Nottinghamshire Burglary Statistics 2026 | Don't Relax Yet

The headline from Nottinghamshire Police's performance report, published earlier this month, is that residential burglary in the county fell 0.7% to 2,776 offences in the twelve months to September 2026. I've already seen that figure shared on a couple of local Facebook groups with comments along the lines of "great news" and "things are improving."

They're not. Not really.

Read the same report more carefully and overall recorded crime across Nottinghamshire is up 6.2%. Vehicle crime is rising sharply. Personal robbery is up. The broader crime environment is getting worse, and a 0.7% dip in one category, covering fewer than twenty fewer incidents across the whole county, is not a reason to feel safer. It's statistical noise dressed up as good news.

I'm going to tell you what I actually think is happening out there, because I'm on the doorstep in NG postcodes most days of the week.

The Burglary Number Tells You Less Than You Think

Two thousand, seven hundred and seventy-six residential burglaries in one year across Nottinghamshire. Even in a year where that number edged down, it still works out at roughly seven or eight homes broken into every single day. If you live in Bulwell, Radford, Sneinton or Bestwood, the probability of that happening on your street in any given week is not negligible.

But here's what bugs me about focusing on that figure alone. Burglary recording has been inconsistent across forces for years. Some incidents that would previously have been logged as residential burglary now get categorised differently, particularly where only outbuildings or garages are targeted. So a small fall in the headline number can partly reflect a reclassification effect, not necessarily fewer actual incidents.

I'm not saying the police are cooking the books. I'm saying a 0.7% movement is so small it could mean almost anything.

Vehicle Crime Is the Real Story Right Now

This is where the report gets uncomfortable, and it's where I'm seeing the effects on the ground.

Vehicle crime in Nottinghamshire is up sharply. I've had three callouts in the last month alone where a customer's car was targeted on their own driveway, and in two of those cases the thieves had also attempted the outbuilding door. These aren't random attacks on the street somewhere in town. They're happening in Wollaton, in West Bridgford, in Arnold. Quiet residential streets where people assume proximity to neighbours offers some protection.

It doesn't, not on its own.

Relay theft on keyless-entry vehicles is still the dominant method, but I'm also seeing forced entry on older vehicles parked alongside unlocked garages with decent tools inside. That combination, car plus outbuilding, is attractive. The car gets taken or raided, the garage gets done in the same visit. Two crimes, one offender, one evening.

One job in Gedling last week: couple had a detached garage with a standard padlock hasp and a low-grade closed shackle padlock, the kind you'd pick up for a tenner at a DIY shed. Gone in under two minutes with a decent bolt cutter. Their van was on the driveway next to it. They'd been meaning to sort the padlock for about two years.

They're not unusual. Most people are.

The Opportunistic Crime Problem

What the statistics tend to underplay is opportunistic crime around the home perimeter. That includes:

• Outbuildings, garages and garden stores hit for tools, bikes and garden machinery
• Side gates left with flimsy bolt locks that take seconds to defeat
• Business premises in residential or light commercial areas, particularly in areas like Lenton and Hyson Green where small trades operate from units attached to or near homes
• Porch parcels and bin areas where low-level theft normalises regular visitors to your property line

None of that necessarily shows up in the residential burglary figure. Some of it gets counted under "other theft", some under vehicle crime if a bike in an outbuilding is logged that way, some doesn't get reported at all because the householder doesn't think it's worth the call.

The overall crime environment worsening by 6.2% is a signal about all of this together. Focusing on the one sub-category that edged fractionally downward misses the point.

What This Actually Means for Your Property

If you're a homeowner in a Nottingham suburb or a landlord with properties in NG1 through to NG11, this is what I'd be thinking about right now.

First, your front door cylinder. If it's a standard euro cylinder without a TS007 3-star or SS312 Diamond rating, it is vulnerable to snap attack. Full stop. A replacement anti-snap cylinder from a brand like Ultion, Avocet ABS or Mul-T-Lock costs somewhere between £60 and £120 fitted, depending on the door. That's the single most cost-effective physical security upgrade available on a uPVC or composite door.

Second, your outbuilding. A hasp and staple with a low-grade padlock is not a deterrent, it's a minor inconvenience. A closed shackle padlock rated to Sold Secure Gold, properly fitted to a reinforced hasp with security bolts, is a different thing entirely. Budget £80 to £150 for a decent setup. It matters a lot more if you've got tools, bikes or machinery in there.

Third, the side access. A lot of break-ins to rear gardens in Clifton and Sherwood start with a gate that has a standard sliding bolt on the inside and nothing else. A deadbolt or a proper gate lock, keyed on both sides, adds time and noise to any attempt. Time and noise are what most opportunist burglars won't tolerate.

If you're a small business owner operating from a unit or converted outbuilding, the same logic applies, plus I'd look seriously at a monitored access solution or at minimum a decent rim lock with a BS8621 or BS3621 rated deadlock on any door that leads from outside to inside.

A Word on the "It Won't Happen to Me" Instinct

I say this to customers regularly. The 0.7% burglary fall sounds reassuring because we all want it to be. Nobody wants to spend a Saturday afternoon arranging lock upgrades. I get it.

But 2,776 residential burglaries in a county where overall crime is rising is not the basis for relaxing your physical security. It's the basis for making sure yours isn't the easiest target on the street, because that's genuinely what determines whether an opportunist picks your door or the next one.

Don't be the unlocked garage. Don't be the snappable cylinder. Don't be the flat-shackle padlock on the outbuilding full of Makita tools.

The crime environment in Nottinghamshire is getting worse overall. This particular number going down slightly doesn't change that.

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If you want someone to come and look at your cylinders, outbuilding locks or access points without being sold a load of unnecessary kit, Fort Secure covers Nottingham and all the NG postcodes. We aim to arrive within 30 minutes where possible, and you'll get a straight price on the call before we come out. No obligation to go ahead with anything if you don't like what you hear.