Home security often overlooked

10/10/11

By Natalie Thomas

New figures have been unlocked that show new homeowners often overlook a particular aspect of security when they move house.

A study for the AA's Home Emergency Response service found that 73 per cent of homeowners admitted failing to change front door locks within one month of moving in. Some 48 per cent said they had never changed their locks.

In total, there are 107 million spare keys being circulated, research revealed, and they are in the pockets of anyone from builders to window cleaners.

The keys which are handed to neighbours, cleaners, friends or nannies do not always get handed over to the new house owners, presenting a security risk, the AA warned.

Neighbours possess about 7.3 million spare keys, and friends have over four million.

Builders, window cleaners and other tradesmen hold about half a million spare keys in total.

Head of the AA's Home Emergency Response Service, Tom Stringer, said: "We would advise anyone moving into a new house to change the locks - then they will know precisely who has keys to their home."