How to keep your home safe when you go on holiday

Going away should feel exciting, not stressful. But an empty house is exactly what an opportunist is looking for. The good news is you do not need fancy kit to lower the risk. A handful of small habits do most of the work.

Make the house look lived in

Burglars watch for signs that nobody is home. Curtains that never move, a pile of post through the letterbox, bins left out for a week. Ask a neighbour to pop round, bring in the post, and put the bins away on collection day. That one favour is worth more than any gadget.

Put a lamp on a cheap timer plug so a light comes on in the evening. It costs a few pounds and it works.

Do not tell the whole internet you are away

Posting holiday photos in real time tells anyone watching your profile that your house is empty. Wait until you are home to share them. It sounds obvious, we know, but it catches people out all the time.

Lock everything, then check again

Most break ins happen through a door or window that was not properly locked. Before you leave, walk round the house once, try every door and window, double check the back gate. Take the keys out of the inside of doors so nobody can smash a window and reach through.

Hide the obvious stuff

Do not leave car keys near the front door. Move laptops, jewellery, and passports out of sight. A quick peek through a window should show nothing worth grabbing.

Tell someone you trust

Let a neighbour know the dates you are away and give them a mobile number. If anything looks off, they can flag it straight away. This is where a community really earns its keep.

Add a visible deterrent

Alarms and cameras help, but the single strongest deterrent is a visible patrol rolling past your street at random times. A marked vehicle and a uniformed officer walking your perimeter tells anyone watching to try somewhere else. That is exactly what Phoenix Patrol does for a tenner a month.