The Moving Checklist: What to Do, and When, When You Move Home
Quick Answer
Moving goes best in six stages: book removals and check your insurance when the date is fixed, arrange post redirection and broadband four weeks before, tell everyone your new address two weeks before, confirm times in moving week, wait for your solicitor to confirm completion before you collect the keys, and settle in during the first week.
Key Takeaways
- ✓Book removals the day the date is fixed. Get two or three quotes and ask what is covered.
- ✓Do not collect the keys until your solicitor confirms completion.
- ✓Take meter readings with the date at both homes, and photograph each meter.
- ✓Pack an essentials box last and open it first.
Moving home is a long list of small jobs, and each one is easy to forget in the rush. Doing them in the right order takes the stress out of it.
This is the moving checklist I give to the people I help, in six stages from the day the date is fixed to your first week in the new home. Tick each job off as you go.
Stage 1: As soon as the date is fixed
The earlier the removals and utilities are booked, the easier it is.
- Get two or three removal quotes, and ask what is covered and how it is insured.
- Confirm the completion date with your solicitor, and that the funds will be ready.
- Ask your insurer when contents cover needs to start at the new home. Ask your solicitor when responsibility for the building passes to you.
- Tell your children's school and your employer.
- Start to declutter and pack what you will not need before the move.
Stage 2: Four weeks before
Book the things that have a waiting list.
- Book your removals, and storage if you need it.
- Arrange the post to follow you with Royal Mail's redirection service.
- Arrange broadband for the new home, as it can take a while to set up.
- Check parking for the removal van at both ends, and apply for a permit if you need one.
- Start to use up the freezer and the food cupboards.
Stage 3: Two weeks before
Tell everyone who needs to know where you are going.
- Update your bank, insurers, doctor, dentist and DVLA.
- Tell your energy supplier, water company and council tax department the date you are leaving.
- Arrange childcare or pet care for the moving day.
- Label every box by room, and keep valuables and important papers with you.
- Book any cleaning you want done at the old home.
Stage 4: Moving week
Confirm everything, then pack the things you will need first.
- Confirm times with the removal company and your solicitor.
- Defrost the fridge and freezer, and disconnect the washing machine.
- Pack an essentials box: kettle, mugs, tea, phone chargers, toilet roll, basic tools, bedding.
- Take meter readings with the date, and photograph each meter.
- Make sure the right people have the keys, and note who has spares.
Stage 5: Moving day
Do not collect the keys until your solicitor confirms completion.
- Wait for your solicitor to confirm completion before you collect the keys.
- Take meter readings at the new home as soon as you arrive.
- Check the inventory and the fixtures and fittings you were promised.
- Leave the keys, manuals and any codes for the new owner, and do a final walk round.
- Keep your essentials box and your documents with you.
Stage 6: The first week
Settle in, and finish the small jobs.
- Find the stopcock, the fuse box and the boiler controls.
- Think about changing the locks.
- Unpack the bedrooms and the kitchen first.
- Register with a local doctor and dentist if you have moved area.
- Update your address everywhere you have not yet, and check your post is arriving.
Get the free Moving Checklist
The full checklist, with a tick-off list for every stage and a PDF, is free at adamclegg.co.uk/moving-checklist.
If you are still looking for a home, see the Buyer's Viewing Checklist. If you are selling first, read the Seller's Checklist.
For a monthly local property update, sign up to the Market Pulse, or look at homes for sale and house prices in the Stroud area.
This is general information, not advice. Ask your solicitor to confirm your completion date and when your insurance needs to start.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When should I book removals?
As soon as your completion date is fixed. Get two or three quotes, and ask what is covered and how it is insured. If you need storage, book it at the same time.
When can I collect the keys?
Not until your solicitor confirms completion, which is when the money has moved. Moving day plans should allow for completion happening during the day rather than at a fixed time.
Who do I need to tell when I move?
Your bank and insurers, your doctor and dentist, the DVLA, your energy and water suppliers and your council tax department. Arrange Royal Mail's redirection service so post follows you, and tell your children's school and your employer.
What should be in an essentials box?
A kettle and mugs, tea and snacks, phone chargers, toilet roll, basic tools and bedding. Pack it last and open it first, so the first night in the new home is easy.
About Adam Clegg, MPlan
Adam Clegg is an independent estate agent based in Stroud, specialising in premium Cotswold property, investment, and land. He provides direct, honest, and rigorous property advice-offering a one-to-one advisory relationship that cuts through the noise of the standard high-street sale.
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