House Share Installing CCTV invasion of privacy

finnegan2010

Hi Guys, I was wondering what the consenses on this is.
I rent 2 bedrooms out in my house and am thinking of getting CCTV installed on the outside PURELY as a crime prevention exercise. Would this be considered an invasion of privacy on my tennants? I mentioned it to one tennant and he seemed a little strange about it. He said "dont worry we wont rob you mate" in a jovial fashion but i dont think he was impressed. Like i was doing it because i didnt trust them which isnt the case. A While later the other house chap i rent to mentioned it too saying it was a bit over the top. Would you rent a room in a house where there was a cctv system installed or if you moved in and then one was fitted would it seem a bit odd? (It would cover front of house and side of house and entrance, 3 cameras)

ebixa82

As long as they are all external cameras then they would be stupid to not want them.

BTW why are you bothering installing CCTV cameras? If you are renting to tenants and they are burgled you will not be held accountable. An unnecessary expense.

Cookie_Monster

ebixa82 wrote: »

BTW why are you bothering installing CCTV cameras? If you are renting to tenants and they are burgled you will not be held accountable. An unnecessary expense.

he rents out two rooms in the house, sounds like he lives there also

The_Conductor

To be honest- if you talk to the guys renting the rooms, and involve them in the process- they will probably see how its of benefit to them, and be more enthusiastic.

Off-hand, it does seem a little extreme installing a personal CCTV system- is local crime that extreme that such a course of action is warranted?

OS119

why would you want CCTV?

i'm assuming that if you are worried about the security of your home you already have a decent alarm system, good locks and strong doors, new(ish) windows and security lights for the outside areas.

CCTV doesn't actually give you any greater security than any/all of those other things, it only stops problems if someone happens to be watching it at the time that an incident starts occuring and is able to get the Gardai there quickly, otherwise it only makes catching the criminal easier long after the event, not your property any safer from damage.

as a tennant it would put me off because: a) if you have all those systems already, and either your property still isn't safe, or you don't think its safe, then you either live in a war zone or are paranoid, b) if you don't have those systems but are thinking of CCTV anyway, then i'd think you were had some other, less attractive reason for getting CCTV.

as a tennant/lodger, living in a houseshare with the landord can be uncomfortable enough - thinking that either you've moved to South-Central Baghdad, you've moved in with a paranoid guy, or that you've moved in with a pervert are unlikely to make that houseshare more comfortable for all concerned.

if your tennants/lodgers ask you to increase the securuty of the property then look at it as an add-on after getting the other things sorted, but i wouldn't touch it without them asking for it.

djimi

Have you a reason for wanting to put up CCTV cameras, like has crime shot up in your area or have you bought a particularly expensive car that you want to keep an eye on at night or something?

To be honest if the cameras are on the outside only then I dont see what the tenants have to be wierd about. It would be a different matter if you were installing them in every room in the house.

As said above tho, I would be more inclined to spend the money on getting in a good security alarm system.

finnegan2010

well i decided to leave it, thanks for the opinions though. the others have a tendency to leave front door and windows open and there have been a few break ins in the area. Ill just have a word with them to be more vigilant

melekalikimaka

when what i gather from privacy law, it may have changed but its perfectly legal to video tenants in their rooms, its the recording of audio thats illegal

The_Conductor

melekalikimaka wrote: »

when what i gather from privacy law, it may have changed but its perfectly legal to video tenants in their rooms, its the recording of audio thats illegal

Errrr- thats not my reading of privacy law at all.
Would you care to link to a source that you're using to come to this conclusion?

Cheers,

Shane

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

OS119 wrote: »

why would you want CCTV?

i'm assuming that if you are worried about the security of your home you already have a decent alarm system, good locks and strong doors, new(ish) windows and security lights for the outside areas.

CCTV doesn't actually give you any greater security than any/all of those other things, it only stops problems if someone happens to be watching it at the time that an incident starts occuring and is able to get the Gardai there quickly, otherwise it only makes catching the criminal easier long after the event, not your property any safer from damage.

as a tennant it would put me off because: a) if you have all those systems already, and either your property still isn't safe, or you don't think its safe, then you either live in a war zone or are paranoid, b) if you don't have those systems but are thinking of CCTV anyway, then i'd think you were had some other, less attractive reason for getting CCTV.

as a tennant/lodger, living in a houseshare with the landord can be uncomfortable enough - thinking that either you've moved to South-Central Baghdad, you've moved in with a paranoid guy, or that you've moved in with a pervert are unlikely to make that houseshare more comfortable for all concerned.

if your tennants/lodgers ask you to increase the securuty of the property then look at it as an add-on after getting the other things sorted, but i wouldn't touch it without them asking for it.

It acts as a deterrent mainly, but if something were to happen you would have evidence and something solid the gardai can work with.

melekalikimaka wrote: »

when what i gather from privacy law, it may have changed but its perfectly legal to video tenants in their rooms, its the recording of audio thats illegal

Very very wrong here.

Eru

if you were going to break into a house which would you choose? House A which has an alarm that will only annoy the neighbours and leave / obtain no evidence of the crime or house B which has cameras watching you enter and steal everything thus proving the case and giving the Gardai an image to search for?

CCTV is an excellent preventative measure and I cannot believe people mentioned alarms. Whens the last time you got your torch out and checked a neighbours house because their alarm went off?

EricPraline

finnegan2010 wrote: »

the others have a tendency to leave front door and windows open and there have been a few break ins in the area. Ill just have a word with them to be more vigilant

CCTV would be a rather extreme option. Better to begin by having a frank discussion with the tenants and explaining to them that their lack of regard for security is putting their own (and your) possessions at risk. Leaving the front door open is pretty foolish, no matter how safe or dangerous the area.