If you are moving houses for the first or nth time, or building a new house for yourself and your family, the whole ordeal can be very stressful for anyone. There's a lot of costs you must keep in mind, permits you have to apply for, new documents you need to sort, and getting yourself for any other possible problem that might arise in the future. One of them is the risk of getting burglarized anytime.

As people return to their offices for the year 2021 and get ready for postponed holidays, opportunistic criminals can slip in the small window of time you are away or distracted to mess and take your valuables. 

'Just as legitimate businesses are looking forward to a post-pandemic sales bounce, criminals will also be looking to recoup their losses, with burglars missing out on £103.2million worth of crime in 2020,' says Krystian Zajac, chief executive of Hiro.

'Of course, we don't feel sorry for this group - but they'll be licking their lips at the thought of millions of properties left vacant as families rush to enjoy long-postponed holidays.

'Now is the perfect time to act and to make sure your home is as safe as possible.'

Before moving in, scan your new area and neighborhood. Take note of how visible it is to the public at different times of the day, and make sure you like the atmosphere of the area. Look out for things such as adequate street lighting, loiterers and whether there is a ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ scheme in place. Have a friendly chat with the neighbours to see how they act and learn a few things outsiders might not know about the area.

When moving into an already built home, check the quality of the doors and windows if they are secure enough. Of course, you can just repair it later, but the already reliable facilities are better. Consider calling a locksmith with you to help survey the locks and other security technologies inside.

Get insurance. Invest in insurances that will assure you your valuables will be covered should there be an incident such as a flood occurred. 

Most importantly, change the locks if you're moving into an old house. You don't know who has keys to the old locks, practically everyone has access to your place in that case. 

Look into other things you can do with your security system as well. Consider reading Locksmiths of Belfast's article titled "Why Can’t You Just Install Your Own Locks?" and "The Best Brands for Security" for other related information you might want to read more about.