While you may be conscious of protecting and securing your own home and family, what about your neighbourhood? Helping to keep your local neighbourhood safe is essential in maintaining community spirit. It also means that you, your family and neighbours are safer out and about in the local area. Whether you are close with your neighbours or not, thinking about community safety will benefit you, as well as your neighbours, in the short and long term.
Community safety is important because everyone needs and deserves to feel safe at home and around their home. Feeling unsafe in your home or walking near your home shouldn’t be a feeling anyone experiences. If you’re worried about break-ins, thieves, anti-social behaviour or someone stealing your car, you can feel uneasy. In turn, you lose the ability to relax in your own home and enjoy your downtime.
However, it isn’t just you that an unsafe neighbourhood affects.
A dangerous or unsafe neighbourhood impacts nearly everyone living in it. A business may feel uneasy operating and look to move elsewhere. New businesses may be put off opening in your area too. This can result in less funding from councils. Meanwhile, children will not be able to play out safely and the elderly won’t feel safe going for a short walk.
In turn, house pieces will begin to fall. Which? Magazine completed a survey in 2015 that found 90% of buyers are unwilling to compromise on crime levels. Not only will your house price be devalued, but you could also find it harder to sell your home, even at the lower price.
Making an effort to focus on the important of community safety is essential for avoiding this. Think about the home security you can put in place and how it will protect other people too. CCTV security cameras that protect your home but also cover neighbours’ homes could be a welcome addition. Remember to speak to your neighbours about it first though. Motion sensor lighting will help shine a light on unwelcome visitors and this will also work as a deterrent. If everyone makes a small step to better secure their area, the community will be a safer place for everyone.
