Free checklist
Moving house checklist
Moving goes wrong in the admin, not the boxes. This is ordered by when things need doing rather than by category, because the order is the part people get wrong.
Free to use and print. No signup, no email required.
Eight weeks before
- Give notice to your landlord, or confirm the closing date
- Get removal quotesThree quotes. Prices vary far more than you would expect.
- Book time off for moving day and the day after
- Start using up the freezer
Four weeks before
- Arrange home insurance for the new addressCover needs to start the day you get the keys, not the day you move in.
- Book broadband installationThis is the one with the longest lead time. Do it now.
- Tell schools, and request records if you are changing school
- Order boxes and packing materials
- Book a locksmith or plan to change the locks
Two weeks before
- Set up post redirection
- Notify banks, insurers, your employer and the electoral register
- Arrange final meter readings at the old place
- Confirm the removal booking in writing
- Pack a box you will need on the first nightKettle, mugs, bedding, chargers, toilet roll, painkillers, screwdriver.
Moving day
- Photograph the meter readings at both properties
- Photograph the condition of the old placeRenters: this is your deposit.
- Check nothing is left in the attic, shed or garden
- Keep documents and valuables with you, not on the van
First week in
- Find and label the stopcock and the fuse board
- Test every smoke and CO alarm, and replace anything questionable
- Register with the utilities using your move-in readings
- Change the locks if you have any doubt about who holds a key
- File the paperwork before it becomes a pileIt never gets easier than in the first week.
Keeping track of it
Half of this list is dates and account numbers. Putting them into MyHouseDesk as you go means the new house arrives already organised instead of as a box of paperwork.