Whether you are heading away for a long weekend, the school holidays or an extended trip, some time spent preparing your home before you leave can help protect it while it sits empty. Securing doors and windows, making the property look occupied and arranging for someone to check on it can all form part of a sensible home security plan, and each can be put in place well before the bags are packed.

From looking up recorded burglaries in your area and testing your alarm to arranging a house sitter, asking a neighbour for help or booking a professional security patrol, there are several practical steps worth taking before you go. Matrix Security has provided home security in Auckland since 1993, with round-the-clock alarm monitoring from its own Monitoring Intelligence Centre. This guide draws on that experience to cover what to check before you leave and how to choose the right protection for your home while you are away.

Here is what this guide covers:

How do you check burglary data for your area?

Recorded crime data can give useful context about your neighbourhood before you head away. New Zealand Police publishes this information through policedata.nz, where the Victimisation Time and Place report shows where and when recorded crimes, including burglaries of private homes, have occurred across New Zealand. Filtering the report to your part of the city gives you a useful Auckland burglary map, along with the days and times incidents tend to be recorded.

The data reflects incidents that have been reported to and recorded by Police, rather than every burglary that takes place. It cannot predict whether a particular home will be targeted. It is best read as background, alongside the practical steps that follow, which apply to every home regardless of where it sits on the map.

What belongs on your before-you-go checklist?

A few physical checks before you leave can make a real difference to how secure your home is while it sits empty. Working through them just before your departure means nothing is overlooked in the rush of packing, and the house is left exactly as you intend it to be.

  • Lock every exterior door and window, including the internal door between the house and the garage.
  • Move valuables, spare keys and important documents out of sight of windows and into a safe or locked storage.
  • Photograph valuable items and record the serial numbers of electronics, as New Zealand Police recommends ahead of the holiday period.
  • Lock sheds and garages, and put away ladders and tools so they cannot be used to reach upper windows, as the Matrix Security home security guide advises.

A trip away is also a good opportunity to review your home insurance policy. It is worth checking whether your insurer has conditions about how long the home can be left unoccupied or requirements for your alarm to be set while you are away, and whether you need to let them know about an extended absence. Some insurers offer a discount where a home is professionally monitored, so it is also worth asking what applies to your own policy.

How do you make your home look lived in?

An occupied home gives off small, everyday signs of activity, from lights coming on in the evening to a letterbox that is cleared each day. Recreating those signs in your absence can help discourage opportunistic burglary, and most of them are easy to arrange in advance.

  • Place a hold on your mail through New Zealand Post, or arrange for someone to collect it along with any newspapers and junk mail.
  • Set lights in living areas on timers so they switch on and off at the times you would normally be home.
  • Leave curtains and blinds as they would be on an ordinary day.
  • Arrange for the lawns to be mowed if you will be away for more than a week or so.
  • Save holiday photos and location check-ins for social media until you are back home.

How should you check your alarm before you leave?

A monitored alarm works best when the instructions behind it reflect your plans. Those instructions are known as a response plan, the set of steps a monitoring centre follows when an alarm activates, covering who is contacted, in what order and what action is taken. If your alarm is monitored, a few checks with your provider in the days before you leave help make sure both the system and the plan suit the time the house will be empty.

  1. If you have a monitored alarm, contact your monitoring provider a few days before you leave and arrange to test your system. Your provider can guide you through the correct testing process and help ensure your alarm is operating as expected before you go away.
  2. Review your call list and response plan with your provider, confirming that phone numbers are current, as the people normally listed may be travelling with you or harder to reach during your trip.
  3. Let your monitoring provider know your departure and return dates, along with anyone expected at the property, such as a house sitter, cleaner, gardener or family member.
  4. If you have recently changed broadband provider or moved to fibre, let your monitoring provider know, as a change in connection can affect how an alarm connected through IP monitoring sends its signals.

House sitter, neighbour or security patrol?

There are three common ways to have your home looked after while you are away, and each offers something different. A house sitter provides occupancy and day-to-day care of the household, a trusted neighbour offers informal support from close by, and a professional patrol service provides scheduled security checks of the property. The right choice usually depends on how long you will be away, whether there are pets to care for, and how much of the day-to-day routine you would like covered.

A house sitter lives in your home for the length of the trip, keeping it occupied in the most natural way possible. Most care for pets and plants, collect the mail and keep the garden tidy, and many of the house sitters NZ families choose come through personal recommendation or have references from previous sits. Useful questions to ask house sitters before confirming include:

  • Can you share references from previous house sits?
  • Will you be staying overnight for the full period?
  • Are you comfortable caring for our pets and keeping to their routine?
  • How will you keep in touch while we are away?
  • Are you confident arming and disarming the alarm?

