Fife homes: Secured by Design

A recent study has been released by Police Scotland that confirms the pedigree of Secured by Design standards.

The study shows that 3,000 homes built to the standard in Fife, have had 87% fewer crimes recorded.

The sample of housing was taken from more than 150 Kingdom Housing Association developments across Fife, and showed a marked drop in reporting of crimes to the properties.

The homes were all built to standards set by Secured by Design (SBD), the national police crime prevention initiative, which has 200 officers and staff attached to Police Forces around the UK to ‘design out crime’ by working with architects, developers and local authority planners at the planning stage.

Turner Crescent, Methil

Features incorporated within an SBD development include: natural surveillance and limiting through movement into the layout and landscaping, and increasing the physical security of buildings, such as attack resistant doors, windows and locks to deter opportunist burglars.

The study was carried out as part of KHA’s annual meeting and celebrated the construction of 3,000 homes by the association.

Crimes included in the study were housebreaking, attempted housebreaking, (the Scottish equivalent of burglary and attempted burglary in England), sneak in thefts (access through an insecure door to steal) and opening of Lockfast Places (usually vehicles, sheds or outbuildings/garages where the locking mechanisms are overcome to gain entry for theft).

In a fantastic result for the scheme, the study shows that only 1.8% of the properties were subject to these crimes, in comparison to 14.2% of non-SBD properties.

Stuart Ward, SBD National Designing Out Crime Manager, who is responsible for implementing SBD and general crime reduction in all 13 Divisions of Police Scotland, said: “These results highlight the benefits of building to SBD security standards. Evidence suggests that SBD homes achieve significant reductions in crime and can continue to do so year-on-year.”

Dunlin Phase I

Stuart, who was the first full-time Force Architectural Liaison Officer in Fife, added: “This is especially important as most SBD developments are in social housing, many of them in deprived areas.”

Kenny McHugh, SBD Development Officer for Scotland, said: “This is a remarkable milestone for KHA and SBD in Scotland. For police, falling crime reduces demands on services and enables us to focus on other priorities. With more robust products, SBD also frees up budgets by reducing repair and maintenance costs as well as providing a long-term legacy of safer more cohesive and desirable communities, where people choose to put down roots.”

Kingdom Housing took the decision to embrace SBD security 20 years ago, and the latest results have endorsed that decision.

Bill Banks, Group Chief Executive, Kingdom Housing Association, said: “I feel all developers, and providers of new housing projects, should be adopting the SBD standards of enhanced safety and security to enhance the well-being of residents in their respective developments.

 

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