Keeping Your Flat Safe Over the Holidays

The holiday season is a time for merriment, over-indulging and gaudy decorations, but it’s also a time when things can go wrong quite easily. While it may not be fun to think about the practicalities of keeping your home safe over the holidays, if you follow a few easy steps you won’t have to give it much thought.

Hide your valuables

As much as your entire DVD box set of Game of Thrones may be a source of great pride and you wish to share it with the world, keeping your valuables away from windows and doors can deter potential burglars from breaking in. They’re unlikely to break in if it doesn’t look like you have anything to steal!

Another top tip is keeping any spare keys away from your letterbox, as some enterprising thieves may try to use a hook to snatch them if they’re too close.

Check your windows and doors

Checking your doors and windows every time you leave is probably the simplest thing you can do to keep your home safe. If your windows have a top and bottom lock make sure both are secure, and always give your door handle a good rattle after you lock it. What would be worse – being burgled, or having to admit you left your door unlocked?

Ask a neighbour to keep an eye on your flat

If you’re going away over the holidays, it’s always a good idea to ask a neighbour to keep an eye out for anything unusual happening around your home. If you know them well, ask them to drop in once in a while to water your plants, tidy up your mail, open the curtains and so on. Any sign of life in a flat is likely to deter any ne’er-do-wells.

Don’t overload your lights

If your Christmas lights are giving George Square a run for its money make sure you don’t overload your sockets or leave the lights on for too long. While they may be a shining beacon of Christmas cheer most of the time, they’re also a potential fire hazard. Switch them off at night or when you’re out and don’t be tempted to construct any extension cable/plug adapter monstrosities. You could even consider using a timer on your plug socket so that you don’t forget to turn the lights off before going to bed each night.

Let us know if you have any top tips for keeping safe this Christmas – find us on Facebook and Twitter (@betterletting).