12 ways to keep your home secure when you're away over Christmas: Simple steps to protect your property
The festive period is one of the busiest times of the year — but while many of us are away visiting friends and family, unoccupied homes can unfortunately attract unwanted attention. Home burglaries rise by around 20% during the winter months, with over 166,000 recorded across England and Wales in the year to March 2025 — roughly one every 189 seconds (Source: ONS, 2025).
Fortunately, a few straightforward precautions can go a long way towards protecting your home and belongings while you're away.
Here are 12 effective ways to keep your unoccupied property safe and secure this Christmas:
1. Make Your Home Look Lived In
Use smart plugs or light timers to turn lamps and Christmas lights on and off at realistic times. Avoid leaving the same light on constantly — varied lighting patterns give the impression that someone is at home.
A TV simulator or a smart speaker playing low-level sound occasionally can also help create the sense of activity indoors.
2. Double-Check Doors, Windows, and Outbuildings
It might sound obvious, but around 70% of burglars gain entry through a door and the other 30% through a window (Source: Cladco UK Burglary Statistics 2025). Before leaving, inspect and secure all entry points, including garages, sheds, and side gates.
Consider adding extra locks, bolts, or security bars to patio and French doors for added protection.
3. Suspend Deliveries
Nothing signals an empty house faster than a pile-up of milk bottles, newspapers, or parcel slips. If you're going away, pause regular deliveries — or ask a neighbour to collect them.
In the UK, Royal Mail's Keepsafe service will hold your post safely for up to 66 days while you're away.
4. Secure Valuables and Christmas Gifts
Keep gifts and valuable items out of sight from windows or glass doors. After unwrapping, avoid leaving packaging — especially for high-end electronics — outside in plain view, as burglars often scout recycling bins for clues.
Keep expensive jewellery, gadgets, or documents in a home safe or lockbox secured to a wall or floor.
5. Invest in Smart Security Technology
Modern home security systems make it easier than ever to monitor your property remotely. Smart alarms, CCTV systems, and video doorbells provide real-time alerts about suspicious activity.
Visible alarms and CCTV may reduce the likelihood of your home being targeted by opportunistic burglars by around 60% (Home Security Statistics: ZipDo Education Reports 2025).
6. Keep Your Home's Exterior Tidy and Visible
Trim back hedges and overgrown bushes that could give burglars a place to hide. Install motion-activated lights or solar garden lights near entrances and paths — these are inexpensive yet highly effective deterrents.
Burglars prefer to operate unseen; visibility is your ally.
7. Ask Someone You Trust to Keep Watch
A trusted neighbour or friend can make your home look lived in by doing small but effective things while you're away, such as:
- Collecting post or parcels
- Moving bins on collection day
- Parking on your driveway occasionally
Small actions like these create the illusion of occupancy — one of the simplest and most effective deterrents.
8. Don't Leave Spare Keys Outside
It's a classic mistake: hiding spare keys under a plant pot, doormat, or garden ornament. Burglars know these common spots.
If you need someone to access your home, use a coded key safe or leave keys with someone you trust instead.
9. Store Car Keys Securely
If you're leaving vehicles at home, keep the keys away from doors and windows to prevent relay-signal theft, which has risen sharply in recent years.
For extra protection, store keys in a Faraday pouch that blocks wireless signals — especially for keyless entry vehicles.
10. Be Discreet Online
It's tempting to share your holiday countdown or airport selfies, but posting about your absence can unintentionally alert criminals that your home is, or will soon be, empty.
Wait until you return before posting travel updates or photos from your trip.
11. Check Your Insurance and Document Your Valuables
Before you travel, review your home and contents insurance to ensure new or expensive Christmas purchases are covered.
Record key items with photos, serial numbers, and receipts where possible to make any future claims simpler.
12. Register Your Valuables on Immobilise
Before you go away, take a few minutes to register important possessions on Immobilise.com. Include serial numbers, IMEI codes (dial *#06# on your phone), photos, and detailed descriptions.
If anything is stolen, this gives the police a better chance of identifying and returning it to you.
This Christmas, give yourself the gift of peace of mind by combining smart home security, neighbourly awareness, and Immobilise registration — so you can relax knowing you’ve taken meaningful steps to protect your home this festive season.
Enjoy a safe and secure Christmas.
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ImmobiMark Complete Property Marking Kit
Ideal for use with your Immobilise account. You will be able to mark, label and register all your possessions to deter thieves and help the authorities identify and return your property.
Fake TV Burglar Deterrent
TV Sim is a burglar deterrent that makes it look like someone is home watching television.
It does this by recreating exactly the sort of light produced by a real TV, which when viewed from outside makes it look like somebody must be watching television.