It’s mid-August already and many of you will have collected the keys to your homes for the next academic year. Welcome to all new Cavill property tenants in particular! There will also be many students yet to move back to Leeds, possibly holidaying (if you can under the current travel restrictions) or working back at home to get some money in the bank for (hopefully) a return to normal social activity in the new university term. This means that members of your house may be in and out all over the summer period which means security should be high on your agenda. Unfortunately, there are many opportunists waiting to strike at the first little mistake. Hopefully, we can give you the benefit of experience and point you in the direction of some good advice to keep you, your new home and your belongings as safe as possible. Some of it sounds really obvious but a reminder of the basics never harms…
Lock your doors and windows
Statistics show that 50% of burglaries in student housing takes place through unlocked doors or windows. It sounds really obvious but lock your doors and close and lock your windows whenever you go out. It is also a sensible idea to keep your entrance door locked even when you are inside the house – those on the top floors especially cannot always hear what is going on down on the ground floor.
You should also lock your own room when leaving the house.
All Cavill Properties houses have locks on the individual bedroom doors. All doors (internal and external) are fitted with thumb-turn locks so that, even in an emergency, you can get out of a locked door without wondering where your key is.
The door that commonly gets left unlocked is the back door, the one you use to get into your yard or to just go to the bins. It is really important that you get into the routine of keeping this door locked and don’t use it as an entrance or exit. We have heard of car keys, laptops etc going missing when people just popped a couple of houses down the street to see their friends.
Insure your stuff
It makes sense to insure any items of particularly high value. Sometimes you can arrange it via your parent’s existing home insurance or you can get your own policy to cover you whilst at uni. Either way, as all Cavill Properties bedrooms have their own lock, getting insurance won’t be a problem.
Who’s at the door?
We set up each Cavill Properties house with a tenant’s WhatsApp group to keep you fully informed of any tradesman etc who may be visiting. Some of our tradesman have their own key but will always make their presence known and you should be expecting them anyway (because you have informed us of an issue). Occasionally, we (the landlords) do need to enter your property at short notice but, again, we’ll use the doorbell and if no reply, we’ll enter and shout to make sure you know we are there.
Anyone else knocking at the door, unless it is your friends, should be asked for ID etc. You won’t be getting a repairman or person to read the meters unless we have pre-notified you in the WhatsApp group. Remember, bogus officials can be very convincing. If you aren’t sure, don’t let them in.
Look after yourself
This is just to say, remember to look after yourselves and your mates when you go out. Stick together when you can and remain aware of your surroundings.
Lads in particular should not just assume this is advice just for the girls. Unfortunately, everyone needs to stay vigilant on a night out or when walking home from uni.
If you are a victim of crime, please, please reach out for help and support. You have such a wide support network including friends, housemates, parents, university and associated organisations and your landlord. We will always try to support you and point you in the right direction.
See the West Yorkshire Police website for more details https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/advice/personal-safety-and-possessions/student-safety/student-safety
UniPol also have an advice page https://www.unipol.org.uk/advice/parents/providing-support/crime-prevention-leeds
The intention of this blog is not to scare or worry you but to just highlight a few areas where we all need to be careful. I don’t think this is just about students, it applies to us all. If we can all take a few simple precautions then your time at uni should pass without incident and be something that you look back on with happy memories as you moved into and lived in your first home.