Those living in detached properties...

[WitchyWay]

Hey, I'd love some advice/experience please.

Disclaimer: I've always had a huge fear of being burgled. No idea why as it's never happened thus far, but it's a big fear of mine especially now I have children. I'm also ashamed to say I'm still scared of the dark!

Disclaimer: we don't have loads of cash, this house needs work, hence it's affordable.

Anyway, we have always lived in terrace or semi properties and I grew up in the same but we are close to offering on a detached property that has it's own drive. The way the long driveway is means the house isn't viewable from the road. The entry way is also quite uniquely placed in that the doorway isn't viewable from the front of the property either. I suspect it would be a burgled dream! The neighbours aren't close enough to be a concern to any potential intruder.

If you have a similar property, do you worry about this? What measures have you put in place to prevent it?

We'll definitely put security cameras and motion lights on the front and back. I'm wondering if we should get a security system or if that's a waste of money? We're not really dog people but even wondering if that would be a good idea?!

I've heard that most break-ins are usually to steal the cars these days which would be fine, our cars aren't fancy and this wouldn't worry me as much as someone coming and ransacking the house or approaching us in the night.

I love my current semi and have always felt safe. I'm now wondering, despite it offering the much needed space we need, if moving to a detached that's not part of a cul-de-sac etc is a good idea...

Is the drive entrance area open or is is walled, fenced, hedged in?

If so, what about gates (you can get a motor on them and open them with a remote from your car), or beams. When the beams are triggered it sets off an alarm. One problem with this is that they can be set off by animals if they are placed too low.

@AllThePotatoesAreSinging I have never heard of an alarm that activates smoke. And I live in a country where everyone has security systems as standard. My alarm has gone off accidently a fair few times, I dread to think if my house was filled with smoke after each time. What type of smoke is it? And where does it get stored? I am intrigued now.

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Burgled twice plus an attempted break in when living in a terraced house, never in a detached. Have lived in 4 terraced houses 4 semi detached and 3 detached.

We live in a detached cottage, semi rural in the home counties. We have been burgled once, they took gold, and left ipads etc. I have posted about this before, I believe they targeted us because we are South Asian.

That was 4 years ago, fast forward since then we have put up alarms but we still have intruders on the property, at 2am in the morning. They are chancers. I have no gold left and I wont be buying anymore.
All of our neighbours have been targeted too.

I think you are overthinking this. I have been burgled when I lived in a flat which was in a Victorian terrace, tonnes of neighbours and still happened.

We are moving to a detached house soon. Planning to get security lights and security cameras.

CCTV
Security system
Cameras all round
Put your car in the garage, but if you can’t, don’t leave a single thing o value in it. I’m always astonished by the posts on our local FB page, from people who’ve had expensive items, bank cards and jewellery stolen from their cars.
Put the car keys in a Friday box as far away from the front door as possible.

I have cameras around my house, I don’t agree that being detached makes you more vulnerable though.

It’s wall mounted and the container is about the size of a decent coffee mug. This one is similar:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fQA-hXo6egU

We’ve not triggered the alarm many times but it’s certainly added a level of anxiety when we try to shut it off! It’s not toxic and doesn’t leave a residue if triggered. It just fogs the environment and makes it hard to see, so if we do set it off we just need to give them a call and they will replace the canister.

Can you put gates on the drive ? Gravel drive , definitely an alarm . Ring doorbell.

Also just to add, we have battered old cars, nothing worth stealing. On our lane, they just try their luck. This thread has prompted me to start a Neighbourhood Watch whatsapp group.

Security cameras, signs, Ring Doorbell and pay the extra for the footage.
If you can afford it is also invest in gates (electric if you can to save the stress)
I've lived in detached homes for 20 years now and it does feel very safe, but we also have security cameras - the worst I've seen on it was my cat killing a pigeon - we'd blamed DDog as she had it, but I went back through the footage and DDog found said bird and tried to take it to a safe place ... she's such a sweetie ... cat however is a bugger and now wears a bell of shame!!

