Kensington roller shutters

Over five years the Kensington figure ended where it started. WA Police recorded 26 burglaries in 2021 and 26 in 2025, so the trend from 2021 to 2025 is little changed. The years between went up and down, from 18 in 2022 to 27 in 2023 and 12 in 2024, before the count returned to 26. The longer view is lower: there were 56 in 2017.

For 2025 that is a rate of 5.6 burglaries per 1,000 residents. The metropolitan rate was 4.0, so Kensington sits above it. At suburb level, WA Police count homes and businesses as one figure.

A shutter will not rewrite the statistics. What it can do is close a physical barrier over windows and glass doors, which makes forced entry slower and noisier, every time it is lowered.

Kensington is mostly houses. The 2021 Census counted 81.9% of occupied dwellings as separate houses, a little above the Greater Perth figure of 77.8%, with 12.4% semi-detached, terrace or townhouses and 5.8% flats. The City of South Perth's historical thematic framework records that between the wars residential lots were developed at an unprecedented rate, and that Kensington grew as many previously undeveloped blocks were occupied.

For those houses, residential roller shutters usually start on the bedrooms and the street side. The townhouses and flats are a smaller group, but if yours is strata titled, the default by-laws require the strata company's written consent for anything visible from outside your lot that is not in keeping with the rest of the building.

Out the back, Ziptrak and Slidetrack blinds can close in an alfresco, and cafe and motorised blinds are in the range too.

A single house can take shutters without development approval when three things hold under the state rules: the R-Codes apply, the work meets their deemed-to-comply provisions, and the place is not heritage protected.

Heritage is the one to check. Places in Kensington are on the City of South Perth Heritage List adopted on 28 October 2025, and the City's Local Planning Policy 8.1 applies to works affecting listed places where a development application is required. The policy also says the original roof line and facade of a heritage protected place shall not be altered unless it can be shown the change will not adversely affect its heritage significance. Shutters are not named in that clause, but a shutter box on the front of a listed house is worth raising with the City before you order.

For shops, the City's Local Planning Policy 2.2 says entries and window frontages of ground floor tenancies facing the public realm must not be covered or screened off, including by shutters, blinds or roller doors. It applies in the Local Centre, Neighbourhood Centre and Mixed Use zones, so check the zoning before ordering commercial roller shutters.

WA Seniors Card holders may also be able to claim the Safety and Security Rebate, which covers security window screens or window shutters, up to $400.