Residential Security Services in London and the UK
Residential security services for homes and country estates, including patrols, access control and SIA-licensed officers across London and the UK.
View this pageResidential security guide
Residential Security Assessment Checklist
Assess household routines, boundaries, doors, windows, alarms, cameras, access and incident-response arrangements as one layered plan.
- Start with people and routines
- Review physical and electronic controls together
- Plan how occupants will respond
Residential security depends on occupants and routines, the surrounding environment, physical barriers, detection systems and the ability to respond. A camera or guard cannot compensate for weak doors, uncontrolled keys or an untested incident plan.
1. People, routines and information
- Identify who lives, works or regularly visits the property.
- Review predictable arrival, departure and travel patterns.
- Define who receives deliveries and admits contractors.
- Help occupants challenge unexpected callers safely.
- Limit unnecessary exposure of travel plans, addresses and valuable items online.
- Include children, older occupants and household staff in response arrangements.
- Keep emergency contacts current.
2. Boundary and external environment
- Check that fences, walls and gates are clearly defined and maintained.
- Control pedestrian and vehicle entrances appropriately.
- Review planting, outbuildings and parked vehicles for concealment.
- Use lighting to support visibility without creating glare.
- Secure garages, sheds and garden offices.
- Check whether a visitor can reach a private area unnoticed.
3. Building envelope
- Check that external doors and windows close and lock correctly.
- Include patio doors, roof access and secondary entrances.
- Keep keys away from letterboxes, pet doors and accessible windows.
- Change or revoke access when keys or devices are lost.
- Secure outbuilding tools that could assist forced entry.
- Preserve fire escape requirements when physical security is improved.
4. Alarms, cameras and communications
- Test alarms and make sure occupants understand them.
- Set camera coverage around a defined purpose.
- Use a reliable path for critical alerts.
- Consider what happens when power, broadband or mobile service fails.
- Control who can view, export or delete footage.
- Maintain system passwords, devices and software.
- Document the response to an alert rather than relying on notification alone.
NPSA residential guidance advises that effective protection combines behaviour, physical security, the surrounding environment, connected technology and an effective response.
5. Access and household operations
- Keep an authorised visitor and contractor process.
- Control keys, fobs, gate codes and alarm credentials.
- Remove access promptly when someone no longer needs it.
- Agree delivery and parcel arrangements.
- Record and investigate repeated unusual approaches.
- Separate routine domestic access from protected or private zones.
6. Response and review
- Define when to leave, shelter, secure the property or call police.
- Ensure occupants know more than one safe exit where practicable.
- Keep emergency information accessible.
- Review after an incident, attempted entry, move, renovation, staffing change, new system or material change in risk.
- Test procedures without exposing sensitive details.
Domestic CCTV and privacy
If home CCTV captures beyond the property boundary, data-protection rules apply. Coverage should be necessary, people should be informed where required, footage must be secure and retention should be controlled.
ICO home-CCTV guidance explains the rules for cameras and video doorbells that record neighbouring property, communal areas or public space.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need residential security officers?
Not every home does. Start with the risk, occupants, existing controls and response gaps. Personnel may be appropriate where those layers do not adequately manage the identified risk.
Is CCTV enough?
No. Police and NPSA guidance treat CCTV as one layer alongside doors, windows, alarms, lighting, routines and response.
Should I email my completed assessment?
Do not circulate detailed vulnerabilities unnecessarily. Share sensitive findings only with people who need them through an agreed secure method.
What changes should trigger a review?
An incident, new threat, extended absence, household or staff change, renovation, system change or altered access arrangement.
What about a safer room?
For a genuinely high-risk household, NPSA discusses a safer area as one layer within a wider plan. It should not be treated as a generic do-it-yourself substitute for assessment and emergency planning.
Sources and further reading
Review the residence as a complete system
Tell us about the occupants, property, routines, existing controls and the concern the plan must address.