Here is the short answer: position CCTV cameras at 2.5–3 metres high, covering the routes people must use — front door, back door, driveway, side gate — angled down for faces, offset from your security lights, and kept off your neighbours' property. Height above 3 metres records the tops of heads; cameras aimed at walls record brickwork. Four positions cover most UK homes properly, and where they go matters more than what they cost.
In brief:
- 2.5–3m: high enough to be awkward to reach, low enough to capture a face rather than a scalp.
- Cover entrances and approaches — the places people must pass — not boundaries and walls.
- Point cameras away from direct light sources, and keep coverage on your own property to stay on the right side of the rules.
The most common CCTV failure we see from the Villa Road counter is not a bad camera — it is a good camera in a bad position: too high, aimed at nothing, blinded by its own floodlight, or recording the road instead of the door. Placement is the free part of the system and it decides most of the outcome. Here is the working method, position by position.
How high should CCTV cameras be mounted?
2.5 to 3 metres — roughly first-floor window sill height. The reasoning cuts both ways: below 2.5m a camera is within casual reach; above 3m the angle steepens until every visitor is a bald spot and a pair of shoulders. Faces are the evidence that matters, and faces are captured at a shallow downward angle, not from a gutter. Mount on a solid surface — masonry, not fascia board that drums in the wind — and dead level.
Where should the cameras actually point?
- The front door. The single most valuable view in domestic CCTV — callers, deliveries, and the door most burglaries are attempted through. Angle across the approach so faces arrive toward the lens.
- The driveway. Vehicles, and the route almost everything stolen leaves by. Position to read the whole car, not just the bonnet.
- The back door and garden access. The private side is where intruders prefer to work — cover the door and the route to it.
- The side gate or passage. The pinch point every visitor to the back must cross — one camera here is worth three watching fence panels.
Notice what is not on the list: boundaries, lawns, and walls. Cameras watch routes, because routes are where people are — the same logic as detector placement in our perimeter alarms guide.
Four positions is why four-camera kits exist: the Hikvision 5MP four-camera AcuSense kit maps one camera to each position above with the recorder filtering alerts to people and vehicles. For a terrace or flat where two positions cover everything, the two-camera version keeps two spare channels for later.
Trade tip: before drilling anything, hold your phone at the proposed spot and take a photo at dusk. If the framing does not show a face-height view of the route, and show it without a floodlight or the setting sun in frame, move before you mount. Ten minutes with a ladder and a phone saves every re-drilling job we have ever heard about.
What about lights, sun and windows?
Cameras hate looking at light sources. Offset every camera from your security lighting so the light washes the scene, not the lens — the aiming logic is in our security lights guide — and check the low winter sun line before finalising a west-facing position. Through-glass placement indoors defeats infrared entirely at night; if a view matters, the camera goes outside.
Can my CCTV overlook my neighbour's property?
Keep coverage to your own property and the approaches to it. Once cameras take in neighbouring gardens or beyond your boundary, data-protection responsibilities can follow, and disputes certainly do. Angle down and in, use privacy masking where a view unavoidably clips next door, and read our CCTV rules and regulations guide before the first bracket goes up — it is the five minutes that prevents the awkward conversation over the fence.
Camera Positions, Summarised
| Position | Watching | The rule |
|---|---|---|
| Front door | Callers, deliveries, the main attempt | Across the approach, face height priority |
| Driveway | Vehicles in and out | Whole car in frame |
| Back door | The private-side attempt | Door plus the route to it |
| Side gate | The pinch point | One camera on the route beats three on fences |
Expert Help in the West Midlands
Villa Road, Birmingham, since 1975. Bring photos of the front and back of the house and we will mark the four positions on them at the counter — heights, angles and which camera goes where — before you spend anything. Placement advice is free and it is the half of the system money cannot buy afterwards.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How high should a CCTV camera be?
2.5 to 3 metres — out of casual reach but shallow enough in angle to record faces rather than the tops of heads. Higher is not safer; it is just worse evidence.
Where should I put CCTV cameras on my house?
On the routes: front door, driveway, back door, side gate. Four positions cover most UK homes — cameras watch where people must pass, never bare walls and boundaries.
Can my CCTV point at my neighbour's garden?
Keep it on your own property and approaches. Coverage beyond your boundary can bring data-protection responsibilities and reliably brings disputes — angle down and in, use privacy masking where needed, and check the rules guide first.