If you have a spare house key under the welcome mat, in the flower pot or under that frog ornament outside the door, now is the time to remove it.
Despite all kinds of "lock it or lose it'' messages promoted throughout the year and in different places, many Kiwis still have a very lax approach when it comes to locking the house.
Almost 50 per cent of people still keep a house key hidden somewhere outside their home, a new survey shows.
Many of those people rely heavily on security lights with a motion sensor to keep intruders away. But experts warn that more needs to be done.
A total of 500 people from around the country took part in the survey launched by company Nest Labs Inc, which specialises in making home security systems such as sensor-driven and Wi-Fi-enabled thermostats, smoke detectors and programmable security cameras.