Would you buy a house that had recently been burgled?

[Mumtogremlins]

We put an offer in on a house in a reasonable area. It's on a through road but fairly quiet. We got the paperwork through today and the vendor wrote that the house was burgled last year. Not sure what to think really. I'm not happy but don't want to overreact when anyone could get burgled at any time. Would you feel happy going ahead with it?

You can check that kind of info on the local police website. Honestly: anyone could get broken in to. Was it opportunist with a window left open, did they have something visible which is particularly desirable??? What is security like at the house? If it has no alarm system that's one thing you might want to rectify. Get a ballpark figure for fitting a suitable alarm system and see if the vendors will knock that amount off the sale price.

If on the other hand there is longstanding history of the place being burgled annually then you'd want to dig deeper and find out what was going on. Burglars favour some places because they can gain access while not being seen and there's a route away with the swag without drawing attention to themselves/being seen by neighbours or passers by. Also they know that stolen kit is highly likely to be replaced via an insurance claim.

I would have no issue provided I felt security in the property was good. It's not like a home-owner is ever asking to be burgled and you can't control what burglars do. You could buy a house that has never had an issue and be burgled your first day in there so it's a little bit daft to fret about something that has happened when you're not even the owner IMO.

We were burgled when we lived in London. All locks had been insurance standard but they still broke in when we were out. Nothing we could reasonably do to prevent it. Fortunately our buyers had no issue with it 6 months later.

Our insurance went up (on our new house) because we'd made a claim in the past but it doesn't affect new owners if they've had no claims in their past.

Meant to say it wouldn't put me off or be a big deal unless I had other doubts about the place.

They broke in through the French doors which have been replaced. It has 2 side access points and lighting but not sure about alarm. It has a big garden which you can't see the end of due to the bushes. Don't know if its been broken into before. I know it's probably silly but it makes me feel nervous!

it's a fair concern. Burglars return a few weeks later to pick up what has been replaced on insurance. If the security has been uprated and they can't get in, they give up and go in search of easier pickings.

so that is the question to ask. What has been done to prevent a recurrence, has there been an attempted theft since?

We bought the house we are in now and although it had never been burgled it is set a weird angle and so is very private and had a 8 foot high hedge all round blocking anyone seeing the drive or front of the house.

It also has no neighbours right next to it so lovely and private but rich pickings for some.

The previous owner had a single cctv camera aimed at the drive and like I said the house has never been burgled. They took the camera with them when they moved. We have been here 4 years.

It may well have been a co-incidence but when we reduced the hedge to about 4 foot my car was broken into on my drive. No damage was done and they also broke into another car on my street, were spotted and someone phoned the police.

Since then we have upped the security. We changed all the locks to anti-snap ones, installed cctv at the front and the back of the property and had new dusk till dawn LED lighting installed front, back and side. We always have the alarm on even at night.

The police have always said, opportunists like unlocked doors, dark houses and keys on display near windows.

Even large footballer stylee homes get broken into, if they are determined nothing will stop them but you can deter them.

It wouldn't put me off buying a house as long as the original issue had been addressed.

It wouldn't put me of unless it was repeatedly burgled. Break ins happen everywhere.