The short version. Police Preferred Key Safes Southampton with Keywise is £150 supplied and fitted, and any price is agreed before work begins, with no call-out fee and no VAT. For anything urgent I aim to be with you in around 30 minutes across Southampton and the Waterside, and the number you call is answered by Bugsy himself.
A key safe fitted properly is £150, supplied and fitted on solid brick, sited where it isn’t on display from the street, with a 12-month guarantee on parts. The one I fit is certified by the LPCB to LPS 1175 Issue 8 at rating A5, certificate number 1062g, and carries Police Preferred Specification through Secured by Design. Police-approved describes the safe, not the locksmith.
The phrase “police-approved” gets thrown around, so let me be straight about what it means here. Secured by Design is the police initiative that tests security products, and a key safe that passes carries Police Preferred Specification. Separately, the Loss Prevention Certification Board attacks products under test conditions and rates how long they hold. The safe I fit held for five minutes against the LPS 1175 category A tool set. That is the figure to care about. It isn’t a brand name and it isn’t a slogan on a box.
The cheap ones from the high street? Most can be levered open with a kitchen knife in under 30 seconds. I’ve replaced enough of them after break-ins to refuse to fit them, and I won’t fit a key safe you’ve bought yourself unless it carries one of the two marks above. If it doesn’t, I’ll tell you why on the phone and save you the visit.
Who are key safes for?
- Elderly relatives, so carers can let themselves in without a fistful of spare keys floating around the family
- Holiday lets and short lets, so guests get a code rather than a lockbox hanging off the railings
- Families with teenagers, so nobody’s locked out and nothing’s hidden under the mat
- Tradespeople, cleaners and dog walkers, controlled access with a code you change when you like
- Dementia care, paired with a thumb-turn lock inside so nobody is ever locked in
I fit a lot of these for the care sector across the Waterside. If you’re a care provider or a school, the care home and school locksmith page covers the extra bits, like staff access and out-of-hours calls.
Where does it go? The bit most installers get wrong
A key safe screwed onto a fence post next to the gate is a free key for any opportunist. Where it goes matters as much as what it is. I fit them:
- Out of sight from the street: round the side, behind a downpipe or a planter, never on the front of the house
- At a sensible height, never down low where someone can work on it unnoticed, never beside a window
- Onto solid brick or concrete with the proper fixings, never into render, cladding or wood
- With the code set in front of you, then changed by you before I leave, so I never know your final code
What is the safe actually rated for?
Plain figures, all from the published test data, no adjectives:
- LPCB certified to LPS 1175 Issue 8, security rating A5, certificate 1062g: attacked under test conditions and held for five minutes
- Police Preferred Specification through Secured by Design
- Heavy gauge stainless steel and a thick zinc-alloy shell, double-walled
- 4,096 possible codes, and it’s rated for 7,500 openings
- Tested through 96 hours of salt fog, 1,000 hours of UV, freezing rain at minus 25 and dust bombardment. That salt-fog figure is the one that matters on a wall near the water
If you want the standards themselves explained, the lock standards page goes through LPS 1175, Police Preferred Specification and where Sold Secure fits in, so you can compare what anyone else offers you like for like.
How is it fitted?
- Free look first. I walk the property with you, show you the two or three sensible spots, and you pick. Or WhatsApp me a photo of the wall and the door on 07453 327708 and I’ll tell you from that.
- Price agreed before I start. It’s £150, flat. Not a from-price. If your wall is something unusual I’ll say so on the phone, not on the doorstep.
- Fitted in one visit, usually well under an hour including the cup of tea.
- Code set with you. I show you how to change it and you do it yourself before I leave. Most people change it whenever a carer or cleaner moves on.
- Photo of the install on request, so you can send it to family or the care agency.
- 12-month guarantee on parts. If the unit fails, I come back and put it right.
What does it cost?
£150, supplied and fitted, on solid brick. That’s the unit, the fixings, the fitting and the code set-up, with no call-out fee on top. Coming out to you is part of the job, not a line added to it. If I think the wall will make it awkward I say so on the phone and we agree any difference before I start, never after. There is one unit at one price; I don’t fit anything cheaper.
Does my insurer need to know?
A key safe holding a key to your front door is worth a line to your insurer, and a few policies ask about it. I hand over the certification details with every install so you can attach them to your policy if they want them. What I won’t tell you is that a key safe is “insurance approved”, because no such thing exists. It’s certified to a named standard, and you can show your insurer the standard. Same story as your door locks, which I’ve written up in the locks and home insurance guide.
From the van: cheap key safes against police-approved ones, side by side, and key safes for elderly parents and carers.
Common questions
Is the key safe police-approved?
The safe carries Police Preferred Specification through Secured by Design, and LPCB certification to LPS 1175 at rating A5. That describes the safe. There’s no such thing as a police-approved locksmith, and anyone who says they are one is telling you something about themselves.
Can someone break into a key safe fitted outside my front door?
A cheap, unrated box screwed to a fence post? Probably, and quickly. That’s why I won’t fit those. The unit I fit held for five minutes under a timed attack test, and where it goes matters as much as the box: solid brick, out of street view, never beside a window. Fitted properly, it’s a deterrent, not a convenience for opportunists.
Will my insurer accept it?
Most policies don’t mention key safes at all. Some ask you to declare one, and a few name a standard. Yours is the only wording that counts, so check it, and I’ll give you the certification details to send them. I can’t promise what an insurer will do, and neither can anyone else.
What happens if I forget the code?
Ring me. I open it without damaging the safe and reset a new code for you. Before I leave any install I show you how to change the code and have you do it yourself, so forgetting it is rare.
Can I fit one I’ve bought myself?
If it carries Police Preferred Specification or an LPS 1175 rating, yes, and I’ll fit it for the labour. If it’s an unrated one from a supermarket shelf, I’ll tell you straight that it isn’t worth the bolts, and why.
How long does it take?
Under an hour on solid brick, one visit, including setting the code with you. I cover Hythe, Totton, Marchwood, Fawley, Holbury and across Southampton, and a photo of the wall on WhatsApp usually settles the spot before I’ve left the van.
Ring me on 07453 327708, day or night, or send a photo of where you’re thinking of putting it. Even if it’s not me you use, I’ll tell you what to look for.
Bugsy, KeyWise 24hr Locksmiths, Hythe, Southampton.
Bugsy Edwards
Founder, Keywise 24hr Locksmiths. Family-run on the SO45 Waterside.
This advice comes from a working locksmith, not a content writer. Bugsy answers his own phone, and was named the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner's 2024 Community Volunteer of the Year. 5.0 from 312 Google reviews.
Call 07453 327708