Most of us bring our fears from our home country and guard against our homes being robbed here in Portugal. Hardly surprising when article such as this appear on Yahoo.finance.uk: The most burgled places in Britain A small village in Yorkshire is rivaling London for the dubious honor of being the most burgled place to live in.
Britain’s most burgled postcodes have been revealed – with Yorkshire and London vying to become the highest-risk place to live. Fully half of the top 20 were in Yorkshire, with London the next most burgled place, with Birmingham, Lincolnshire and Hertfordshire rounding off the list.
Homeowners [in high-risk areas] need to be extra vigilant when it comes to security – installing timers on your lights and ensuring items of value are kept away from your windows are easy steps to take to reduce risk. But you never know when an opportunistic thief may strike, so it’s crucial to ensure your home contents insurance is fully up to date, and is at a high enough level to cover all your belongings sufficiently
said Julie Fisher, head of home insurance at Money supermarket – who conducted the research. Money supermarket looked at 3 million applications for home insurance across the UK in the last 12 months, then cross-referenced where people had made claims for burglary with where they lived to work out the areas most at risk. Stoke Newington topped the list, with 33.6 burglary claims per 1,000 applications, followed by the picturesque village of Apperley Bridge near Bradford at 31.7 claims per 1,000 applications. Fisher explains:
Being in a higher risk area doesn’t necessarily mean where you live is bad or rife with crime – many thieves will target more affluent areas purely for the rewards on offer
Bars across a door in Portugal
The 20 most burgled post codes: 1. N16. Stoke Newington London. 2. BD10. Apperley Bridge Bradford 3. B71. West Bromwich West Midlands 4. N22. Wood Green London 5. LS13. Bramley, Rodley, Swinnow Leeds 6. LS15. Austhorpe, Barwick-in-Elmet, Colton, Cross Gates, Halton, Halton Moor, Scholes, Whitkirk Leeds 7. BD18. Saltaire, Shipley, Windhill, Wrose Bradford 8. LS7. Chapel Allerton, Chapeltown, Little London, Meanwood, Potternewton, Sheepscar Leeds 9. DN2. Intake, Wheatley, Wheatley Hills Doncaster 10. SW16. Streatham London 11. LS8. Fearnville, Gipton, Gledhow, Harehills, Moortown, Oakwood, Roundhay Leeds 12. UB7. West Drayton, Harmondsworth, Sipson, Yiewsley, Longford Greater London 13. IG8. Woodford Green London 14. EN5. Barnet Hertfordshire 15. B75. Sutton Trinity, Falcon Lodge, Rectory Birmingham 16. DN35. Cleethorpes North East Lincolnshire 17. S13. Handsworth, Richmond, Woodhouse Sheffield 18. BD2. Eccleshill, Fagley, Wrose Bradford 19. LS12. Armley, Farnley, New Farnley, Wortley Leeds 20. NW7. Mill Hill London 25
Now for some good news Lisbon has been voted the safest city in Europe ! People in Central Portugal often leave their keys in their front doors all day because its a very safe, friendly part of the world to live in. We have heard of numerous occasions were wallets or money has been dropped in the street only to be returned untouched. A mixture of honest and family values that can’t be beat.
Castelo Construction Lda are builders in Central Portugal.
We have 12 years’ experience of working with and delighting clients in Portugal.
Tel 00351 927168247 or kelvin@casteloconstruction.com
If you need an English speaking builder for renovation or new build work we will provide free estimates, fixed prices and carry out your work to a very high standard.
Many of our clients are not in the country full time so rely on our regular photographic updates and written reports. They are always surprised when they make inspection visits.
New Construction and Refurbishment of Portuguese Property
It’s exciting for both our team and of course our clients to mark out on the earth the site of a new home.
We will have been with them during the design process and have spoken to the architect many times so we will be comfortable with what we are about to do.
For many clients, this stage is a little daunting as it’s hard to see without experience just where the house is going to be in relation to other things on the property. Once the foundations are dug out the house normally looks smaller than they thought,
As the pillars and foundation wall start to go you get a much better idea of scale. You can see with your mind’s eye the location of the kitchen, bedrooms and so on.
Once the walls are up and the first floor is in place the rooms start to looks smaller again (something to do with the light absorbing properties of the bricks) once the walls are plastered the rooms look a lot larger and it starts to feel more like the home our clients imagined building.
As the build progresses we are involved with many specialist subcontractors and it is our job the get them on site at the right time so that the trades do not overlap and time is not wasted.
Once the roof is on and tiled it is traditional in this area to have a dinner on site. Everyone who is involved in the build is invited to share a suckling pig dinner with local bread, oranges and of course wine.
This is a great way for the clients to enjoy some local hospitality and meet the craftsmen who are building their new home. We also invite the near neighbors so that they get a chance to see what’s going on (when the house is at a very basic stage) and it gives our clients a relaxed opportunity to make their acquaintance.
As we always accompany our clients to choose, kitchens, tiles, bathroom fittings or whatever they want. We can help with translation and of course negotiation!
As the house is coming to completion we always have them professionally cleaned so that when we hand over the keys it feels more like a home than a building site.
2 months after the house is finished we are back to check for any small faults that may need attention and of course we are available to help and advise should that be needed.
Central Portugal builders
