Changing the locks on a brand new property

Changing the locks on a brand new property

There seems to be a massive drive to build new homes lately. Almost everywhere you go, you are bound to be driving past a new build construction site. You might even be looking at a nice newly built home in your area, or even bought one. The beauty of a new home over an older one is that you can move in knowing you have nothing to do. The carpets are already fitted to your criteria, the sparkly kitchen gleams and there is no worry that some random neighbour has a spare key to your home, so why are we advising changing the locks on a brand new property?

Why change the locks?

Quite frankly, the developers will do the minimum possible to meet regulations, and currently in the UK the regulations just are not up to the same level as the burglars. New homes are all being built with multi-point locking mechanisms and while all the hooks, bolts and rollers look impressive and secure, the system is only as good as its’ weakest part, which is the locking cylinder. While standard locking Euro Cylinders are acceptable for insurance purposes, they are incredibly weak to a form of attack called ‘cylinder snapping’. Property developers will use these standard cylinders wherever possible.

Some of the more reputable developers will at least have the decency to install kite marked Euro cylinders in their doors, but beyond the kite mark, there are still three grades of security, which cover the three main forms of attack, those being snap, pick and drilling. So a cylinder with one star will be proof against picking but not the other two, and a cylinder with two stars will still be susceptible to attack by one of the three main methods. You can supplement the star rating by having anti-snap collars placed inside the handles, or anti-drill handles. You may even have these, but if you don’t know, then the burglar doesn’t know either and he is likely to have a go, fail and leave your door a mess before he leaves. Only a three star cylinder should be used if you want the burglar to go away before even trying.

With total honesty, there is a tool that can be purchased to bypass even some of the best three star cylinders, but it takes time use and is fiddly. Entry with this tool is trial and error, sometimes taking many minutes to get in the door, whereas a standard cylinder can be snapped in under 60 seconds with household tools and no sound. For the same reason a burglar will not take the time to remove your roof tiles and enter that way, he will not purchase a tool that takes him many times longer to get in than the cheap tools he can get from a DIY store.

Cylinder snapping is no longer about normal burglary any more; Intruders know that most people leave their car keys somewhere in the vicinity of the front door, be they left on a surface, hanging on a convenient hook, or just in a coat pocket. They can now look for the car they want to steal parked nicely on your front drive. As most of us are now two car families, at least one will sit on the drive, and if that car is your brand new Mercedes or BMW and you keep your keys close to an easily attacked door, your insurance might decide not to pay out because you didn’t take enough care. How many people tell their insurance the car is kept in the garage, knowing that actually the garage is full of the toot we don’t want in our actual houses? Breaking into a house and stealing the keys is now the easiest way to steal their car.

And while a barking dog is a deterrent to some degree, what protects your home when you are on holiday or even out walking that dog?

Most three star Euro cylinders are visibly different to standard cylinders. They shout at the burglar you are serious about home security and that attacking your home is going to be noisy and time consuming. Noise and time are the enemy of the burglar. If he knows breaking into your home is going to be noisy and take up precious time, he is going to move on. If you fit the proper cylinders, chances are you will be angry with the locksmith after years and years of never seeing any signs of attack. You will never know how many intruders scouted your home and mentally noted to leave you alone. It’s not hard. I help my kids with their paper round, and the best locks stick out like a sore thumb. I know exactly how few there are and where they are. A potential intruder only has to deliver some bogus leaflets in any area to work out who is best avoided.

While on this subject, an emailed question asked if it worth putting extra strength glue in an externally beaded window so that if the burglar got the beading off the window would still be stuck in place. Beading removal was never a hugely popular method of attack. There was always too much potential to make noise and take a long time. Also, the risk of breaking glass and then cutting oneself is too high, even without extra glues. Cylinder snapping is quick, quiet and easy. So faced with a choice, you should always upgrade your cylinders.

If you have standard cylinders or even kite marked one star cylinders, you should upgrade now. If you don’t know what you have, a good locksmith in your area will come and assess your locks via a free security check. Unless a locksmith has provided your locks, I very much doubt they will be the best on the market. You cannot buy the best locks in the DIY shops. While you are ensuring you have the best locks, you should be sending a copy of this information to everyone you care about, because of the following reasons:

• Burglary is on the rise.
• Traditionally ‘safe’ areas are being burgled more often.
• Only a tiny fraction of burglaries get investigated by police.
• You are now at risk from car thieves as well.
• Burglars pass on information to each other, so if you are burgled once, you stand an increased chance of being hit again.
• Every person I speak to who has experience a burglary, reports feeling of personal violation, sleepless nights and detachment from their home.

If you have any questions regarding the above information or any of the other blogs I have written, please get in touch via any of the methods on my contacts page.

Thanks for reading.

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