Best Home Safe – 5 Best Safes UK

The best home safe for you will probably not be the best home safe for somebody else – there is not a one size fits all when it comes to choosing a safe for your home.

First of all, we need to look at two key points – where you want to install your safe, and what items you want to put in that safe.

No good buying a safe for your important documents, some jewellery and your laptop – and then finding that the laptop doesn’t fit.

So even though the below are 5 of the best safes you can buy for your home, it’s important to understand that it must be suitable for your neeeds.

Best Safes – For You (UPDATED 2023)

Do you really need a home safe? We recommend having a home safe, because having one comes with lots of benefits, and of course, it’s the last line of defence for your valuables and important documents.

Hopefully, you’ve already looked at our guide here on how to improve the security of your home.

Once you are sold on the idea of buying a home safe, it’s now time to think about what sort of safe you will need.

First of all, think about the following points:

If you want to store things like DSLR cameras or laptops, measure them first. For laptops, you’ll need to measure the width of the laptop and the depth. For things like DSLR cameras, you’ll need to measure its height.

Before you go ahead and purchase your safe, it’s absolutely worth doing a security audit of your property. You can find a helpful article right here on how to target harden your home and make things difficult for any potential burglar before they get anywhere near to the inside of your home.

And if you are looking for a garage safe for tools, check out our article here.

Best Home Safe

You’ve decided you want a home safe, now it’s time to go and buy the best home safe for you, your possessions and your budget.

Here are 5 of the best home safes currently on the market. All links take you to Amazon, and as an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Prices fluctuate on a frequent basis, so simply click the link to see the latest price (links always open in a new window).

1. Yale Home Safe

We’ve named this Yale Safe as the best home safe based on the brand name, the features and the incredible value for money you are going to get with this safe.

You can’t go wrong with Yale. Check any of your locks in your house, and you’ll more than likely see at least one lock made by Yale. Yale are leaders in security and provide quality products, and this particular safe is no exception. It’s great value for money, comes in a variety of sizes and shapes, and is completely affordable even for those on a tight budget.

There are 4 different types of safe by Yale on this Amazon sales page, which will be suitable for most people’s needs, including one that is wider than a normal safe (for laptops and iPads), one that is taller (for DSLR camer equipment) and two that are more of a standard size.

The one you choose is up to you. Just a quick tip – if you do have a laptop, and you go for the laptop Yale safe, make sure you measure the width of your laptop first – this safe is suitable for laptops with a screen size of up to 14.5 inches.

It also has two methods of entry. The main method is via a keypad, using a code of your own choosing (must be between 3 and 8 digits). However, if you forget the code, or you are locked out after too many unsuccessful attempts, or if your batteries run out, you also have an overide key, which will open the safe without the need to input the code.

Batteries are included with these safes (it takes 4x AAA), and it is advised on having some spares – we recommend this excellent deal from Amazon – yes, it’s a 36 pack, but you won’t be running out of batteries any time soon.

What We Like About this Safe – And Why We Think It’s The Best Home Safe

Here are the things we like about this safe, and why we rate it number 1 in the category of Best Home Safe:

This Yale safe comes thoroughly recommended by The Safe Expert. It’s so good, that I own the large variant.

You can see all of the different variants and sizes of this safe as well as the latest prices, technical specifications and all reviews by clicking this link here.

2. Amazon Basics Home Safe

Coming in at number 2 on our list of best home safes, is this Amazon Basics Safe. Ignore the branding, Amazon haven’t actually made a safe themselves. This safe will be made by a brand on behalf of Amazon, and Amazon have simply bought the naming rights (white label as it’s called).

This fact on its own is very symbolic, because Amazon have a brand name and identity to protect.

Rest assured then, this isn’t a crappy, cheaply made safe. On the contrary, this safe is well designed, well made and comes in different sizes to suit your needs. Plus, it has the Amazon seal of approval – which is no easy thing.

There’s 3 different sizes available, all with different pricing – 50 litres, 43 litres and 34 litres. Remember, you will need to measure where the safe is going to be put inside your home and match it to the measurements of the safe. But, you’ll also need to take into account the internal measurements of the safe, to ensure your possessions will fit comfortably inside.

In the example of the 50 litre Amazon Basics safe, the space you’ll need to place it can be no smaller than 35cm in length, 33cm deep, and 50cm tall. Of course, the space inside is smaller due to the thickness of the steel walls and door, so do remember to check before purchase.

What We Like About this Safe

Here are the things we like about this Amazon safe, and why we rate it number 2 in the category of Best Home Safe:

You can check out all the reviews, images and specifications of this home safe by clicking here (opens in a new window). We thoroughly recommend the Amazon Basics Safe, because it represents value for money and has a good build quality.

If you want a smaller safe, for an even cheaper price, be sure to also check out the smaller variant of the Amazon Basic range of Safes, by clicking here for the 14 litre version.

3. Yale Cash Rated Home Safe

Number 3 on our list is another Yale safe. And it’s the first ‘rated’ safe on our list.

This safe has a recommended insurance rating of £2,000 cash/£20,000 valuables on it, and is endorsed by the police (police preferred specification). It also has silver accreditation from ‘Sold Secure‘, which is an independant testing house for things like safes.

Because of this cash rating and additional accreditation, your insurer will cover losses up to these values if you are broken into and the safe is also broken into. You can read more about cash ratings/gradings in this article here.

In a nutshell, what these ratings are actually saying is that this safe has been tested and is far more secure than number 1 and 2 on our list. So why didn’t this make number 1 on our list?

Simple – its down to price. And availability. You can check its price and availability on Amazon by clicking here.

For most people, the price makes this safe just a little bit too expensive, however, that being said, this is an excellent safe that has been independently tested and certified, so it all comes down to your personal budget and of course, down to the value of the items you want securing and insuring.

