Tall hedges increase risk of burglary, says Ghent researcher

According to UGent researcher Marlijn Peeters, the extent to which a house is hidden is the number one risk factor for robberies and not how difficult it is to access. A very tall hedge, for example, makes a house less accessible but actually increases the risk of burglary, she said, because it obstruct the view of the house.

Some 75,000 home robberies are reported in Belgium every year. At 7% of the addresses, another break-in follows in the next year. To determine what makes houses more vulnerable, Peeters analysed more than 1,550 homes across Ghent. She compared burgled houses to those that had never experienced a break-in and found that the conditions for being visible are the most crucial.

“The risk of burglary is lower if the neighbouring houses are visible and also in dead-end streets, where people in the street are more noticeable to residents,” explained Peeters. “In high-rise buildings, where it is not easy to tell who belongs there and who doesn’t, this kind of vigilance is much more difficult.”

The state of a street and its houses, she said, also indicate to would-be robbers whether a neighbourhood is being cared for by its residents, which suggests that they are also concerned neighbours.

To decrease the risk of burglary, Peeters advises homeowners to prune their hedges and keep the house in good condition. She called on the government to take the structure of new neighbourhoods into account during urban planning to optimise the conditions for visibility.

Photo: Ingimage