New Home Security First Day | What to Do in Order

You've signed, you've collected the keys, and there's a van outside. The last thing on your mind is security. That's exactly the problem.

The hour after you get keys to a new property is the only window in your life when you genuinely don't know who else can get in. Previous owners, their kids, a builder they used three years ago, the letting agent's spare set. You don't know what you don't know. Most people spend that hour propping the front door open while they carry boxes in. Some of them are lucky.

This guide is for the hour before the van arrives, or failing that, before you sleep in the property for the first time. Work through it in order. It's not long.

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Start at the front door, but don't just change the cylinder

Everyone knows to change the locks. Fewer people know what that actually means, or what standard they should be changing to.

If you've bought a property, your mortgage lender's buildings insurance almost certainly requires the front door cylinder to meet BS3621 as a minimum. Check your policy schedule. Many will specify SS312 Diamond or Sold Secure accreditation, which in practice means a TS007 3-star cylinder or a TS007 1-star cylinder paired with a TS007 2-star door handle. A bare BS3621 deadlock without an anti-snap cylinder is no longer enough for most modern policies, and it won't stop the most common form of entry: lock snapping.

For a standard uPVC or composite front door in Nottingham, the cylinder swap itself takes about 20 minutes. Brands worth fitting: Ultion, Avocet ABS, Mul-T-Lock MT5+. All rated TS007 3-star. All anti-snap, anti-pick, anti-drill. You're looking at £60 to £120 for the cylinder alone, plus fitting. That's your minimum spend on the front door. Don't go lower.

One thing people do get wrong here: they change the cylinder and forget to check the multipoint locking mechanism on the door. On a uPVC door, the lock hooks and bolts are driven by the GU, Fuhr, Maco or Roto mechanism in the door slab itself. The cylinder is just the key-operated trigger. If the mechanism is worn, misaligned or the door isn't closing flush against the frame, you've fitted a £100 cylinder into a door that doesn't actually lock properly. Check the door closes fully and all the hook points engage before you call the front door done.

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The back door gets forgotten every single time

Seriously. Every time.

If your back door is a uPVC door or composite door, the same cylinder advice applies. Fit another TS007 3-star. Don't put a budget Yale cylinder on the back because it's less visible from the street. Rear doors are a more common point of entry than front doors, partly because they're less visible from the street.

If you've got an older property with a timber rear door and a rim lock or a mortice deadlock, check the lock. For a timber door, BS3621 five-lever mortice deadlock is your baseline. Brands: Yale, ERA, Lockmaster. A five-lever mortice that's properly fitted and has a solid strike plate is still a decent lock, but check the condition of the timber around the frame. A perfect lock in a rotten frame is a waste of everyone's time. One solid kick to a soft frame and the whole thing opens.

Back door? Done. Move on.

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Windows: the locks most people can't name

Window locks come in two types that matter here. Friction stays and espagnolette bolts on uPVC windows, and sash locks on timber sashes. Most buyers don't know what locks their windows have, what state they're in, or whether they've been adjusted.

Do this for every ground floor window, and any first-floor window accessible from a flat roof, a bay, a garage roof or a drainpipe:

• Open the window fully and look at the locking mechanism. Does it engage positively when closed? Does it feel loose or sloppy?
• Check the frame for gaps when the window is in the locked position. A gap of more than about 2mm is a concern.
• Operate any key-turn lock or shoot-bolt and make sure the key is with you, not on a hook near the window.
• Count the keys. How many do you have for each window? If there are no window lock keys on the bunch the estate agent gave you, they need tracking down or the locks need replacing.

Window lock replacements aren't expensive. A set of Mila or Winkhaus espagnolette locks fitted across a typical three-bedroom semi is a morning's work. It's not glamorous, but a ground floor window with a tired locking mechanism is the easiest quiet entry point on any house.

One specific thing: if the property has any wooden sash windows, check the sash stops or Brighton fasteners. Old-fashioned sash catches are largely decorative. A proper lockable sash stop screwed through the inner sash into the outer sash is what you want.

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The garage. Not optional.

If there's an integral garage, meaning a door from inside the house into the garage, that door is a door into your home. It's also usually the worst door on the property. Often a hollow-core internal door with a basic latch. Sometimes not even that.

Check two things. First, is there an external door or a sectional/up-and-over door into the garage? If so, how does it lock? Up-and-over garage doors that rely on the spring tension and a basic padlocking point are not secure. They can be lifted. If you've got this type, the internal connecting door into the house needs to be treated as an exterior door: solid construction, proper lock, and a good cylinder if it's got one.

