Key Safe Burglaries on the Rise: Which One Police Recommend (As Heard on BBC Radio Bristol)

By Martyn Lenthall, AHLP Locksmiths Thornbury | Published 23rd May 2026

Burglars are increasingly targeting cheap key safes — either guessing simple codes like 1234 or 0000, or ripping the units off the wall entirely. The fix isn’t expensive. Spend an extra £20, pick the right model, and have it fitted in the right place, and you’ve solved 95% of the problem. Here’s what you need to know.

Why are key safe burglaries on the rise?

Two things have happened at the same time. First, the number of key safes fitted to UK homes has gone up sharply — driven partly by care providers needing access for elderly clients, but mostly by the explosion of Airbnb and holiday lets. More boxes on more walls means more targets.

Second, burglars have caught on. Cheap key safes are easy to guess, easy to lever off the wall, and (in some cases) easy to crowbar open in under a minute. Once they’re in, they’ve got your front door key and a clean run of your house.

The frustrating part is that the solution is simple and cheap. The problem is most people don’t know there’s a difference between key safes — they assume a box with a code on it is a box with a code on it. There’s actually a huge gap between the worst and the best.

What’s the safest key safe to buy?

The one we fit and recommend is the Supra C500 Pro. It’s the model the police recommend through their Secured by Design initiative, and it was the first mechanical key safe in the UK to achieve LPS1175 Issue 8 A5 certification — that’s the same physical attack rating as a British Standard front door. It can withstand a five-minute attack test conducted by the Building Research Establishment.

In plain English: even a determined burglar with tools struggles to get into one of these. Even we, as trained locksmiths, take far longer to open a Supra C500 than we do any of the cheap ones.

A few features worth knowing:

• Made from heavy-gauge stainless steel and zinc alloy with double-wall construction
• Over 4,000 possible code combinations (compared to 10,000 for a 4-digit cheap box, but with the codes fully hidden from view rather than on dials)
• A clutch mechanism inside prevents the handle being forced
• Holds up to 6 keys
• Fully mechanical — no batteries, no internet, no app, no failure point
• Rated to operate in temperatures from -32°C to 68°C

You’ll find cheaper key safes online for £15–£25. The Supra C500 Pro is typically £55–£75. That’s the £20 difference Martyn mentioned in the interview — and it’s a once-in-twenty-years purchase. False economy doesn’t get much clearer than this.

Where should a key safe be fitted on your home?

This matters as much as the model you buy. The strongest key safe in the world is useless if it’s fitted into render or sat on a corner where someone can lever it sideways. Here’s the checklist we follow on every install:

Fit it into solid brick, blockwork, or good-quality concrete

Never into render. Render looks like brick from the outside, but it’s a thin coating over insulation or breeze block — a key safe fitted into render can be pulled off the wall with a crowbar in seconds. Critically, the Supra C500’s Secured by Design accreditation is invalidated if it’s fitted into render, which means your home insurance claim could be invalidated too.

Stay away from corners

A key safe at the corner of a wall can be attacked from two angles — much easier to lever off. Always fit it into the centre of a solid wall with masonry on all sides.

Position it out of sight from the road

Burglars opportunity-spot from a distance. A key safe visible from the pavement is an invitation. The best position is somewhere a carer or guest can easily find when they know where to look, but that isn’t immediately obvious from the street — round the side of the house, behind a porch, or under a porch light.

Make sure it’s well lit

Two reasons. First, your carer or guest needs to see the keypad at night. Second, a key safe under a motion-sensor light is a much less appealing target than one in the dark. A £15 PIR floodlight from a DIY shop pays for itself the first time it pings on at 2am.

Use the supplied fixings

The Supra C500 comes with self-tapping masonry screws that lock into solid brick without rawl plugs. If you (or your fitter) substitute these for standard screws, the accreditation is again invalid. Use what’s in the box.

How much does a good key safe cost — and how much to have one fitted?

Here’s the honest breakdown:

• Cheap key safe (online): £15–£25. Avoid.
• Supra C500 Pro (the one we recommend): £55–£75 for the unit alone
• Professional fitting: typically £60–£90 depending on access and wall type
• Total for a proper installation: £120–£160 fitted

Spread over the 10–20 years a properly-fitted key safe will last, that’s £8–£16 a year for genuine peace of mind. Less than your TV licence.

