Student house break-ins

davodedthomas

Has anyone had any problems with burglarys? I had my house broken into in Cardiff today, and my laptop, and my housemates laptop were stolen.

I luckily have got my old 'spare' laptop, but I am SO angry, and feel violated that someone has just walked through my house and stolen my property.

Anyone else had similar problems whilst at university? I reckon it must be because they know that people aren't gonna be there over the Christmas period in student houses

pavlovs_dog

did they force entry, or did someone leave a door or window open?

were items on display/ visible from windows?

have you alerted the police/your insurance company/ your union?

tazz233

Im so sorry for you. My student house got broken into a year ago during the summer holiday- They completely trashed the house. :mad: Luckily I had left all my things with my boyfriend who lives locally but my housemates things were taken and even photos were torn and smashed It happens often for students- They know which houses students live in, often from posters in windows or adverts in newspapers and know that they arent around in the holidays. I hope you had insurance to cover the costs?

fran_from_willesden

We had a few near misses when I was a student. In our first house, some guy prised open the bathroom window (which wasn't very wide). He took my rucksack which I'd left in the hall, a packet of kit-kats and a pint of milk. Unluckily for him, the police had been tailing him but couldn't arrest him till they'd seen him enter our house. He was a heroin addict (which is why he took the food) and was on licence from prison.

In our second house, some guy broke in through the front door but we'd just arrived back from a night out as he pulled the alarm off the wall so he didn't get very far. Then about a week later (as we were waiting for more secure locks from the landlord) some guy picked the front door lock when two of us were in the house. It was scary as we'd both heard the front door open, went into the hall and there was this guy standing there!

Sausage_Roll

fran_from_willesden wrote:

We had a few near misses when I was a student. In our first house, some guy prised open the bathroom window (which wasn't very wide). He took my rucksack which I'd left in the hall, a packet of kit-kats and a pint of milk. Unluckily for him, the police had been tailing him but couldn't arrest him till they'd seen him enter our house. He was a heroin addict (which is why he took the food) and was on licence from prison.

In our second house, some guy broke in through the front door but we'd just arrived back from a night out as he pulled the alarm off the wall so he didn't get very far. Then about a week later (as we were waiting for more secure locks from the landlord) some guy picked the front door lock when two of us were in the house. It was scary as we'd both heard the front door open, went into the hall and there was this guy standing there!

That first incident sounds very like one incident on street crime UK! He didn't happen to get stuck in the bathroom window did he?

To the OP - did you have insurance?

fran_from_willesden

Sausage_Roll wrote:

That first incident sounds very like one incident on street crime UK! He didn't happen to get stuck in the bathroom window did he?

No he didn't get stuck. Mind you he looked out of hte front door window as a policeman looked in - that's how they recognised him. Idiot.

Gemma32_2

Our student house was broken into when I lived in Belfast. They got in through a downstairs bathroom window. Removed the window pane and then replaced it??? So I guess they were going to come back another day maybe if we hadn't noticed the window. I was working in the Students Union bar and my two housemates were out at the union. Our three bedrooms upstairs were locked and they damaged the the doors badly when they broke into them. The rooms were just left a bit messy. Things spilled on the floor drawers pulled out but as far as we could see nothing taken. We were all a bit shaken up when we got home and saw the mess. A friend went to make tea to calm us all down a bit only to realise that the kettle was missing. Very strange that was all that was taken!

StudentSaver_2

I'm just really scared that we'll have had a break-in when we get back to our house after Christmas - we've already had one bike stolen from the back garden when they climbed over the fence and opened the gate from the inside!

si1503

I'm at uni in Nottingham, seems like every other person I know has had at least one burglary, certainly the majority that share their own houses. In my first year one of my flatmates had her laptop n phone nicked, we were 3rd floor of halls of residence, the rodents had hopped over the wall then climbed the wall of our block, broke the window, and made off with her stuff. Muggings are also very common around these parts, walking home alone is strongly discouraged especially in some of the poorer areas, which are very dangerous and just happen to be the same areas that are heavily populated by student accomodation (inner city surburbs).

[Deleted User]

Sadly, student houses are magnets for burglary. 3 - 5 students, each with TVs, laptops, hifi's, ipods, lots of CDs/DVDs.. it's like a chavvy wonderland. Combine that with student houses typically being in fairly run down areas of town (e.g. smithdown road in Liverpool). It only costs 10 quid a month to get your room contents insured.. probably cheaper if you insure it as a whole.

PS. I use to live in Cathays and had several student friends who'd been broken into in the summer, it's not got anything to do with Crimbo

Savvy_Sue

Of course the 'normal' advice about trying to make the house look inhabited would apply - leaving a radio on, putting lights on autotimers etc. Being students it's quite normal for curtains to stay permanently shut, isn't it?