What Happens When Someone Gets Inside Your Vacant Car Garage?

It started, like it usually does, with a video online.

Footage was circulating of people getting into a vacant commercial garage in Seven Sisters, North London. No forced drama, no headlines - just strangers, walking into a building that wasn't theirs. And inside, sitting unprotected, a brand-new Volvo.

That's the part people forget. An empty building is one thing. An empty building with assets inside is another. A vacant garage is rarely just four walls - it's often still holding:

• Vehicles, sometimes high-value

• Tools and equipment

• Parts, stock and inventory

• Fuel, chemicals and fire risks

• Keys, paperwork and access to more

The moment someone gets in, all of it is theirs - to take, damage, or squat around.

We attended, cleared the site, and secured it, with revised measures to make sure it didn't happen again.

But here's the lesson worth taking away: most problems don't start with a major incident. They start with someone getting in. The break-in, the squat, the theft, the fire - they all begin at the same quiet moment, when an unwatched door turns out to be easier to open than anyone assumed.

So test your own site before someone else does. A simple access check tells you most of what you need to know:

• Walk the perimeter. Every door, shutter, window and gate - could you get in without a key?

• Check the obvious weak points. Roller shutters, side doors, roof access, fencing gaps.

• Look for signs someone already has. Moved bins, forced locks, discarded litter, fresh graffiti.

• Know what's inside. If someone got in tonight, what would they find - and what's it worth?

• Check who's watching. Alarms, cameras, keyholding, patrols - and who actually responds when they trigger.

• Fix the gaps now. The cheapest time to secure a building is before anything happens in it.

If you don't know how your site would hold up, that's your answer - and your starting point.

Managing a vacant property in London? Talk to Ambika about an access test - before the next video is of your building.