I think people are just after fancy cars these days esp BMW. We don’t have a fancy car! But am careful about making sure the keys are not on show. Otherwise I don’t worry

We live in a big rural house. We have an electric farm gate, CCTV, a ring alarm system and a huge dog. I am often alone here. Never had a problem at the house, but someone stole all the rugs off my horses last year when they were in a field by the road!

We have cameras but quite low tech. I do not like motion sensors as I often the foxes or cats set them off and it makes me more nervous. I would say over time i worry about it all less. We have good locks etc. around us stealing oil is a big issue.

Omg @elastamum really? That’s awful!
Rural and detached here, we share a drive with one other house. Have an alarm system, security lights/cameras and electric gates. Also the loudest gravel known to man on the drive! We live in Landrover country but I would never have one due to all the theft, our cars defo do not feature on the most stolen list 🤣 I feel safer here than when we lived on a 70s estate in a commuter suburb, car theft and burglary were rife there because it was so easy for them to get away onto a main road.

Lots of good suggestions already, CCTV, electric gates, Faraday boxes for car keys) but just adding my voice to the don't get a dog crowd.
A dog is a ton of work - especially one you want to train as a guard dog. There's no guarantee that the dog you get is going to be a good guard dog anyway (I've got a large breed that looks intimidating, but is so daft he'd be no actual use if burglars did attend). You'd need to put in a lot of effort to train the dog.
Also you can't just leave a dog to guard your property whilst you're away on holiday (which is presumably the time you'd be most worried about being burgled).

We live in a big detached house in a nice village and we have had 2 attempted burglaries and 1 where they got in and cleaned us out.
The best thing you can do is get an alarm and use it religiously.
Our two attempted burglaries were during the night and as soon as they got in the alarm set off and they ran out immediately.
The time we were properly burgled was at 4pm in the afternoon when we were at work. As the alarm was going off they were in and out in 6 minutes.
We have 2 black jeeps which I think are a target but we keep them in the garage. We also have ring cameras round the house but the burgers just turned them round!
I don't feel scared at all to be honest. I never think about it. I realise it's not personal and they just want in and out. We got insurance money for what they stole so it's fine.
It's totally worth it to stay in a nice detached house.

Have you seen the Watchman devices for oil tanks? They connect to your phone so you can monitor your oil being used, but they also send you an alert if your tank is being tampered with/draining quickly.

Sorry but this is such a funny typo considering you have labs! A burger definitely wouldn’t stand a chance.. 😂

A good way around the dog issue is to have a recording of dogs barking by the door and if there are times you're unsure (tradesmen doing work outside/someone on camera scouting around etc) just play it, they won't have a clue you don't actually have dogs and you don't get the extra work of having them.

Burglars love Those big electric gates, they’re great to hide behind!

I’ve been burgled in detached, semi detached and a terrace so I don’t think it matters! Our neighbours in london were totally cleaned out - it was like the burglars were furnishing a house from scratch.

Mostly it’s cars nowadays they are after but I’ve had 3 friends in detached houses have armed robberies which are not nice but they all live in very wealthy areas. I’ve had about 6 friends have their cars stolen and one of the cars was a VW golf so not at all a fancy car.

get a monitored alarm for a start plus security cameras, bollards in front of your car and a dog plus don’t wear anything flashy when out and about as burglars target wealthy looking people.

@Droolylabradors but burglars carry weapons posties don’t. Your dogs would not stand a chance sadly x

It sounds lovely, OP.

We have always lived in detached houses, ever since the townhouse next door to us ( in a very smart London postcode) was bought by some absentee landlords who ran a thriving drugs trade from it. Until the Police had a midnight raid to close it down…..

Lots of people have made good security suggestions for you to follow. I must get up from my bed which faces the road about twenty metres from our secluded drive and make the breakfast, but first I will feed the sparrows who are sitting on the bird feeders in the front garden.

BTW, it’s great for parcels, since if they are left on the step, no one else can see them.

As well as motion activated outdoor lights, we use a number of smart plugs to switch lights on in different parts of the house. There’s also a security system I read about called Kevin that gives the impression someone is moving around inside the house.