If you’re a confident DIYer with a 5mm masonry drill bit and a Torx T30 screwdriver, you can fit one yourself — the instructions are clear. But if you’ve got any doubt about whether your wall is solid brick or rendered breeze block, get a locksmith to look first. We won’t charge to come and tell you whether your wall is suitable.

What other home security upgrades make the biggest difference?

A key safe is just one piece. If a burglar can’t get through the front door, they don’t get to your key safe either. The cheap upgrades that make the biggest difference:

Upgrade to a British Standard lock

If your front door has a euro cylinder lock (the type with a key-shaped hole), make sure it’s a 3-star Kitemarked anti-snap cylinder. Cheap euro cylinders can be snapped in under 30 seconds with a pair of mole grips — it’s the single most common way burglars get in. An anti-snap cylinder costs about £40 fitted and removes the entire attack vector.

If you’ve got a traditional mortice lock, make sure it’s BS3621 rated — the British Standard for front door locks. Most home insurance policies require this, and many older locks fall short.

Add a sensor light at the front and back

PIR floodlights cost £15–£30. They turn dark corners into lit ones the moment someone approaches. Burglars hate light because it makes neighbours notice them.

Consider a visible camera or video doorbell

Even a £40 video doorbell is enough to make most opportunist burglars walk past your house and try the next one. They’re looking for easy targets, not arguments.

Don’t leave keys near the front door

Letterbox fishing — using a wire to hook keys off a hallway table — is depressingly common. Keep your keys out of sight from the letterbox, ideally upstairs or in a drawer.

How do you avoid rogue locksmiths and “£39 call-out” scams?

This was the bit of the radio interview that needed the most warning. There’s a particular scam doing the rounds where national call-centre companies advertise heavily on Google for “locksmith near me” with prices like “£39 call out” or “from £49.” When they turn up, the price somehow becomes hundreds — sometimes thousands — of pounds.

We saw a case recently where a customer was charged over £4,000 for a job a local locksmith would have done for around £200. By the time they realised, the work was done and the card had been taken.

How to avoid it:

• Use a local, family-run firm. Look for a real address, real photos, real reviews from real local people. National call-centre companies often have no premises — they just farm work out to whoever picks up the phone
• Check Google reviews and Trustpilot. Look for a long history of reviews from named local customers, not a flood of identical 5-star reviews posted in a single week
• Ask for a fixed price in writing before any work starts. A reputable locksmith will quote on the phone for standard jobs and confirm in writing if there’s any uncertainty
• Be wary of anyone who says they “need to drill” your lock straight away. 99% of lockouts can be opened without destruction. Drilling is the lazy (and expensive) option
• Check for trade body membership. The Master Locksmiths Association (MLA) vets its members, requires DBS checks, and audits work quality

When should you replace your locks or get new keys cut?

A common question we get: “my key’s getting stiff in the lock — do I need a new lock?” Usually not. Most of the time it’s a lock that needs servicing (a squirt of dry graphite lubricant, not WD-40, which gums up over time) or a worn key.

The “copy of a copy” problem is real. The first cut from an original key is almost always perfect. But if you cut a copy from a copy from a copy — like a photocopier degrading each generation — you eventually end up with a key that doesn’t quite turn, jams in the barrel, or wears the lock out from the inside. If your keys are in this state, it’s cheaper and more reliable to swap the cylinder for a new one with fresh original keys than to keep cutting from a worn copy.

You should always change your locks if:

• You’ve just moved into a new house (you don’t know how many keys are out there)
• You’ve lost a key — especially if it had any identifying information attached
• You’ve had a tenant or housemate move out and not returned their keys
• You’ve had a burglary or attempted break-in
• Your existing locks don’t meet BS3621 / 3-star anti-snap standards required by your insurance

Final word

If you’ve got a cheap key safe outside your house right now, please don’t panic. The vast majority never get touched. But it’s a 20-minute fix to swap it for one that genuinely protects your home — and if a burglar ever does come past, you’ll be glad you spent the £20 extra.

If you’ve got any questions about your existing setup, your front door locks, or anything else security-related, drop us a line. Even if you don’t end up booking us, we’d rather you got the right information from someone local than a £39 promise from a call centre.

— Martyn Lenthall, AHLP Locksmiths Thornbury