A Checklist For Moving House Day

New year, new home! Moving house is one of the most exciting times in your life, it marks the start of a new adventure. At the same time, it can be very stressful, there are a lot of things to think about before and on moving day. The best thing you can do to make sure you remember everything and don’t get overwhelmed is to be as organised as possible and make a moving day checklist.

Ways To Make Moving Day Memorable

Remember, moving day is supposed to be exciting, so here are some ways to make it a little more fun and memorable:

• When you finally get the keys and arrive at the property on moving day, use your phone and take a video of a walkthrough of your new home, before you start adding your belongings into it.
• Throw a party shortly after moving in to celebrate.
• If you’re redecorating before you move in, write a message on the wall and paper over it. Next time you remove the wallpaper, you’ll see the message and be reminded of the day you moved in.
• Worry about unpacking later, go and introduce yourself to the neighbours and start getting to know the people you’re going to be living amongst.

Moving House Day Checklist

What your moving day checklist will look like will depend on your personal situation, so you may want to add or change this, but the below checklist will give you a good idea of what you need to do and think about.

Before Moving Day

For move day to go as problem-free as possible, there are lots of things you need to do in the weeks and sometimes even months leading up to the house move. Here are some things you need to do to prepare:

• Confirm the date of your house move officially confirmed by the sellers.
• If you are living in a rental property, you will need to give notice. If you are selling your current property, you need to put it on the market.
• Get quotes for removal services and when you have a date for your house move, book your removal services as soon as you can.
• Contact your utility suppliers and things like your internet and digital television services. You might find that if you want to move any of these to your new address it could take a few weeks for the company to do this for you. Before you leave your property, remember to take final meter readings.
• Have a big clear-out and de-clutter your belongings. We tend to hold on to too many things for sentimental reasons, sometimes it is a good idea to let some of these go, a new home, a new start
• Pack all of your belongings and clearly label the boxes.
• Let everybody know you are moving home and change your address. It is also a good idea to set up a forwarding address service with the royal mail for any letters that do get sent to your old home. People you need to inform of your change of address include the council tax, the TV licensing service, doctors and dentists, banks and insurance, the DVLA and National Insurance.
• Clean your new property so it is ready to move into.
• Pack an essentials box for moving day, including:
  • Tea/coffee making facilities, i.e. a kettle, mugs, milk, sugar.
  • Cleaning products
  • Chargers for phones
  • Toilet roll and kitchen roll
  • A duvet and bedding for the first night
  • TV/radio
  • Temporary furniture (like a deck chair)
  • Food

On Moving Day

This is undoubtedly the busiest day, but it will also be the most rewarding, as long as you remember to do some very important things:

• Before you leave your old property and hand in the keys, remember to take meter readings so your energy suppliers only charge you for the energy you actually used.
• Familiarise yourself with where the vital things are, like the fuse box and water valve
• Take meter readings for both the electricity and gas
• Child and pet proof
• Use the boiler and the heating to make sure they all work and that you know how to use them properly
• Making the beds is one of the first things you should do. At the end of a very busy day, you’re going to want to be able to fall into bed.
• Make a note of all the local emergency services numbers, just in case you need them.

It’s important you remember to relax in your new home. Don’t expect all the unpacking to be done in one day, and don’t worry about it if it’s not. Order yourself a takeaway and take some time to relax and enjoy your new home and the new adventure that comes along with it.