Residential CCTV Installation in Surrey, Kent & South London
Clear, colour footage of your drive, doors and garden, day and night, viewable live from your phone wherever you are. Home CCTV systems planned around your property and installed by the Total Home Security team, with a free survey and a 1-year warranty.
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Home CCTV That Shows You What You Need to See
A good home CCTV system isn’t about covering every inch of the house with cameras. It’s about having clear footage of the places that matter: the front door, the drive, the side gate and the back of the house. When something happens, you want to see a face or a number plate, not a grainy shape in the dark.
That’s why every installation starts with a free survey. We walk the property with you, look at how someone would actually approach it, and plan camera positions around that. Then we install a Hikvision system with colour night vision and smart detection, set up the app on your phone, and make sure you’re comfortable using it before we leave.
Whether you want a single camera on the drive or a full system covering a large plot and its outbuildings, the approach is the same: the right cameras in the right places, and nothing you don’t need.
What's Included in Your Home CCTV Installation
- A free survey of your property to plan camera positions and coverage
- A clear written quote with no obligation
- Hikvision or HiLook cameras chosen to suit each position
- Recording on a network video recorder (NVR) or on-camera SD card storage, depending on your system
- Neat installation, with cables hidden or routed tidily wherever possible
- Camera angles set to cover your property and minimise intrusion on neighbours
- Smart detection set up so alerts focus on people and vehicles
- App set-up on your phone, with a walkthrough of live viewing and playback
- A full test of every camera, day and night settings checked
- A 1-year warranty, with extended cover available
Home CCTV Technology, Explained Plainly
Colour Night Vision
Smart Detection
Resolution
Two-Way Audio and Deterrents
Hikvision or HiLook?
Where to Put CCTV Cameras at Home
Most break-ins and doorstep incidents follow the same routes, so camera placement is more important than the number of cameras. These are the positions we cover most often.
Front Door and Porch
The front door is where visitors, couriers and anyone testing the door will stand. A camera here should capture faces clearly, which means mounting it at the right height and angle rather than high up under the eaves looking at the tops of heads.
Drive and Parking
A camera covering the drive records vehicles arriving and leaving, and with the right lens and position it can capture a number plate. For cars parked on the drive overnight, this is often the most useful camera on the property.
Side Access and Gates
Side passages and gates are the most common route to the back of a house, and they’re usually invisible from inside. A camera covering the side gate shows anyone heading round the back before they get there.
Rear Garden and Back Door
Rear gardens backing onto alleys, fields, woodland or railways are a common weak spot. A camera covering the back door and the garden boundary closes that gap, and colour night vision keeps the footage useful after dark.
Garages, Sheds and Outbuildings
Bikes, tools and garden machinery are often stored in the least protected building on the property. A camera covering the garage door or outbuilding entrance protects what’s inside without needing an alarm in every shed.
How Your CCTV Records and How You Watch It
Network Video Recorder (NVR)
For systems with several cameras, footage records to a network video recorder: a small box with a hard drive, installed somewhere discreet inside your home. Recording stays on your property, and how far back you can go depends on the number of cameras, the resolution and the size of the drive. We’ll size it so you have a sensible amount of history.
SD Card Recording
For one or two cameras, recording to an SD card inside each camera can be a simpler, neater option, with no recorder box needed. We’ll talk through which approach suits your system during the survey.
Viewing on Your Phone
Either way, you can watch live footage and play back recordings from the app on your phone, tablet or computer, wherever you are. Before we leave, we set up the app with you, show you how to find and save a clip, and check notifications are working the way you want.
Home CCTV for Every Type of Property
CCTV for Terraced and Period Homes
Terraces and period houses usually need fewer cameras but more careful placement: the front door, which often opens straight onto the pavement, and the rear access, which may be a shared alley. We keep fixings and cable runs discreet to respect older brickwork and frontages.
CCTV for Semi-Detached and Family Homes
Semis typically need the front door, the drive and the side return covered, plus the back of the house. Three or four well-placed cameras usually give full coverage without overdoing it.
CCTV for Large Homes and Rural Properties
On larger plots the approaches that matter are often a long way from the house: the gate, the length of the drive, outbuildings and an open rear boundary. We plan coverage across the whole plot, with colour night vision for unlit lanes and smart detection to filter out wildlife.
CCTV for Flats and Shared Buildings
Cameras on a flat’s own front door are usually straightforward. Cameras covering shared entrances, corridors or car parks normally need agreement from the freeholder or managing agent, and we’re happy to talk it through with them.
CCTV for New Builds
New builds often come with nothing beyond the front door lock. It’s a good time to add CCTV, as we can plan neat cable routes before you’ve finished decorating, and cover the drive and garden from the start.
