Do you lock your door when you're home?

When I was at the hairdressers last Monday it surprised me to learn that not everyone locks their doors when they're at home. 

One of the ladies at the salon was chatting about an incident that happened at her home the previous evening. She was sitting watching TV with her daughter when a man entered her house through the open front door and stood there looking around. She said it looked like he was "eyeing up the place" and she phoned the police.

Hearing her story shocked me, I mean I didn't think people left their doors unlocked, even when they're home. So my question for you is do YOU?

When you're at home do you lock your doors?
Or do you leave doors unlocked and only lock them when you go out?

Our doors are always locked, whether we're in or out.

My reasons for locking our doors are quite personal and rather scary. 

When I was 20 and living on my own I left my doors unlocked all the time. It never occurred to me to lock them when I was home. 

I lived in a terraced house, it backed onto an elderly lady's bungalow, and she didn't lock her doors either.



One awful night that elderly lady was murdered. It happened at a time when my doors were unlocked and I was home. I knew the lady, she was a lovely person that always said hello but she was frail. It was quite a shock to learn that someone had hurt her. 

But then I realised that my doors had been unlocked when it was happening. I began to think that it could've been me, so easily it could've been. I was scared. So much so that I have locked my doors ever since and am always checking to make sure they're locked. 

When I enter my home I turn and lock it behind me, always. If the boys leave the door unlocked I go mad. The funny thing is that we have a large gate now and no one could get to the front door without us letting them in the gate first. But I still lock my doors.

We are also very security conscious, we have a house alarm and lockable doors and windows. But I still worry...


Burglary Statistics


Did you know that 59% of burglaries happen when the victim is still at home?
Or that in 15% of burglaries, the burglar enters through an unlocked door?


How secure is your home?




How do you protect your home against burglary? If you're unsure about how to protect yourself and your home below you'll find a few tips.

Install an alarm

There are Wifi alarms that can be easily installed in your home. If someone breaks into your home the alarm sounds. Ensure the alarm doesn't sound by mistake though, if that happens your neighbours may start to ignore it!


Install security lighting

Again easily installed, security lighting tells you when someone is approaching your home. It is quite a deterrent to potential burglars.


Lock your windows and doors

Locked windows and doors are classed as 'basic security' but burglary rates still drop when you lock your doors and windows. I guess it's because it requires more effort to get into a home that has locked doors.


Don't leave keys hidden outside

To me this is obvious. Although you might be able to get back into your home after locking yourself out, so could someone else. There are only so many places you can hide a key and potential burglars know this. They will look in all the obvious places and get into your home using your key.


Do you have these things installed?
How security conscious are you?