Key Safe Burglaries on the Rise: What Bristol Homeowners Need to Know

By AA Lock & Key, Bristol locksmiths | Published [PUBLISHED_DATE]

There’s been a noticeable rise in key safe burglaries across the UK over the past year — and we’re seeing the knock-on effects in Bristol too. We’ve been thinking about how to share what we know in a way that’s genuinely useful, and then a fellow Bristol-area locksmith covered it brilliantly on BBC Radio Bristol. So rather than reinvent the wheel, we’re passing on his advice with full credit — and adding our own perspective from the lock-fitting side of the trade.

Why are key safe burglaries on the rise?

Two trends have collided. First, key safes are far more common than they used to be — carers, cleaners, dog walkers, and especially Airbnb and holiday-let hosts are fitting them across Bristol and the surrounding area. More boxes on more walls means more potential targets.

Second, burglars have learned that the cheaper end of the market is genuinely easy to defeat. Many of the £15–£25 key safes you’ll find on Amazon can be levered off a wall with a crowbar in seconds, or opened with a hammer in under a minute. Some have only 4-digit dials on the front where the code is partly visible from how worn the buttons are. Once a burglar has the front door key, they have a clean run of the house — and your home insurance may not pay out the way you’d expect.

The frustrating part, as Martyn pointed out in the interview, is that the fix is genuinely cheap. Most people just don’t realise there’s a meaningful difference between key safe models.

The model the police actually recommend

If you take one thing away from this post, it’s this: the Supra C500 Pro is the key safe that carries Secured by Design Police Preferred accreditation. 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, and 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. Specifically:

• Heavy-gauge stainless steel and zinc alloy with double-wall construction
• Over 4,000 possible code combinations — and the buttons hide the code, rather than displaying it on dials
• A clutch mechanism inside prevents the handle being forced
• Holds up to 6 keys
• Fully mechanical — no batteries, no internet, no app to be hacked
• Rated to work from -32°C to 68°C, so a Bristol winter won’t bother it

Cheap key safes are typically £15–£25. The Supra C500 Pro is usually £55–£75. That’s the £20 difference Martyn talks about — and given it’s a once-in-twenty-years purchase, it’s about as clear-cut a case of false economy as you’ll see.

Where to fit it (this matters as much as which one)

This is the part we see go wrong most often when we’re called out to homes in Bristol. The strongest key safe in the world is useless if it’s been fitted into render or sat on a corner where someone can lever it sideways.

Solid brick, blockwork or concrete only

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 for Bristol’s mix of older terraces and newer estates, the Supra C500’s Secured by Design accreditation is invalidated if it’s fitted into render. So is your potential home insurance claim.

Away from corners

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

Out of sight from the road

Burglars spot opportunities 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 isn’t obvious from the street — round the side of the house, behind a porch, under a sensor light.

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 far less appealing to anyone considering having a go at it. A £15 PIR floodlight from a DIY shop pays for itself the first time it pings on at 2am.

How much does a proper installation cost?

Here’s the honest breakdown for a key safe fitted to a Bristol home:

• Cheap key safe (online): £15–£25 — but avoid
• Supra C500 Pro (the police-recommended model): £55–£75 for the unit
• Professional fitting: typically £60–£90 depending on wall type and access
• Total fitted: roughly £120–£160

Spread over the 10–20 years a properly-fitted key safe will last, that’s about £8–£16 a year — less than a Netflix subscription.

A note from us: at AA Lock & Key, our core focus is emergency lockouts, lock changes, UPVC repairs, and anti-snap cylinder upgrades — that’s where most of our day-to-day work sits. For Secured by Design key safe installation specifically, we’d genuinely recommend speaking to Martyn at AHLP in Thornbury — it’s a specialism they’ve focused on, and they’ll do the job properly first time. If you’ve already got a cheap key safe fitted and want a second opinion on whether it’s holding up, either of us can take a quick look while we’re in your area.

While we’re on home security — the cheap upgrades that matter most

A key safe is one piece of the puzzle. The bigger picture, and where we spend most of our time at AA Lock & Key, is the front door itself. If a burglar can’t get through the front door, the key safe doesn’t matter.

3-star Kitemark anti-snap cylinders

This is the single biggest fix for most Bristol homes. If you’ve got a UPVC or composite door — which is most houses built or refitted in the last 30 years — the euro cylinder lock is the weak link. Standard cylinders can be snapped in under 30 seconds with a pair of mole grips. It’s the most common way burglars get into modern homes, and the knowledge is freely available on YouTube.

A 3-star Kitemark anti-snap cylinder removes the attack vector entirely. Cost is around £165 fitted for most homes. If your home insurance specifies British Kitemark locks and you don’t have them, your claim may be reduced or refused after a burglary — worth ten minutes reading your policy schedule.

Sensor lights 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.

A visible video doorbell

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

Keep keys away from the letterbox

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

The other thing Martyn flagged: rogue locksmiths

This was the bit of the BBC Radio Bristol interview that really stood out, because we see it constantly in Bristol too. National call-centre companies advertise heavily on Google for “locksmith near me” with prices like “£39 call out” or “from £49.” When they arrive, the price somehow becomes hundreds — sometimes thousands — of pounds. Martyn mentioned a recent case where a customer was charged over £4,000 for a job a local locksmith would have done for around £200.

How to avoid getting caught:

• Use a local, family-run firm with a real Bristol address. National call-centre companies often have no premises — they just farm work out to whoever picks up the phone
• Check Google reviews for a long history of named local customers. Be wary of a flood of identical 5-star reviews posted in a single week
• Ask for a fixed price before any work starts. Any reputable Bristol locksmith will quote on the phone and confirm in writing if there’s uncertainty. (At AA Lock & Key, we give a fixed price before we set off — written, not implied.)
• Be wary of anyone who says they need to drill your lock straight away. 99% of lockouts can be opened non-destructively. Drilling is the lazy and expensive option
• Check for Master Locksmiths Association membership or equivalent. The MLA vets its members, requires DBS checks, and audits work quality

Final word

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

For key safe fittings specifically, our recommendation stands: speak to AHLP in Thornbury — they specialise in Secured by Design installations and they were the ones who took the time to explain all this on the radio. For anything else — lockouts, lock changes, UPVC repairs, anti-snap upgrades — give us a call.

And whoever you book, get a fixed price first.

— The team at AA Lock & Key, Bristol