Home security essentials: How to make your home safer
Posted February 24th, 2025 by SimpliSafe
First Posted: February 24th 2025 Have you evaluated your home security recently? While you may think it’s unlikely that you’ll become a burglary victim, absolutely any home can be targeted by criminals – even if you live in a quiet area or think your locks are secure.
Having someone invade your home and take your personal belongings can be a very distressing experience, so you need to take your home security seriously if you want to protect your home, family and peace of mind. To give yourself the best chance of deterring burglars, here are the top 15 home security essentials that can help make your home safer.
1. Home security cameras
Our number one recommendation for levelling up your home security is to install a home security system, including indoor cameras, outdoor cameras, entry sensors, motion sensors, glassbreak sensors and more. By installing these devices in and around your home, you can catch potential intruders in the act, giving you vital evidence if you do become a burglary victim. Plus, many criminals may abandon their attempt to break in if an alarm is activated, making this security solution a great deterrent as well as an important aid in a burglary investigation.
Here at SimpliSafe, we offer a comprehensive range of home security system packages to suit any customer, whether you’re looking for a basic camera and alarm system, or a more advanced system with video doorbells, smoke detectors and 24/7 security monitoring to keep your family safe. Looking for a more bespoke solution? We also allow you to build your own security system by selecting the exact products you’re looking for.
Once you’ve found the ideal security system for your home, it’s time for installation. To get the most out of your new system, you need to be very intentional about where you place your cameras and alarms, such as at entry points like doors and windows. For more guidance on fitting your burglar alarm system or placing your home security cameras, check out our blog or get in touch for advice.
2. Video doorbells
One item you may want to add to your home security system is a video doorbell – this allows you to see who’s at your front door or potentially loitering outside your house. Whilst you’re at home, you can use a video doorbell to verify who’s visiting before you unlock and open the door, and while you’re away, your video doorbell can send notifications straight to your phone when it detects motion by your door. You can then access your live doorbell footage from your phone to keep an eye on who’s on your property. Burglars may think twice about targeting your home if they see you’ve got a video doorbell installed.
3. Security lighting
Burglars may feel it’s safer to target your home if they’re under cover of darkness, so don’t let them take advantage of it. Install outdoor lighting to banish shadowy spots and make it much harder for intruders to approach your home undetected. Worried about disturbing your neighbours with too-bright security lighting at night? You can opt for motion-activated security lights that only come on when someone approaches.
4. Visible security system
One of the key benefits of having a home security system is that it can act as a visible deterrent to opportunistic criminals. According to a survey by Which?, 71% of burglars are put off by seeing a burglar alarm system, and 46% are put off by CCTV. Make sure you add SimpliSafe signage and decals to your home once you install your new security system – this will act as a warning sign to potential intruders, reducing the risk that a criminal will take the chance and target your home.
5. Top up your gravel driveway
If you’ve got a gravel driveway, pathway or front garden, make sure you keep it topped up. Not only is this good for aesthetic reasons, but it can also help you improve home security. Gravel creates a loud crunching sound when someone walks over it, alerting you to unexpected visitors. And burglars are aware of this, so they may be less likely to attempt a break-in at a home with gravel in the front garden.
6. Defensive gardening
On the topic of landscaping, another great security tip is to practise defensive gardening – this means planting shrubs that act as a natural defence around your garden, with features like thorns, barbs, spines and spiky leaves (think of plant varieties like Hawthorn, Holly and Pyracantha). While a spiky hedge isn’t effective enough on its own, it can make opportunistic burglars think twice if they’re looking for a property they can get in and out of quickly and silently. Plus, if you plant these shrubs under ground-floor windows, this can make it harder for intruders to gain entry via these access points.
Another aspect of defensive gardening or landscaping is removing potential hiding places on your property. Although spiky shrubs can act as a deterrent for criminals, they could potentially aid them instead if they’re very tall and provide plenty of cover. For this reason, it’s best to trim your hedges regularly and keep them at a lower height. Make sure you can see all areas of your garden clearly, and keep an area of free space around key access points so no one can approach undetected.