Second, check the internal connecting door itself. It should be a solid timber or steel door. It should fit the frame properly. It should ideally have a five-lever BS3621 deadlock or at minimum a solid deadlatch. Many connecting garage doors have nothing but a cheap handle. That's the bit that gets overlooked in surveys and gets people broken into six months after they move in.

Fit a decent lock on the internal garage door on day one. Not next weekend. Day one.

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Side gates and outbuildings

Side access gates are the entry point that burglars assess from the street. A gate with a weak padlock, a hasp screwed into soft timber or no lock at all is an invitation to scope the rear of the property.

Standard advice: closed shackle padlock (a Sold Secure Silver or Gold rated padlock, brands like Squire or Abus), fitted to a proper closed-shackle hasp, with the screws concealed when the lock is closed. Screws into solid timber or masonry. Not a flimsy surface bolt that lifts with a screwdriver.

For side gates with a pedestrian latch, consider a gate lock that can be operated from both sides with a key. Lockmaster and ERA both make surface-mounted versions that fit most timber gate designs without needing a locksmith for fitting, though if the gate is misaligned or sagging, sort the gate before you worry about the lock.

Sheds and outbuildings: a bike, a mower, power tools. Easy targets and often covered under home contents insurance only if the outbuilding is properly secured. Check your policy. A closed shackle padlock on a hasp with coach bolts (not wood screws) is what you need. A standard hasp fitted with 40mm wood screws will pull off the door in about two seconds.

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The key audit

Before anything else gets done, count what you've been given and figure out what you haven't.

• Front door keys: how many?
• Back door keys: how many?
• Window lock keys: present or missing?
• Garage keys: manual lock, electric fob, or both?
• Alarm fob or code: has the code been reset?
• Shed or outbuilding padlock keys?
• Meter cupboard keys if external?
• Any communal door fobs if it's a flat?

Anything missing gets resolved on day one. Either chase the previous owner through the estate agent, or assume the key is out there and change the lock. Don't sit in the middle ground of "I'll sort it next week."

If you're buying in a block of flats in the NG1 or NG2 area, communal door fobs are particularly worth chasing up. The management company can deactivate old fobs in most modern access control systems, and they should be doing that automatically on a sale. Ask them directly whether they've done it. Don't assume.

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Alarm systems and smart locks: don't inherit someone else's setup

If the property has an existing alarm system, you need the current code, the installer code and the contact details for the monitoring company if it's monitored. Without the installer code you can't change user codes or reprogram zones. Get it in writing before completion.

If you can't get the installer code from the previous owners, an alarm engineer can sometimes reset it with the right equipment. Some budget systems can't be reset at all without replacing the panel. Bear that in mind if you're buying in somewhere like Bestwood or Bulwell where older social housing stock has been upgraded with budget alarm systems at some point.

Smart locks on the property from a previous owner: factory reset before you use them. Every major brand (Yale, ERA, and most of the Z-Wave and Matter-compatible locks) has a factory reset procedure in the documentation. Do it. The previous owner's phone app should then lose access. Check the brand's documentation to confirm what the reset actually clears.

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What order to do it in

If you're trying to fit this around a moving van and a family, here's the realistic sequence:

1. Key audit before the van arrives. Know what you have.
2. Front door cylinder change. Do this first, before you start propping the door open.
3. Back door check. Change cylinder or lock as needed.
4. Internal garage connecting door. Fit a lock if there isn't one.
5. Side gate lock.
6. Ground floor window check. Note anything that needs attention.
7. Alarm reset or confirmation the code is yours.
8. Shed and outbuilding padlocks.
9. First floor windows accessible from roofs or extensions.

If you can only do two things before the van leaves, do the front door cylinder and the back door. Everything else can wait 24 hours. The front and back can't.

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A note on rented properties

If you're a tenant moving into a new rental in Nottingham, you have the right to ask your landlord to change the locks, but you generally can't do it yourself without permission, and the cost is typically the landlord's to bear if it's a new tenancy. Some landlords in the NG5, NG6 and NG7 areas are great about this. Others will tell you the locks were changed between tenancies and they weren't. Ask for written confirmation. If you're a landlord reading this: just change the cylinders between tenancies. It's £50 to £80 per door and it removes any ambiguity about who has access to your property.

If you're a landlord managing HMOs in Lenton or Radford, each room should have its own lockable door. That's partly a licensing condition and partly just sensible practice for a shared house where tenants change regularly.

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If you're moving into a property in Nottingham or the surrounding NG postcodes and want the cylinder changes done properly on moving day, Fort Secure covers the city and the wider area, aiming to be with you in under 30 minutes where possible. Honest pricing quoted on the call, no callout fee hidden in the small print. Ring ahead and we'll time it around the van if we can.