Moving home is one of the most stressful life events – and an average person moving within the UK starts planning for their move a whole 4-6 weeks before ‘moving day’.
With such an arduous process ahead of you, it’s essential to be organised and tick things off methodically, so there’s no extra stress and no need to rush.
We’re exploring all the things to remember when moving house – for more help, check out our other advice articles.
Important questions to ask the seller of your new home
- Where’s the main stopcock (to shut off the water)?
- Where are the gas and electricity meters?
- Do any surfaces need special cleaning products, e.g. wooden floors?
- What day are the bins collected?
- Do you have any old tins of paint in the same colour as the walls?
- Do you have any instruction manuals or warranties on electrical items?
- Where did the kitchen and bathroom tiles come from?
- Where did the fixed furniture come from, e.g., kitchen cabinets?
- Which company supplies the energy, broadband and home phone?
- Where is the thermostat?
Redirect the post
If you don’t know who is moving into the property you are leaving, use the Royal Mail’s Postal Redirection service to ensure that any bills or other mail you’ve not changed your address on still reaches you. You can set up your redirect in advance of your moving day and for as long as you wish, although 6-12 months is usually sufficient.
Take final meter readings
Remember to take water, gas and electricity meter readings at your property and notify your suppliers before you move, to ensure you don’t get billed for someone else’s usage.
Update your car details
You will need to update the address on your driving licence, your car ownership certificate, and your car insurance, to ensure everything is sound on moving day.
Notify other companies
As the big day draws nearer, you must also inform the HMRC, TV Licensing, banks, building societies and credit and store cards companies of your move to a new address, and of course the utilities – gas, electricity, water, phone, broadband and TV or on-demand subscription.
*Please remember to label all cute dogs…
Label boxes
Labelling boxes properly is one of the top things people forget when moving house – yet one of the most important! Always label your boxes in marker pen with the name of the room they are to be put in when unloading and what’s in it. Mark any box containing fragile items clearly as this will ensure the crew take extra care when loading and unloading it from the van, and mark anything that’s got priority items with ‘unpack first’.
Put screws and bolts from bits of furniture in freezer bags and stick it to the relevant bit of furniture with masking tape.
Packaging materials
Not using the right packing material can lead to some issues, the biggest one being the risk of damage. Boxes that aren’t strong enough for their contents can easily collapse under the weight, or bin bags of clothes can tear open leaving your items at best scattered all over the floor and at worst broken or damaged.
Other packaging materials to remember to have at hand are bubble wrap, mattress covers, packaging tape and marker pens – all provided at blue self storage.
We also sell used boxes for the discounted price of only £1, so you can save money and help reduce waste!
Contact all health services
You’ll have to let any medical organisations you deal with know you’re moving as well. Make registering at your new local GP a priority, as there may be a delay in getting treatment when you first register. Also not forget to contact dentists, opticians and vets.
Collect all keys
Make sure you check in advance with the owners of the house that you’re buying whether they have all the keys you’ll need on moving day. Don’t forget about things like sheds, conservatories, garages and gardens.
Once you’re in, it’s a good idea to get ALL of your locks changed. The previous owners might no longer have keys but you can never be sure who else has been given a copy over the years, and many insurance policies will be invalid unless the locks have been changed.
Preparing your home for the new owners
It would be very helpful if you prepared a briefing sheet for the new owner. This should include how to operate the boiler and alarm, the location of the meters, fuse box and stopcock, and any other information. You could either label all keys or leave them in the lock that they operate. Don’t forget the shed and garage keys, or those for the window locks.
Give yourself a money makeover
Moving house is the perfect time to assess your finances. You’ll be signing up to new services anyway, so could save £1,000s on your previous bills by ensuring you grab everything cheapest.
If your property costs more than £125,000 (or £300,000 as a first-time buyer) you’ll have to pay your stamp duty bill within 30 days.
Book your smart & affordable self storage in Cardiff or Tyneside
Llanishen storage Wentloog storage Tyneside storage
Looking for some advice? Check out more of our useful info & guides to self storage
Keep up to date with all our news! Follow us out there…
