How do I make my house look lived in while I am away?

The signals that tell someone a house is empty, how to remove each one, and the neighbour arrangement that is worth more than all the gadgets.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 1 hr
Read: 4 min
Safety: caution

Short answer

Burglars read a house from the street. Remove the signals — post building up, a dark house every evening, bins out for a fortnight, curtains that never move, a car-shaped empty drive — and get a neighbour to be visibly involved. That is worth more than any single device.

Opportunistic burglary is a selection process. Someone walks a street looking for the house that is obviously empty, and almost every signal that gives it away is something you can remove for nothing. This is the occupancy half of leaving home — the water, heating and appliance side is a separate job and worth doing at the same time.

Safety

Check your home insurance for conditions about unoccupied periods — most policies impose requirements after a set number of days, and some require specific security measures for cover to apply at all. Never announce a trip on social media before or during it, and never leave a key hidden outside: the obvious places are the first places checked.

What you'll need

Two or three plug-in or smart timers
A neighbour or friend willing to help (optional)
A key safe or a trusted keyholder (optional)

The occupancy check round a house before going away

Step by step

Ask a neighbour, and make it a real arrangement.Not just 'keep an eye out'. Ask them to take in post and parcels, put a bin out and back on collection day, park on the drive if it is empty, and have a key or the code for a key safe. Give them your dates, a contact number and the name of anyone who might legitimately turn up.
Deal with the post and deliveries.A full letterbox visible through the glass is the clearest signal there is. Pause deliveries and subscriptions, use a mail hold service for a long trip, and ask the neighbour to clear the mat.
Put lights on varied timers.Two or three lamps in different rooms, on at different times through the evening and off at a plausible hour — not all at seven and off at ten every night. A landing light on all night says empty as loudly as darkness does.
Leave curtains and blinds as you normally would.Downstairs curtains drawn in the daytime for a fortnight is conspicuous. Leave them as they usually sit, with valuables out of sight from the window, and ask the neighbour to change them once or twice on a longer trip.
Deal with the bins.A bin left out for two weeks, or never put out at all when everyone else's is, both stand out. The neighbour handling the bin is one of the most effective small things on the list.
Keep the outside looking tended.Grass cut before you go and, on a long trip, arranged to be cut again. Garden furniture, ladders, tools and bikes locked away — they are both worth stealing and useful for getting in.
Check the actual weak points.Back and side doors, patio doors, ground-floor and accessible windows, the garage and the side gate. Lock the side gate, lock windows, remove the key from the inside of a door with glass beside it, and make sure a uPVC door is lifted and locked with the key rather than just pulled shut.
Move valuables out of sight from windows.Laptops, keys, bags and car keys. Car keys near a front door are a specific target and a common one — take them with you or keep them well inside and away from the letterbox.
Use whatever alarm and camera you have properly.Set the alarm, tell the neighbour and the monitoring provider you are away, and check any camera notifications reach a phone you will actually have with you. A camera nobody watches is a record, not a deterrent.
Keep it off social media until you are home.Posts, check-ins, and children's accounts too. It is the modern equivalent of a note on the door, and insurers have declined claims over it.
Do the utilities and water round at the same time.Water off at the stopcock, heating on a frost setting in winter, appliances off, fridge dealt with. Different problem, same trip round the house — do them together.

Tips

A car on the drive is one of the strongest occupancy signals. If yours is going to the airport, ask a neighbour to use the space.
Photograph the meter readings and anything valuable before you go. Useful for a billing dispute and for an insurance claim.
Note that a house sitter or a friend staying is worth more than every measure here combined, if you have someone willing.

Common mistakes

Lights on the same timer every night — A rigid pattern reads as a timer, not a person. Vary the times and use more than one room.
Hiding a key outside — Under the mat, in a plant pot, on top of the frame and inside the meter box are all checked as a matter of routine. Use a proper key safe or a neighbour.
Posting about the trip while away — It tells everyone who can see it, including people you do not know, exactly how long the house is empty. Post the photographs when you are home.

Questions people ask

What is the most effective thing to do before going away?

Arrange for a neighbour to be visibly involved — post in, bin out, a car on the drive, a key held. It removes more signals at once than any device, and it means somebody would actually notice a problem.

Do light timers actually deter burglars?

Yes, if used properly. Several lamps in different rooms, on at varied times through the evening and off at a plausible hour. All the lights coming on at once at the same time every night reads as a timer.