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?
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.

New build Holt, New build Fakenham, New build Aylsham, New build Cromer,
New build North Walsham, New Build Norfolk, Locks Holt, Locks Fakenham,
Locks Aylsham, Locks Cromer, Locks North Walsham, Locks Norfolk

admin August 3, 2021

Best home security / Improve your home security / kite marked locks / New builds & their locks / Why change my locks? /

National Home Security Month (Part 2)



Week one of National Home Security Month has drawn our attention to a great smart phone app that tells you how many burglaries there have been within a one mile radius of your home recently. Apart from telling you there are home intruders operating in your area, it is also interestingly shows who does not have adequate security. For example, I know of a housing development in Aylsham where all the front doors are fitted with kite marked ‘Yale’ type locks. Locksmiths and burglars can tell at a distance that these properties are very secure, from the front at least. Unfortunately, most of these properties have double glazed back doors with standard cylinders which are easily broken into, but whereas the more determined home intruder might check out the back, the opportunist will scout the first few properties in the area and might well decide the pickings would be easier elsewhere. Therefore, the burglary rate is lower.

Some statistics taken from National Home Security Month:

  • Burglars typically spend less than one minute getting into a home.  That’s how easy it can be. And that’s what we want to protect against. If they can’t get into your home in less than a minute, then they may go and look elsewhere. I was speaking to a friend just yesterday who told me he is terrible for forgetting where he left his keys, but doesn’t worry about it because he has alternative ways into his house. I tried to explain that this is a terrible situation but some people will only learn the hard way. It also scares me that he tells other people that his house is easy to burgle. Don’t be like my friend. Have quality locks fitted and keep them in good working order.
  • 73% of burglars gain entry via a door.   Think about this. They want to carry as much of your stuff off as possible and that means going through a door. Trying to get out of a window with the loot runs the risk of injury or getting stuck, and therefore caught. So why break in through a window if you won’t be able to use a door to escape? I would take an informed guess that most of the remaining 27% were breaking in with intent of stealing specific items. That is a guess, but one that makes sense.
  • 1 in 3 people admit to leaving the door unlocked when they leave the house! When I was growing up, I remember just about everybody in our street popping in and out of other people’s houses – but in that long distant past, we all looked out for our neighbours. Nowadays it seems most of us only communicate with our neighbours with a quick hello in passing, so leaving doors unlocked just seems insane. If you are the sort of person that does this, then invest in the type of lock that will need a key to get back in. There is no excuse. About the only thing worse than leaving doors unlocked would be to paint a sign out side saying “Please come in and take what you want!”
  • People without window locks and double locks or deadlocks on external doors are six times more likely to be burgled. Quite simply, even if the burglar can’t see from a distance that you are well protected, a quick try at some of your windows might tell him to look elsewhere. Remember, when they do come in through the window, it is because they can force the frame. They don’t want to break the glass because that leads to the risk of injury and if they do cut themselves, they are leaving forensic evidence.

If you would like any advice about your home security, without sales pitch, please feel free to contact me via the contacts page on the web site.

National Home Security Month has been designed to create awareness around the importance of home security and get people security savvy in time for winter. The nationwide initiative, which runs throughout the month of October is supported by security specialist Yale, but is open to lots of organisations, including businesses, charities and not-for-profit groups, as well as members of the general public.

Thank you for reading.

admin October 6, 2014

Improve your home security / National Home Security Month /