5 Ways To Keep Your Home Safe & Secure These Summer Holidays

As summer rolls around, many people start making plans for fun vacations and getaways. However, this is also often a peak time for burglaries and property crimes, as many properties are left unattended. To help you out before you head off on your summer holiday, we’ve put together five ways to help keep your home safe and secure this summer.

1. Collect Your Mail

Ask someone to pop around and collect your mail and take the bins in and out, so that your home doesn’t look clearly unoccupied during this time.

2. Change the Locks

Have you moved into a rental recently or just bought a new property? It can be hard to know exactly who might still have a key to your home. The time before you head on vacation is a good time to call around a locksmith and get the locks changed. That way you can be sure that only the people that you have given keys to will be able to access your home while you are away.

3. Ensure That Only Trusted People Have Your Key

Rather than stashing a spare key under the pot plant to let the dog walker in, consider getting more keys cut in order to give your trusted contacts their own key copy. Unfortunately, many of the common spots for hiding keys are also the first place for burglars to check so don’t leave keys hidden in the yard or around the home.

4. Make Sure the Lights Turn On And Off At Normal Intervals

Another sure-fire clue that the house is unoccupied is having lights that stay off while you are away. Consider getting a motion sensor or timer that can turn on lights at different times during the day and night, mimicking the normal appearance of a lived-in home.

5. Maintain the Garden

If you are going to be away for a significant period it can also be a good idea to get someone to come around and maintain your yard while you’re away. Not only does thing mean that you will return home to a nicely maintained property, but it will appear that your home looks lived in while you are away, and is less likely to be burgled.

If you are looking to make your home as safe as possible, you should contact a locksmith who will give you advice on how to best secure points of entry. Making your house looked lived in and reducing the opportunities for easy break-ins is the best way to keep your home secure this summer holiday.