Signs It's Time for Home CCTV, or an Upgrade
- Your current cameras record in grainy black and white at night
- Your phone pings constantly for cats, foxes and moving trees
- You can't find a clip quickly when you need one
- Your recorder is old, slow or no longer connects to an app
- The side gate or back of the house isn't covered at all
- Parcels have gone missing from your doorstep
- You've had a car or van broken into on the drive
- You've just moved in and have no idea what the previous system does
Home CCTV and the Law: What You Need to Know
You’re entitled to protect your home with CCTV, but there are a few rules worth knowing.
If your cameras only capture your own property, data protection law doesn’t apply to your use of them. If they capture anything beyond your boundary, such as the street, a shared path or a neighbour’s garden, UK data protection rules do apply. That means letting people know recording is taking place, keeping footage secure and only for as long as you need it, and responding if someone asks for footage of themselves.
That’s why we position cameras to cover your property and not beyond it wherever possible. Where a camera has to look across part of the street or a neighbour’s land, Hikvision cameras support privacy masking, which blocks out that area of the image so it’s never recorded. We’ll set this up during installation if it’s needed.
Standard home cameras don’t usually need planning permission, though listed buildings and some conservation areas can be different. We’ll flag anything worth checking with your local council before we start.
CCTV Servicing and Aftercare
Every installation comes with a 1-year warranty as standard, with extended warranty cover available at an additional cost.
Beyond the warranty, we offer servicing visits to keep your system working as it should. Cameras get dirty, spiders build webs over lenses, hedges grow into the view and recorders need updates. A service visit checks every camera’s image and angle, cleans lenses, confirms recording is working and footage is being kept for as long as expected, and makes sure the app is still connected.
We also service and upgrade systems installed by other companies. If you’ve moved into a home with an existing system, we’ll check what’s there and tell you honestly what’s worth keeping.
Our Process
Free Call & Assessment
Tell us what you need, and we'll visit to survey the property at no cost.
Written Quote
A clear, itemised quote for the system we recommend, with no obligation.
Installation Carried Out
Installed around your trading hours, with minimal disruption to staff and customers.
Sign-Off & Warranty
We test every camera day and night, set up remote viewing, train your team, and your 1-year warranty starts.
Testimonials
Rated 10/10 on Checkatrade from 168 reviews, vetted through up to 12 Checkatrade checks including identification, qualifications and financial standing.
Why Choose Us
No obligation, no pressure, just an honest quote for the work you need. We’ll call you back within 2 hours. Fill in a few details and we’ll get back to you.
Free Survey First
We look at the property before recommending anything, so you get the system you need, not the biggest package.
DBS-Checked Installer
Gareth is DBS checked and involved in the work, so you know who's on your property.
Local Knowledge
We know Bromley's mix of period houses, flats, family streets and a busy town centre.
1-Year Warranty
On every installation as standard, with extended cover available.
Smart Kit You Control
Ajax and Hikvision systems, set up on your phone before we leave.
Honest Advice
If a simpler option will do the job, we'll tell you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most homes need between two and four cameras: one for the front door, one for the drive, and one or two covering the side access and back of the house. Larger properties with outbuildings or long drives may need more. We'll recommend the right number during the free survey.
It depends on the number of cameras, the type of camera for each position, how footage is recorded and how complex the installation is. We survey for free and give you a clear written quote, with no obligation.
Yes. You can view live footage and play back recordings from the app on your phone, tablet or computer, wherever you are. We set it up with you before we leave.
Yes. Many of the Hikvision cameras we install use ColorVu to record in full colour after dark. Others use infrared night vision, which records in black and white. We'll recommend the right option for each position.
Multi-camera systems usually record to a network video recorder (NVR) kept inside your home. Smaller systems can record to an SD card inside each camera. Either way, footage stays on your property and can be viewed from your phone.
It depends on the number of cameras, the resolution and the storage size. We size the recorder or SD cards so you have a sensible amount of history, and older footage is overwritten automatically.
No. Smart detection is set up to focus on people and vehicles, so you're alerted to what matters rather than every animal or moving branch.
It's best avoided. If your cameras capture beyond your boundary, data protection rules apply. We position cameras to cover your property and use privacy masking to block out areas like a neighbour's garden where needed.
Standard home cameras don't usually need planning permission, though listed buildings and some conservation areas can be different. We'll flag anything worth checking with your council.
Yes. We service and upgrade existing systems, including ones installed by other companies, and offer servicing visits after your warranty ends.
Every installation comes with a 1-year warranty as standard, with extended cover available at an additional cost.