15^th December 2017

Snow has fallen, streets are lit up and your email inbox is full of offers and new products. It can only mean one thing – Christmas is almost here.

That also means it’s time to head home for the holidays; to ditch the vodka and takeaways for hot chocolate and home cooked food. Hopefully, your Christmas shopping is well underway and you’ve also got your transport sorted.

However, there’s something just as important for you to take care of before you make the journey home.

We’re talking about keeping your student house safe over the holiday period. We know that you’re probably already in carefree Christmas mode, but we’ve put together a list of low cost (or free!) ways to keep your student accommodation secure; all whilst you’re enjoying the comforts of home. Just to reassure you, we have very rarely had any break-ins to our houseshares, but it doesn’t harm to be careful!

 

1. Keep Valuables Out Of Sight

This one is more important if you have a ground floor room. Valuables left in sight of a ground floor window present an easy opportunity for thieves.

If you’re not able to take all of your valuables home with you, make sure that they’re well out of sight and preferably locked away.

 

2. Cut back on the social posts

When planning your stay at home, you’ve probably drawn up a list of people you’d like to see. The easiest way to let them know you’re on your way home is to tweet or post about it.

Unfortunately, by doing this you’re also telling everyone that your student house is going to be left unattended. We recommend against posting these types of statuses. However, if you choose to post, then please make sure that the privacy settings for the post are set to your friends only.

 

3. Leave a light on

Usually when a light is left on in a house, it means that there’s someone home. This kind of indicator will usually deter burglars due to a higher risk to them.

Obviously we’re not expecting you to leave the lights on for two weeks straight. A light switch timer will have your lights turned on at set times of day to save you money and help to keep your belongings safe over Christmas.

 

4. Use Royal Mail Keepsafe

Similarly to lights being switched off, stacks of letters visible through letterboxes will tell a burglar that no one is home.

There’s no sure fire way to stop people from sending you mail, but there’s a way of delaying their delivery.

Royal Mail’s Keepsafe Service allows you to have all of your mail stored at your local depot, then delivered when you return.

 

5. Register Your Items With Immobilise

Despite taking measures to deter burglars, there’s always the possibility that your items may be stolen.

Immobilise allows you to register your items in their system, which can then be accessed by the police. If an item is stolen, simply mark it as stolen in your immobilise account and if your item is recovered, the authorities will be able to trace it back to you.

Immobilise also supply stickers that can be placed on your property. Greater Manchester Police have said that “Items marked as being registered with Immobilise are less likely to be stolen, and households displaying Immobilise stickers are less likely to be targeted by burglars”.

 

There are plenty of other ways to keep your student house secure over the Christmas period, but these are our top recommendations. If you’d like to take even more steps to keep your valuables secure, then you might want to:

 

• Make sure that gates are kept locked
• Password protect your electrical devices
• Lock your bedroom doors
• Refrain from leaving keys under doormats and plant pots

 

Make sure you have taken out insurance to cover your personal possessions so, if the worst should happen, at least you can get them replaced quickly. Make sure you have backed up any work or photos you have saved on your computer though as they would be irreplaceable!

If you’re going away for an extended period of time or you’re worried about larger items that you can’t carry, then self-storage units could be an option.

Finally, if your neighbours are going to be at home over Christmas then ask them to keep an eye on your house. Assure them that you’ll pay in chocolate.

 

If you have any questions or would like further advice on how to keep your accommodation secure over the Christmas period contact us on 01244 346226 and our team will be pleased to help.