The Ten-Minute Security Check for Your Home This Autumn

By the end of this month it will be dark before teatime. And an unlit

house at 6pm tells anyone who cares to look that nobody is home.

October is National Home Security Month, the annual campaign behind

homesecuritymonth.com, and it exists for exactly this season. So here is

the ten-minute walk-round worth doing this week, whether you own your

home or rent it.

Why does autumn matter for home security?

Darkness does the advertising. In June, an empty house at 6pm looks like

any other house. In November, it is the only dark window on the street.

Most of the fixes below cost little or nothing. Burglars are

opportunists before they are anything else, and opportunity is the thing

you can remove.

What is an opportunist actually looking for?

Signals, mostly. A house in darkness at an hour when homes are normally

lit. Post or parcels building up. A side gate that swings open. A ladder

helpfully stored against the fence. Valuables framed in a lit window

like a shop display.

Read that list again and notice something cheering: every single one is

within your control, this week, for pennies. That is the thinking behind

the walk-round below.

What is the ten-minute check?

Front door first. Does it lock properly, every time, and do you

actually lock it when you are in? Deadlock at night, not just the

latch.

Walk the windows, including upstairs ones above a flat roof or

wheelie bin. Close and lock anything reachable before dark.

Try the side gate. If it opens with a push, a bolt costs a few

pounds and removes the easiest route to the back of the house.

Look in the shed and garage. Ladders and tools open houses, so lock

them away like they matter.

Put a lamp on a plug-in timer in a front room, set for dusk. The

single cheapest lived-in signal there is.

Check the outside light works, or add a motion-sensor one. Nobody

lingers in a spotlight.

Stand at your front window and look in from outside. Move the

laptop, keys and parcels out of sight.

Sort a parcel plan for the dark months: a safe place, a neighbour,

or a locker, so boxes never sit on the step announcing an empty

house.

What if you rent your home?

The whole walk-round applies to you too, with one addition: anything

broken, a failing lock, a door that doesn't sit right, a dead outside

light, gets reported to your landlord or agent in writing, straight

away. Fixing it is their job. Telling them is yours.

And remember your landlord's insurance covers the building, not your

belongings. Contents insurance is yours to sort, and it costs less than

most people assume.

Is smart security worth the money?

Some of it, and you don't need a control room. A video doorbell answers

the door when you can't, and a couple of smart plugs will run your lamps

on a dusk schedule without you thinking about it. Both cost less than a

takeaway a month.

Two caveats. Renters should ask before fitting anything that drills into

the door or wall, and battery models exist for exactly this reason. And

no gadget replaces the basics: a smart doorbell watching over an

unbolted side gate is just good footage of a preventable problem.

What does a street that looks out for itself do differently?

The cheapest security system ever invented is neighbours who know each

other. A street WhatsApp group, or an active Neighbourhood Watch, means

someone clocks the unfamiliar van, brings your bin in, and notices the

parcel on your step before anyone else does.

If your street has one, join it. If it doesn't, starting one takes an

evening and a few notes through doors, and it will outperform any gadget

in this article.

What about while you are away?

Timers on, curtains half-drawn rather than shut tight, post managed, and

a trusted neighbour keeping an eye. Save the holiday photos until you

are back, an empty-house announcement to strangers is the one thing

social media does brilliantly.

Frequently asked questions

Do darker evenings really make a difference to burglary?

An unlit house at 6pm signals an empty one, which is why police forces

run darker-nights campaigns every autumn and why National Home Security

Month sits in October. Light on a timer is the simplest counter.

What is the cheapest way to improve home security?

Habits. Locking the door properly, key out of the lock, side gate

bolted, valuables out of window view. After that, a plug-in timer for a

lamp costs a few pounds.

Whose job is security in a rented home?

The landlord provides secure doors, windows and working locks and

repairs them when told. The renter uses them, reports faults promptly in

writing, and insures their own contents.

If you know someone who would find this useful, please share it with

them.

About the Ethical Agent Network

We are proud members of the Ethical Agent Network (EAN), a national

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Network, please get in touch or visit www.ethicalagentnetwork.co.uk.

Checked and verified in force 2 September 2026.