Facts About Home Break-Ins In The UK

We came across some interesting statistics from a crime survey of England and Wales, some of the results were surprising and highlight some areas of home security where many of us might be falling short.

Unfortunately taking security measures to protect our homes from burglars has become a necessity, regardless of whether you live in “a nice neighbourhood”. The Office for National Statistics Crime Survey found that from July 2011 – June 2012 there were 489,450 burglary offences, 239,168 of those offences were on a dwelling (in the UK and Wales).

When?

These stats aren’t all that surprising, break-ins are most common in the week (when people are at work no doubt) and at night when everyone is tucked up in bed and burglars aren’t as conspicuous in the dark.

• 66% during the week
• 34% at the weekend
• 38% in the daytime
• 62% in the evening or at night

Where?

Thought most burglars would try and sneak around the back to avoid being seen? Nope, more burglaries used entries at the front of the house.

• 52% break-in the front of the house
• 39% break-in around the back of the house
• 6% break-in at the side of the house
• 3% use more than one access point

How?

How did the thieves break-in to these houses? Surprisingly 15% of them were given a helping hand by the home owner who didn’t lock the door! We were surprised that using doors to get in was more common than windows – worth investing in a strong door and some decent locks it seems.

• 72% break-in via a door and 15% of those the door was not locked!
• 27% forced the lock to get in
• 7% of burglars pushed past the person who opened the front door
• 26% of burglars smash a window to get in
• 1 in 2 break-ins leave some damage to the home

What?

So what did the thieves usually steal? Keep these items out of plain sight, leaving them on display is asking for burglars to break-in to your home. Don’t make it easy for them! In descending order from most commonly stolen:

• Purse/ wallet/ money
• Electrical Goods
• Computers
• Jewellery
• Mobile Phone

Security Measures

The security measures taken by people who were surveyed – one third had basic to no security in their home, making them potential targets for criminals.

• 1/3rd of burgled homes had less than basic or NO home security
• Just 5% had CCTV installed
• 60% of people surveyed had at least basic home security and had no been victims of a burglary

Our CCTV expert Danny has written a blog post on How To Get Burgled – Common Security Mistakes. 

Sources

1. The Office for National Statistics Crime Survey
2. The British Crime Survey (BCS) in the annual Crime in England and Wales 2011 Report.