New Home Security First Day | What to Do in Order

You've got the keys. The van's outside. Everyone wants to get the boxes in and get the kettle on. Security is the last thing on your mind, and that's precisely why moving day is one of the highest-risk days your home will ever have.

Think about who's held a copy of those keys. The previous owners, obviously. Their family members. The estate agent. The managing agent if it was rented. The cleaner. The bloke who came to fix the boiler three years ago. There is no way to know how many copies exist or where they are. You can be the most careful person in Ealing and still hand over your new address to a dozen strangers without knowing it.

Here's what to do on day one, in order, without wasting money on things you don't need.

Before the van even unloads: the quick check

Do a five-minute walk around before you bring a single box inside. You're not doing a full survey. You're looking for anything obviously wrong.

• Check every external door closes and locks properly. A door that sticks, doesn't latch cleanly, or where the key turns stiffly is a problem you want to know about now, not at 11pm.
• Look at the condition of the door frames. A frame that's been forced before will show it: paint cracking at the keep, the timber slightly split, the striker plate loose or sitting at an odd angle.
• Try every window handle. A window that won't close fully is a security hole on night one.
• Locate the garage. If there is one, find out whether the keys you've been given actually work it.
• Find the side gate and test the latch.

None of this takes long. You're just ruling out anything that needs sorting before the day ends.

The front door cylinder: change it today, not next week

This is the non-negotiable. The front door cylinder comes out today.

A standard cylinder swap takes fifteen to twenty minutes. If your front door is a uPVC door with a Euro profile cylinder, which covers the vast majority of homes in W5, W7, W13 and the surrounding postcodes, a locksmith can do this while you're directing the removal team. You don't need to stop unpacking.

What goes in matters. If the existing cylinder is a cheap brass Euro that came with the door, it will almost certainly be snappable. Cylinder snapping is still the most common forced-entry method used in residential burglaries across West London. A determined burglar snaps the exposed part off, inserts a screwdriver, and the door opens in under a minute. A TS007 3-star rated anti-snap cylinder stops that. The Avocet ABS, Ultion, and Mul-T-Lock MTL300 are the ones I'd fit without hesitation. All of them are SS312 Diamond approved, which also satisfies most home insurance requirements.

Costs: expect to pay £60 to £90 for the cylinder itself at trade quality, plus fitting. If a locksmith is quoting you £30 for a 3-star cylinder, it's not a 3-star cylinder. The rating costs money to achieve and it's in the price.

If there's a second lock on the front door, a rim nightlatch or a mortice, and it's not British Standard rated, either replace it or make a note to do so within the week. A door with one quality lock and one rubbish one is only as strong as the weaker fitting.

The back door: don't treat it as an afterthought

Back doors account for a significant proportion of residential break-ins. Burglars prefer them because they're less visible from the street.

For a uPVC back door, the same cylinder logic applies. Swap the cylinder, spec a TS007 3-star, done.

If you have a timber back door with a mortice lock, check the standard. BS3621 is the minimum you want for a deadlock. If it's not stamped inside the lock case, or you can't find the paperwork, assume it isn't. Older properties in Hanwell, Northfields, and Acton often have original timber back doors that still have a 1970s mortice that was cheap then and is genuinely inadequate now.

The door chain or door bar: less important than the lock, but worth checking the screws are long enough to grip the frame properly. A chain on 12mm screws is decorative, not functional.

Multipoint locks on uPVC and composite doors

If your doors have multipoint locking, meaning the handle lifts and drives hooks or bolts into the frame at multiple points, the individual components matter more than most people realise.

The cylinder is still the weak point for snap attacks. But the hook bolts and keeps themselves need checking. Look for play in the hooks: if you push the door and it moves noticeably even when locked, the keeps are either worn or the door has dropped. A door that's dropped by 5mm over years of use often won't lock properly at the top and bottom hook points even when the key turns. You'll think you're locked in when you're not.

Brands like GU, Fuhr, Maco, Roto, and Winkhaus all make multipoint systems, and spares are available for all of them. If the mechanism is old but serviceable, a locksmith can often adjust the keeps and the door alignment the same day. Don't replace the door because the mechanism is stiff. Adjust it first.

Window locks: the check nobody does properly

Most people check that windows close. Almost nobody checks that the locks actually work.

Go through every ground floor window and every window above a flat roof, bay roof, or extension. For each one:

• Close it fully and operate the lock. It should feel positive, not mushy or loose.
• If it's a key-operated window lock, try the key. Check you have all the keys.
• For tilt-and-turn windows, test both the tilt position and the full open position. The locking points should engage cleanly in both.
• Check the hinges. A window that sags on its hinges won't lock at the top even if the handle seems to work.

If any window key is missing, it's a priority, not an optional extra. A window you can't lock is an open invitation. A locksmith can often decode or replace window lock cylinders on the day. If the locks are old or damaged and replacement is cheaper, budget roughly £15 to £35 per window lock at trade, plus fitting time.

