photo of your first breakfast by the sea feels natural. But a public post announcing that your house is empty for two weeks is an invitation.

Save the holiday photos until you are home. If you want to share in the moment, use a private group or message a few friends directly rather than posting publicly. Check your privacy settings anyway, because a post shared to "friends" can still reach people you barely know.

Other giveaways include an out-of-office reply that states exactly when you return, and delivery tracking updates that show parcels piling up at your door. Ask a neighbour to take deliveries in, and pause any regular subscriptions such as milk or a veg box rather than letting them stack up on the step.

If You Rent Your Home

Tenants have particular things to consider. Your tenancy agreement will usually say whether you need to tell your landlord about absences beyond a certain length, so read it before you book anything. You are generally not required to give notice just because you are going on holiday, and your right to quiet enjoyment of the property continues while you are away.

Check your contents insurance, or take some out if you do not have it. Landlord policies cover the building, not your belongings, and many specifically exclude theft where there are no signs of forced entry, such as an unlocked window.

Do not sublet or let a friend stay without checking your agreement first, and be careful about who holds a key. Finally, test your smoke alarms before you leave, and let your landlord know if anything needs repairing while the property is empty.

Coming Home and Staying Secure

When you return, take a moment before you go in. If a door is open, a window is broken, or something looks wrong, do not enter. Call the police from outside and wait somewhere safe.

If everything is fine, check for signs of entry you might otherwise miss: marks around locks, a changed alarm setting, or post that has been moved. Report anything suspicious to the police on 101, and let your neighbours know so they can be alert too.

Most break-ins are opportunistic, and the measures above take an afternoon to set up. Do them once, and the same routine will serve you for every trip you take.