Moving House: A Handy Checklist

Thinking of moving house? Stay organised with this handy moving home checklist

Both emotionally and physically draining, moving home is one of life’s more stressful experiences. Keeping your energy and enthusiasm up can be tricky, but it helps to keep your eyes firmly on the prize - your new home. If you’re looking around your home scratching your head wondering where to even begin, then this handy moving checklist will save you the last-minute panic and ensure everything runs smoothly.

Tick Off Ahead of Time

Set a Daily Packing Quota

We’re all prone to a little procrastination, but saving all your packing until moving day is a recipe for disaster. Instead, set aside small slots of time each evening to tick things off your packing list. Your future self will be eternally grateful.

Declutter

Moving is an excellent opportunity to declutter and start fresh. And you certainly don’t want to fill up your new home with tat you never use. Depending on the extent of your hoarding tendencies, you’ll need lots of plastic bags or maybe even a skip. Car boot sales and charity shops are also great ways to give unwanted items a new home.

Eat Your Freezer Contents

A couple of months before the move, take a rummage through your freezer and throw out anything lurking at the bottom that’s no longer edible. Then use up the rest of the contents. You might be eating fish fingers for days but defrosting will be a breeze.

Back Up and Pack Up

Packing a computer? It’s a good idea to back up any important files in case something happens when transporting.

Life Admin

Paperwork and phone calls are a necessary evil when moving home. Check in with your service providers about transferring your phone, broadband and TV. You may also need to arrange to transfer utilities over to the new owners. Some things, like redirecting your post, can be set up in well in advance to correspond with your moving date.

Make a Packing Kit

Make sure you have enough boxes, labels, bubble wrap, vacuum pack bags, clipboards and packing tape ready to go. If you’re enlisting the help of professional movers, check in with them ahead of time to confirm everything is in order. Lastly, fill a box with cleaning supplies to save you rummaging through boxes on the day.

On the Day

Assemble a Team

Many hands make light work, so enlist the help of some friends or family to help on the day. But before they come over, it helps to have a plan. To make sure everyone knows what they’re doing, write out a checklist for each room and assign everyone a task. And make sure you keep them all fed and watered - a cold drink never goes astray.

Label your Boxes

A marker and some sticky labels will be your friend when you’re unpacking. Label the sides of the boxes, not the tops. To avoid unpacking roulette, include detail of what’s in the box and what room it’s for.

Pack Logically

Just like packing your groceries, the heavy bits go on the bottom and the lighter on top. And don’t overload boxes with heavy items. Remember, you need to be able to lift them! Bunch boxes from each room together to make unpacking easier and put any important paperwork like birth certs into plastic boxes so they don’t get wet.

Take a Meter Reading

Don’t forget to take readings of all your metered services before you leave.

Pack Essentials Separately

Toothbrushes, a week’s worth of clothing, a plate for everyone, a kettle for a cuppa…toilet paper! Make sure you have all the essential items packed separately and within easy reach so you can settle in quickly.

Thinking of Moving to a New Home?

Whether you’re after some more space or a change of location, speak to one of our mortgage advisors about a Home Movers’ Mortgage. You can book a branch appointment online or call 0818 303 035. And take look at our easy step by step guide to help you get your next mortgage.

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