If you store cash up to the value of £20k or want to store valuables up to £20k, then this is the safe for you.

One of the first things you may not have noticed about this safe, is its weight. It weighs in at just under 34 kilograms, which in itself is a great security feature; the heavier the safe, the harder it is to detach from a wall/floor and make off with it. During some burglaries, theives have been known to steal the whole safe rather than try and break into the safe in situ.

That is why it’s always important to use the provided attachments to secure your safe to the wall or a floor.

It’s also a nod towards the quality materials that have been used to manufacture the safe. Generally speaking, the heavier the safe, the thicker the materials used (for example, thicker walls and doors), which again make it harder to break into.

What We Like About this Safe

Here are the things we like about this Yale Cash rated safe, and why we rate it number 3 in the category of Best Home Safe:

This is an excellent cash rated safe, that is built to withstand attack and fully rated and certified by independent testing bodies. It is recommended by police as a safe with good specifications, and is big enough to store the majority of your cash and valuables.

Check out this cash rated safe, as well as all specifications, current price, current availability and reviews by clicking this link here (Opens Amazon in a new window).

*Note: Check with your insurance company that this safe will be covered up to the published amounts. Some insurers vary.

4. Master Lock Fireproof/Waterproof Safe

Coming in at number 4 is a safe that will tick many of your boxes, because not only is this a very large safe, but it is also fireproof and waterproof.

It has a certified fire proof rating of 1 hour at up to 927 degree celcius, meaning this safe will protect the contents up to that timescale at those temperatures.

This is due to how the safe is made – the inside of the walls of the safe are made with concrete with an additive added that allows water particles to heat up in the event of a fire, therfore protecting anything inside it. There is a fatastic explainer video on this Amazon product page that shows this, click here to view it.

This safe also protect against water and flooding – the protection goes up to 20cm of the total height of the safe, again there is an image on the Amazon page that shows this in greater detail.

Some other nice details about this safe include its weight – this is a heavy safe, and for that reason this is a bolt to floor safe only (this is also due to the fire proof standards, it will not perform to the performed standards if it is bolted to a wall). Some other nice touches include an interior light, hooks for keys, a moveable shelf, inner pocket on door, 4 2.5cm locking bolts and a light up keypad.

This safe is expensive but ticks many boxes. With the weight of this safe, it can be used as a free standing safe (no need to bolt it down). If you do bolt it down, the water proof protection is vodied, so this safe is best suited to the booto of a wardrobe or floor space that can be easily accessed by you..

What We Like About this Safe

Here are the things we like about this Master Lock safe, and why we rate it number 4 in the category of Best Home Safe:

This is another terrific safe, with lots and lots of additional features and protection designs built in. Its priced higher than most safes here for those very reasons, but you do get a lot here for your money.

Again, this safe makes number 4 on the list but it could easily be number 1 – it all depends on your budget and your exposure to risk and your own peace of mind.

A great safe, well designed with lots of features. Check out the full specifications, videos, images and reviews of this safe by clicking here (opens Amazon in a new window).

5. Burton Euro Safe Home Safe

Making number 5 in our list of best home safes is the Burton EuroGrade Home Safe. This safe comes with an EN14450 rating, meaning it is tested and certified to store up to £4000 in cash or up to £40,000 in valuables.

Again, like safe number 3, it means that in the event of a burglarly and the safe is comprimised, your insurer will cover losses up to these published amounts (please check with your specific insurance company).

You have lots of choice with this safe, because it comes in all different shapes and sizes.

Dependent on the variant of safe you choose, the weights of the safe range from 19kg-63kg. Again, the heavier the safe, the better quality materials have been used in its manufacturing process, and therefore the better it is at defending against someone trying to access it without the key.

What We Like About this Safe

Here are the things we like about this Burton Euro safe, and why we rate it number 5 in the category of Best Home Safe:

This safe will be out of range in terms of budget for some people, but nevertheless, it is an excellent, high quality safe with the added bonus of certification to EN14450 standards. This safe would also be suitable for some small business owners.

You can see the price, availability, specifications and reviews of this safe by clicking this link here (opens Amazon in a new window).

Additional Purchases

Now you’ve been through our list of the 5 best home safes for your home, we do recommend another couple of purchases to enhance your safe.

Here are our recommendations.

Batteries

Don’t get caught short without batteries for your safe, which powers the electronic keypad if applicable. Batteries are really cheap these days, and these huge packs of AAA and AA batteries will see you through for many months to come.

Amazon 48 pack Batteries: AA Batteries

Amazon 36 Pack Batteries: AAA Batteries

(Please check which batteries your safe uses before purchase)

Fireproof Document Holder

None of the safes here, apart from number 4, are fireproof. If you are concerned about protecting your documents from fire for example, then the following fireproof wallets are perfect to give the contents of your safe another layer of protection.

Fireproof Document Bag: A4 Sized Bag

Fireproof Document Bag: A5 Sized Bag (Perfect for cash/cards etc)

Recommended Reading

Here’s some other articles you may like from this website:

• Best Van Tool Safes
• Van Life Security
• Do I Really Need A Safe?
• Garage Safe For Tools
• 75 Ways To Improve Home Security
• Best Home DIY Security System (UK Top 3)

Final Thoughts

The best home safe for you and your home is primarily down to three things: your budget, and the value of the items you want protecting.

The third point is your peace of mind, and only you can make that decision.

All the safes on this list will do a good job against its primary objectives, and they are to reduce risk of thieves taking cash and valuables, to store items in a central location under lock and key, and to protect items from general elements such as sunlight, dust, damp etc.

Which one will you choose? Let us know in the comments below.