7. Garden trellis
If you’re a keen gardener, you can continue to combine your interest in landscaping with home security by installing a trellis on top of your garden fence. Not only is a trellis covered in plants a beautiful feature to add to your garden, but it can also help prevent burglars from climbing walls and fences. A trellis adds extra height to your fence and is not strong enough to support a person’s weight, so if anyone does try to climb it, you’ll be alerted by the sound of the trellis breaking.
8. Door and window locks
One of the most important home security tips is to keep your doors and windows locked – especially at night and when you’re away on holiday. However, basic locks sometimes aren’t enough to keep burglars away, so if you’re concerned about security in your neighbourhood, you could install new, stronger locks that meet British Standard BS7950.
If you’ve recently moved into a new home, don’t forget to change the locks. The previous owners may have given copies of their keys to friends and family, so there’s a potential risk that strangers could be able to access your home if you keep the locks the same.
9. Smart lighting
According to the Which? survey mentioned earlier, 52% of burglars were put off by the presence of people in the property they were targeting. As a result, many burglars target homes that look empty – no lights in the evening and letters or parcels piling up on the front doorstep are key signs.
A simple way to trick burglars into thinking your home isn’t empty while you’re away is to install smart lighting that turns on according to a timer. Nowadays, you can even buy smart lights that you can control remotely from your phone, so you can switch on your lights in the evening to fool opportunistic criminals.
If you’re going to use this lighting trick, make sure you also take care of other telltale signs of an empty house, such as unopened mail. You could give your keys to a friend or trusted neighbour so they can check on your house and take in your letters and parcels.
10. Hide valuables
While you may love displaying some of your prized possessions in your windows, this could mean you’re effectively advertising your valuables to criminals. You never know who could be passing by, looking through your windows and casing your home, so hide your valuables to avoid tempting a thief.
You should also try to avoid keeping your keys close to your front door. Burglars may be able to reach through the letterbox and use tools like fishing rods and magnets to grab your keys, so keep them away from any access points.
11. Car security
Keeping your keys hidden is one way to protect your car, but if possible, the best thing you can do is keep it inside your garage and ensure this space is locked. If you don’t have a garage, you could install automatic bollards on your driveway. These will lower into the ground when you use your fob and can then be locked into position when your car is parked, preventing anyone from driving it away. You can also keep it in an upright position while you’re away from home to stop other people from parking on your drive.
12. Protecting your personal information
Did you know that your social media posts can actually help out burglars? If your accounts are public and you post about your holiday while you’re still away, anyone could see this and know that your home is currently empty and vulnerable. Wait until you’re back home before you share your holiday highlights.
When throwing out rubbish, make sure that your personal information isn’t visible on any envelopes or parcels. Shredding them can help improve your home and personal security because criminals won’t be able to look through your bins and find details such as your name, phone number and email address (which can be used for identity theft).
13. Safe
When hiding your valuables, you can go one step further and buy a safe to store them in. This is a great solution for extremely valuable items. Just make sure the safe is heavy enough so that it can’t be carried out of your home.
14. Garden security
Don’t forget about your garden when improving your home security. If you have sheds containing valuable tools or items like bikes in your garden, it’s even more important that you take your garden security seriously.
Just like your home, keep your outbuildings and garden gates locked to deter intruders. You can also use padlocks for bikes and floor and wall anchors for garden furniture to keep everything where it should be.
15. Store spare keys safely
If you’re currently storing a spare key in a plant pot or under a doormat, you need to address this straight away. A burglar could easily guess where you keep a spare key and use it to enter your home while you’re away. Instead, store your spare keys somewhere safe, like in a wall-mounted key safe that opens when you enter the right combination. This means you can give the combination to someone you trust to look after your home while you’re away, without compromising your home security.