Smart ideas for house safety and security?

[yully]

Recently bought our first house. Still thrilled! Still barely believe it.

I'm not a natural worrier but this genuinely still feels so incredible, I want to do everything I can to keep the place and us safe (eg in event of fire) and secure. Thankfully we live in a pretty low-crime area. I'm wondering, Mumsnet hive mind, what do you recommend?

Stuff I've done:

• Got keys for all window locks (house didn't come with any)
• Checked smoke alarms
• Insurance

Stuff I need to do:

• Get locks changed (should really have done this first, I know...)

Other ideas:
Get a small fire extinguisher?
Fire blanket for kitchen?

Ummm... what else?

Carbon monoxide detector.
Camera doorbell.

If they are eurocylinder locks make sure you get decent ones that are anti pick and anti snap. You can change them yourself normally pretty easily, see youtube.

Fireextinguisher and fire blanket are good ideas. If you have not had the electrics inspected and the gas appliances inspected this is worth doing.

Make sure you know how to turn your water off in the event of a crisis - some stopcocks can be hard to find and you don't want that while water is pissing through your ceiling.

Find a good place to hide valuables such as jewellery, which are normally the first things taken. Don't leave all your grandmas gold in a jewellery box on your dresser that can just be whipped away.

If you have gates get bolts and padlocks to stop people coming round the back (or at least make it more difficult for them).

Motion activated security lights will often put off burglars, especially round the back where it is dark.

Burglar alarm or fake burglar alarm box.

If you are out all day maybe make friends with the neighbours who are in all day and can keep an eye on the place and drop you a whatsapp if they see anything suspicious.

Remember that the first point of home security is not to make your house impregnable (which is impossible) but to make it more difficult and off putting
to break into than someone else's. Burglars looks for signs that houses might be insecure, such as poor lock quality and gaping windows and will often then go round the back to investigate further. If your house looks secure and difficult to break into on first inspection, they will often go somewhere else.

I learned the hard way not to put anything that looks easy to sell within view: unopened dvd box sets on a window sill (I was in a 2nd floor flat, ffs!).

Make sure any computers, etc are not in direct view.

Joining a neighbourhood watch scheme might not put off burglars but you get one of those window stickers and I think insurers still look favourably on them, as they always ask about them when you are ticking boxes for quotes.

@KievLoverTwo great point! I recently put opaque film across my office window. I had a tradesman doing stuff outside and he asked if I was a graphic designer... I was embarrassed to realise just how glaringly obvious my computer setup was from the street. We don't actually have much else of value – but a large iMac in view suggests we do. (At least our car says otherwise)

@GasPanic that is all invaluable, thank you so much for taking the time.

@OldTinHat carbon monoxide detector sorted! Unsure about camera – but we had some slightly dodgy lads pressuring people to have garden work done recently. They steered clear of my neighbour's house, which has a very obvious security camera in the front window...