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Guide to moving house

Q3 2015

Moving home can be one of the most stressful things you can do, but our simple tips should help to minimise the stress of moving day.

Ken Roberts copy

Ken Roberts

Director, Head of Guildford & Horsham Residential Sales

+44 1403 246790

Moving home can be one of the most stressful things you can do, but our simple tips should help to minimise the stress of moving day.

1. Pick a date

If you’ll be moving on the day of completion, liaise with your estate agent to pick an ideal moving date which works for everyone in the chain. Leave around six weeks to give you enough time to pack and plan your move.

Another thing to consider when choosing that all important moving date is disruptions beyond your control, such as major road works or sporting events like marathons that might block access.

Once you’ve got a date in mind you can start looking at removals quotes. Removal companies can provide a wealth of services from simply driving your boxes from place to place, to carefully packing antiques and works of art, disposing of unwanted furniture and organising cleaners.

Top tip: When getting quotes from removal companies, remember that most will probably be cheaper during the week than weekends.

It’s also worth looking into storage options; hiring storage space for a month could be cheaper than getting a removals firm and means that you can move in bite-size trips over a few weeks - avoiding being surrounded by hundreds of boxes when you first arrive in your new home!

Have a look at the parking restrictions and speak to the local council about securing a parking spot; most councils will allow you to suspend a parking bay so that you can park as close to your new home as possible.

2. Start packing

Even if your removals company is not packing for you, you can still ask them to deliver boxes in advance or you can buy your own.

Start by packing non-essential items, such as books, DVDs and CDs, making sure you use smaller boxes for books so that they don’t get too heavy.

Top tip: Clearly label all boxes with the contents and the room they need to go in.

Remember to check your insurance – items damaged in transit might not be covered. If you’ve got something valuable, make sure that your existing contents, or the removal company’s, insurance covers it.

3. Tell people

Apart from the obvious financial organisations that you’ll need to inform about your move, there are a number of other vital services that will also need updating, including:

• Insurance
• TV licence
• Work
• Pension
• Mobile phone provider
• Council – for both council tax and voting
• Gyms, social clubs, etc.
• Subscriptions
• Doctor/dentist
• National Insurance Office
• Gas and electricity suppliers
• Water supplier
• Broadband/TV
• Schools
• Any regular deliveries such as milk and papers

You may also want to set up a Royal Mail post redirection for any that you may have missed, it takes a minimum of 5 days to set up, so make sure you’ve done it in advance.

4. Get your documents together

Hopefully while packing you would have found all those instruction manuals and/or guarantees for the boiler, alarm system and washing machine which you will need to leave for the buyer, along with any spare keys which may be with friends and family.

A few days before the big day, fix a time with the estate agent to pick up the keys to your new home and if necessary organise for any children or pets to be looked after on the day of the move.

5. Clean Up

If you’ve got big items that you’re not planning on keeping or leaving in the property, you need to organise a way to dispose of them. Councils often run collection services for larger items. You could also hire a skip, place the items on Freecycle or donate them to a charity which will come and collect them. Remember with appliances like fridges, you can’t just dump them due to their chemicals. 

Top tip: Do an initial clean up before you even book your removal van, as you will be asked to estimate how much stuff you will be moving. It’s no use moving stuff you’re only going to throw out.

Check in cellars, outbuildings and sheds – these will also need to be cleared out. It might be worth having a talk with your regular cleaners and see if they can do a thorough, top to bottom clean. Do one last sweep of all rooms, checking built-in wardrobes, behind fridges and under kitchen cupboards

6. Last day checks

Hopefully you would have already let your utilities companies know that you’re moving, so before you go just take your final meter readings. If you have a smartphone, a quick photo of the meters is an easy way to make sure you don’t lose them!

Next, give the lawyers a ring to check that everything is going smoothly.

Top tip: Get your car ready for the move. Fill up the petrol tank the day before and make sure you have snacks. Charge your phones and carry with you key documents like bank details, contact details for the estate agents and, most importantly, your new address.

Make sure you leave any spare keys on the kitchen counter, not just for the front door but for windows, sheds and back doors. Give the house one last look through (check for wall clocks – these are often left behind), then pull the door shut and off you go to your new home.