I came home on Thursday evening to find my flat's door had been forced open through a decent mortice and London bar and that I was now missing several items. I'm typing this on an iPod Touch since the thieves got both my computers. I'm insured and hopefully shouldn't end up being more than inconvenienced.
The police did mention though that there has been a spate of this kind of break in over the last few months. I'm on the Southwark side of Wood Vale and the said that it had started in East Dulwich (there's another thing we don't want) and seemed to be moving along Lordship Lane etc. Modus operandus is to try to get into a communal hallway of a converted house since in many non-purposebuilt flats, it's a simple Yale lock they can jimmy open. Then they have time inside in an empty house to force open doors. They managed to do 2 of the 3 starting at the top, before, we think, hearing the ground floor returning and leaving.
Would urge anyone living in a converted house to ensure you lock outside door with mortice lock rather than just a Yale. And to make sure you have a computer back up and that it is not sitting next to your computer. While my most recent backup was nicked, I was lucky in having an older one.