Checklist for moving house

Use our house moving checklist to help remove some of the stress.

Pick a moving date

This will of course be dependent on the progress of your sale or purchase, but we recommend avoiding peak times such as Bank Holidays, Fridays or the end of a school term.

4 weeks before the move

Organise your removals

• Get quotes from three removals companies and compare this against the cost and effort of hiring a van and doing it yourself.
• Choose a removals company who is a member of the National Guild of Removers and Storers.
• Find out what is included in the fee and look at what extras are on offer, such as packing materials and insurance.
• Check the remover's contract and your home insurance so you know what to do if your furniture gets damaged during removal.
• Make an inventory of everything included in the move and provide your removals company with a copy.
• Purchase packaging if your removals company isn’t supplying it.
• If you’re downsizing, you may need to put items in storage.

Start packing

• Separate everything into ‘keep’, ‘charity shop’ and ‘tip’.
• Pack items that you will not need to use before the move first.
• Make sure you label every box with its contents.

Utilities

• Make a list of all the utilities companies you will need to inform.

Mail

• You can have your mail redirected by contacting the Post Office, though this will incur a fee.

1 week before the move

• Cancel deliveries such as milk, newspapers, and magazines.
• Defrost the freezer.
• Arrange final readings of water, gas and electricity meters.
• Request final bills for telephone and broadband.

• Notify everyone of your change of address. Don’t forget everyone else who needs to know – the bank, your employer, your Auntie Margaret so you don’t miss out on the Christmas jumper!
• Plan where your furniture will live in your new house.

On the day

• Turn off all appliances.
• Take final meter readings.
• Make sure any children or pets are safe and contented with their favourite toys, for instance.
• Take a final look around the property and check you haven’t forgotten anything.
• Pack a survival kit including: 
  • kettle 
  • tea bags/coffee 
  • milk 
  • mugs
  • toilet roll
  • washing up liquid
  • plates
  • cutlery
  • bottled water
  • important documents
  • bread
  • cleaning products
  • bed linen

Once you've moved in

• Unpack your survival kit and any other essential items.
• Place boxes in their relevant rooms.
• Make sure utilities, telephone and broadband are connected.
• Clean.
• Put up curtains and blinds.
• Find the nearest take-away!

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