A trusted neighbour is often the closest pair of eyes on the street, able to clear the letterbox, bring the bins in and notice anything out of place. Neighbourhood Support New Zealand suggests leaving at least one trusted person with your holiday contact details and a spare key, so they can check in on the house or respond to something on site.

For homes where no one will be staying, Matrix Security offers Holiday Hotlist, a house sitting service carried out by security patrols rather than someone living in the home. For the dates you book, security officers visit the property on foot at least twice a day and check all exterior windows and doors. Your mail is collected and stored until you return, newspapers and junk mail are removed, and other services, such as bringing in rubbish bins, may be available on request. Holiday Hotlist is available in selected Auckland suburbs, with rates for both Matrix Security clients and non-clients.

Where an alarm is already monitored by Matrix Security, booking a Holiday Hotlist also allows the response plan to be adjusted for the time you are away. Homeowners can choose, for example, whether a patrol officer is sent straight away or the people on the call list are phoned first, with the change applying only for the length of the Hotlist.

For homeowners who travel regularly, the Matrix Security Green Reflector Service combines 24/7 alarm monitoring and a daily patrol officer drive-by with a preferential Holiday Hotlist rate. Green Reflector Plus includes Holiday Hotlist as part of the service, and both are available in selected Auckland suburbs.

What it provides House sitter Trusted neighbour Holiday Hotlist
Someone living in the home Yes, for the full stay No No
Mail and deliveries Collected as part of the stay Collected by arrangement Mail collected and stored, junk mail removed
Pets and plants Usually included Sometimes, by arrangement Not included
Security checks Everyday presence rather than formal security checks Informal, as time allows At least two foot patrols a day, with checks of all exterior windows and doors
Well suited to Longer trips and homes with pets Short breaks and close-knit streets Empty homes within the Hotlist service area

Each of these options can also work alongside the others, depending on the length of the trip and the needs of the household. A neighbour might keep an eye on the street while a Holiday Hotlist covers the property checks, or a house sitter might stay in a home that is also professionally monitored.

Can you keep an eye on your home while you are away?

Modern alarm systems can make it easier to stay connected to your home from wherever you are. Depending on your alarm system and the services available, you may be able to monitor activity through an app, receive notifications when sensors are triggered and arm or disarm the alarm from your phone, and where cameras are installed, view live or recorded footage. It is worth checking which features your system supports before you leave and making sure you know how to access them while you are away.

What should you do if something happens?

Knowing who to call ahead of time makes it easier to act quickly if something does go wrong. If a crime is happening at your home right now, call 111 and ask for Police, and for anything that has already happened, such as discovering a break-in on your return, call 105 or report it online at 105.police.govt.nz. If you arrive home to signs of forced entry, it is safest to stay outside until Police have attended. With a monitored alarm, your monitoring provider will have responded to any activation while you were away in line with your agreed response plan, and can provide a report of the activity recorded.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I tell my alarm monitoring company I am going away?

Yes, let your monitoring provider know your travel dates and anyone who may visit the property, such as a house sitter or family member. It is also a good time to update your contact list if the people normally available to respond will be away, and to check whether your response instructions need changing.

What happens if my alarm goes off while I am away?

If your alarm is professionally monitored, the monitoring centre receives the activation and follows your agreed response plan. Depending on your service, this may involve contacting you or your nominated contacts, sending a patrol or taking other agreed action.

Do I need to be a Matrix Security client to use Holiday Hotlist?

No, Holiday Hotlist is available to both Matrix Security clients and non-clients, with rates for each. The service covers selected Auckland suburbs, so it is worth confirming your address is within the service area when you book.

Should I tell my insurer I am going away?

This depends on your policy, as some insurers have conditions about how long a home can be left unoccupied. Checking your policy wording or speaking with your insurer before you leave will confirm whether you need to let them know.

Heading away soon? Book a Holiday Hotlist

Preparing your home before a trip makes a real difference, and arranging for the property to be checked while you are away can add a further layer of reassurance. With the house secured, looking lived in and checked regularly, you are free to enjoy your time away rather than wondering about the home you have left behind.

For homeowners in selected Auckland suburbs, the Matrix Security Holiday Hotlist looks after your property for the full length of your trip. Security officers visit on foot at least twice a day, check every exterior door and window, and collect and store your mail until you are home, so the house is cared for from the day you leave to the day you return. If you would like your home covered while you are away, book your Holiday Hotlist online before you go.

If your home sits outside the Holiday Hotlist service area, professional alarm monitoring can still help keep it protected while the house is empty. Matrix Security’s alarm monitoring and response service is managed around the clock from its own Monitoring Intelligence Centre. Whichever option suits your home, contact Matrix Security or call the team on 09 525 8532 to check whether your suburb is covered and talk through the right protection before you go.