Student House Security Tips

Students are at a high risk of burglary, and it’s not hard to see why. A house full of students is likely to have a laptop and smartphone per person, with a few TVs, speakers and maybe games consoles thrown in for good measure. Add in the potential naiveite of those living away from home for the first time, and it’s clear that students should follow some basic student house security tips to remain safe.

Before you move in…

Before you move in, confirm that the last residents have handed in their keys, and that no copies were made. It’s worth asking when the locks were last replaced, and ensuring that the house has a working, high quality locking system in place.

Student houses aren’t known for their high quality, so examine the doors, windows and locks to

Students are at a high risk of burglary, and it’s not hard to see why. A house full of students is likely to have a laptop and smartphone per person, with a few TVs, speakers and maybe games consoles thrown in for good measure. Add in the potential naiveite of those living away from home for the first time, and it’s clear that students should follow some basic student house security tips to remain safe.

Before you move in…

Before you move in, confirm that the last residents have handed in their keys, and that no copies were made. It’s worth asking when the locks were last replaced, and ensuring that the house has a working, high quality locking system in place.

Student houses aren’t known for their high quality, so examine the doors, windows and locks to look out for any glaring issues. Ask your landlord to get in touch with a well-regarded local locksmith if the house looks unsafe.

Always Lock Your Door

Sounds obvious right? In our day to day work we often visit student accommodation while the tenants are not home, accessing the property with a master key to carry out repairs. On lots of occasions when there is no one home, the front door is unlocked on our arrival! Make sure all residents understand that it’s their responsibility to lock the door behind them – not to leave it to someone else.

On the topic of obvious tips, other basics still apply. That means leave your valuables out of site, and don’t hide a key anywhere like under the doormat! Don’t leave bicycles outside – bring them in.

Lock Your Bedroom Door Too

It’s not just the front door you should be concerned with. With most valuable possessions stored in individual bedrooms, if a burglar does enter a student house you can make their job a lot harder by ensuring that you lock your bedroom door every time you leave the house.

Having a Party?

If you’ve got friends round, having a party or are relaxing in the garden, don’t get lax with your home security. Don’t leave the front door unlocked, as a common method of entry is for a simple ‘walk in’, where a burglar will simple enter through an open or unlocked door.

Leaving Over the Holidays?

It’s obvious that most students leave their student homes for holidays over Christmas, Summer and Easter. Although that might be the case, you needn’t make your home a target: take valuables home with you if you’re leaving for an extended period of time. Alternatively, you could always invest in a light timer to make the house appear occupied.

Be Careful on Social Media

We’ve all heard the stories of the students up on Albert Grove, who created a Twitter profile for their house, and uploaded a picture of them all on a night out with the hashtag #OutTilLate… And then came back to find their laptops stolen and their speakers trashed.

There are so many ways to get hold of someone’s address, house number, and street name through social media – try to avoid making it even easier for people to find you, especially when advertising a big empty student house.

Register valuable goods

Immobilise is a great system which aims to repatriate owners with stolen goods, if they fall into the hands of the police. Whether it’s a bike or a laptop, it’s worth marking your products. Should the worst happen, at least you’ll have a better chance of getting your belongings back.

Don’t leave broken locks, damaged windows or lost keys to ‘deal with another day’

The sooner you can alert your landlord to any security issue in your house, the safer you and your housemates will be. So, if you’ve lost or misplaced your key outside of your house, you need to let your landlord or estate agent know as soon as possible so they can change the locks.

Even if it’s an upstairs window, a broken window is still an entrance into your home for any unwanted visitors. Avoid trying to board it up or fix the lock yourself, there are professional services to do that for you.