House at risk of burglary?

bluep

We've just bought a house and its been empty for the last 2 weeks whilst we carry out some work on it. We've been in and out of the house, opened/closed curtains, had lights on and the only thing in it is some ikea flatpack furniture and a treadmill (which is expensive but weighs an absolute ton).

When I went over to the house this morning (we live across a green so can see it from our current place), someone had tied a dirty plastic carrier bag securely to the front gate which is bizarre as there are bins around on the street to put rubbish in. I noticed that my husband had left the downstairs front curtains open which show an empty front room. Has anyone heard of properties being marked like this as targets for breakins? I know a while back chalk marks were being left by criminal gangs. Whilst the treadmill is all there is of worth in in the house, we were going to start moving other stuff in and its the risk of damage too if someone tries to break in.

Any suggestions as to effective deterants? Going to buy some sort of alarms today to fix in the front porch and put some lamps on timers in the rooms.

bryanb

Tie plastic bags to all the nearby gates, that'll fool em!

bluep

LOL!! Great plan. Although I might not be too popular with the neighbours.

I do recognise that it could just be one of those weird things and I'm being paranoid - in which case its a good reminder that we need to think about security a bit more.

gnimia

If its an empty front room with not even the treadmill in there its more likely squatters than burglars. Even then pretty slim odds

SplanK

There are various "marks" that could be left, all depends on the group doing it, there is no standard as such!! I take it this bag has been tied to the fence, and not just got itself wrapped up around by the wind


If you are concerned however you will just have to follow "best practice" to ensure nothing is on show worth breaking in for, take away any boxes as possible even if the item that come in it is not there, ensure the place is locked up as best as you can and secure. The more hurdles you put in the way of somebody wanting to brake in the better. Security or automatic outside lighting are a good... but if somebody wants to get into the house then no matter what you put in their way, they will.


If you are really concerned, you could ring your local police station on a non-emergency number, they could increase the number of drive by's to the area which can sometimes spook anybody watching a street.


Have a word with your neighbours as well and mention that you are a little concerned and if they would not mind keeping their eyes pealed.


Or it could just be some lazy git or somebody trying to make a passive aggressive point!

cattie

Although it could be a mark of some sort, the other reason for the bag being there is because a concerned pedestrian tied it there.

Plastic bags blowing about in the wind & rain can be very dangerous, they cause people to fall & injure themselves if they get tangled up in their feet & can also cause car accidents if they blow in front of the windscreen. I often see people picking up plastic bags & black sacks that are blowing about in the street to stop such accidents being caused.

macman

If you are concerned, remove the plastic bag...
But it would be a poor choice of somewhere to burgle. No cash, no TV's, no laptops or other electricals.

hardpressed

Was the bag empty or had it been used as a doggy ...... bag? If so it seems some people think that it's ok to pick up their dogs waste and then tie it on a hedge or tree.

bluep

Thanks guys.
I took it off straight away (it was tied to our front garden gate with a double knot). It could well be a pedestrian tidying up (but why wouldn't they just put it in the bin / dog poo bin nearby) - would be a weird thing to do to tie it to someone's gate.

I've decided I'm not going to worry overtly about it - it would be a pretty poor choice of house to burgle given there's nothing in there really but someone wouldn't know until they'd broked a window or the back door. We live in quite a quiet town so its not really squatter territory but there have been breakins locally.

It's been a helpful prompt to make us think a bit more about moving in properly or at least not leaving anything there of real value until we do. Our insurance policy allows the property to be unoccupied for 60 days but I wouldn't want them to argue that this was for people going on holiday rather than those who don't move in for 60 days!

DigForVictory

Have a chat with a Crime Prevention Officer. It's their job to come & look & offer advice, after all.

One looked anxiously at my kitchen window, then relaxed when he realised it illuminated the washing up waiting to be done. Apparently would-be burglars don't like clambering in over dirty pots & pans....