I've lived in my current flat for about 12 years now, and during that time I have been burgled twice, had a car stolen, stopped a burglary in progress on my downstairs neighbour's flat, and they've had their car stolen. All this in a "good" neighbourhood where the average price of an average sized two bed flat is £250k+
This morning, unfortunately, there was another break-in. I did some work from home and was about to walk out the door at 11:00am when I heard some smashing/crunching sounds. I went out back to check, couldn't see anything, checked the basement flat, and peeped over the fence at our neighbour's side gate and back door. Couldn't see anything. I ended up thinking it must have been the recycling truck. As I went out the front door I saw that one of the next door neighbour's windows had been smashed and forced open. I went straight back in to call the police. Maybe 15 to 20 minutes elapsed between the time I heard the sound and the police pulling up (they were great - responded in less than 10 minutes!) and by that time the burglar was gone. I think they were gone by the time I called the police to be honest.
It's always unnerving when something like this happens on your doorstep. I'm one of those people who leaves the radio on when I go out. (I remember a Fast Show sketch where the burglars waited in the garden until the radio went on, as a sign the house was empty.) And I have 'beware of dog' signs in the garden and on the back door. It makes me feel better, even if it's pointless. We have good locks on all our windows and doors (that would prevent the kind of break-in that happened today) but I still feel nervous about burglaries. It's difficult to get good insurance in rented flats in London. I think I'll have to try harder to find a good policy.