Flat conversions in W5 and Ealing Common frequently have original sash windows with no secondary locks at all. A sash stop or a key-operated sash lock costs almost nothing and takes ten minutes to fit.

The garage: most overlooked spot on moving day

If your property has an integral garage or an attached garage, treat it as part of the house, because it is.

An integral garage with a connecting door to the house is a serious vulnerability if either the up-and-over door or the side door is compromised. The connecting door itself is often a lightweight internal door with no BS-rated lock. I've seen properties in Greenford and Perivale where the garage-to-house door had a Yale-style latch and nothing else. A single lever pop of the latch and you're inside the house, out of sight of the street the whole time.

Check the following:

• Does the garage side door (if there is one) have a deadlock? It should, and it should be at least BS3621 standard.
• Has the up-and-over door got a working lock and a functioning automatic catch? Old Garador and Hormann doors sometimes have a catch that's bent or sprung out, meaning the door can be lifted manually from outside.
• If it's an electric roller door, is the emergency release cable accessible from outside without a key? Some older models have the release cord visible through the ventilation gaps. Anyone who knows what they're looking for can open the door in seconds.
• Does the connecting door from the garage into the house have a decent lock on it? If not, that's a job for the first week.

The side gate and rear access

A side gate that a child could climb over, or that has a padlock hasp with a £12 open-shackle padlock on it, is providing the illusion of security rather than the thing itself.

Check the gate height. Six feet is the minimum you want for deterrence. Shorter than that, and you're relying on the lock alone.

Check the hinge side. A gate secured with good bolts but hung on old, bent hinges can sometimes be lifted off entirely without touching the lock. Push up on the gate while it's closed and latched. If it moves, the hinges need attention.

For padlocks, a closed-shackle padlock at Sold Secure Silver standard or above is the minimum for a side gate in a residential street. The Abus 55/40 or Master Lock 6321 are fine for most situations. If the gate guards access to the rear of the property and there's no other rear exit, go Sold Secure Gold.

The hasp matters too. A padlock is only as secure as what it's bolted through. A hasp on short screws into a softwood gate post is trivially easy to rip off. Use a coach bolt with a backplate and a nut on the other side if the gate post allows it.

Meter cupboards and outbuildings

Not a headline risk, but worth two minutes.

Meter cupboards on the outside of the property sometimes have locks that are either broken or still keyed to a previous occupant's key. An open meter cupboard can give access to the electricity supply, which has obvious implications. Check it closes and the lock works. If the lock's failed, a locksmith can replace the cylinder or fit a new lock while on site for other work.

Garden sheds and detached outbuildings: check the hasp and lock. If there are bikes, tools, or a lawnmower inside, treat the shed lock seriously. A shed break-in also sometimes serves as reconnaissance: burglars take tools from the shed and use them on the house.

Keys: count them, then rethink who holds them

Count every key you've been given at completion. Front door, back door, garage, windows, gate, shed. Check they all work.

Now decide who genuinely needs a copy. Not who it might be useful for one day, who actually needs one. A spare set with a trusted neighbour is sensible. A spare hidden under a plant pot or on a key hook just inside the letter box is not.

If you're a landlord who's taken on a new tenanted property or just turned over a tenancy, the same rule applies. You cannot know how many key copies are circulating from the previous tenancy. Re-keying on changeover isn't optional, it's the minimum standard of care for your tenant's safety and your own liability.

Alarm systems: inherit with caution

If the property has an existing alarm, get the full installer code from the previous owners before completion if you can. Without it, you're relying on the user code alone, and you can't change how the system is configured or who's authorised as a keyholder.

An alarm you don't have full access to is a partial deterrent at best. An intruder who knows the sounder will trigger and nobody will investigate properly, because false alarms are commonplace, has less to worry about than you'd think.

If you can't get the installer code, budget for a service visit from an alarm engineer to reset and recommission the system in your name. It's usually £80 to £150 and it's worth it.

What can wait until next week

I don't want you to spend £2,000 on moving day because someone told you everything was urgent. Here's what genuinely can wait a few days:

• Upgrading letterbox security (restrict lever or cage), unless there's a sign the previous locks were compromised via the letterbox.
• Adding a door viewer or video doorbell.
• Secondary locks on upstairs windows that aren't above any accessible roof.
• Smart lock fitting, which needs a bit more planning to do properly.
• Any internal security upgrades.

Do the cylinder, check the back door, test every window lock, look at the garage, sort the side gate. That's your day-one list. Everything else can be done once the boxes are unpacked.

If you've just picked up keys to a property in Ealing or anywhere across West London and want a locksmith on site during the move rather than after it, Locks Local covers W5 and the surrounding postcodes with an average arrival under 30 minutes where possible. Call ahead and I can usually work around the removal van. Pricing is discussed honestly on the call before I turn up.