Moving House Checklist

Moving house checklist — 8 weeks out · Rented flat · Local move Pets: no · Children moving: 0 8 weeks out - Read your tenancy agreement for the notice period and how notice must be given, then give it in writing and keep a copy - Fix your moving date, and decide whether you are hiring a firm or doing it yourself - Get at least three written quotes from removal firms and check they are insured - Start decluttering room by room — sell, donate or dispose of what you will not want to unpack 6 weeks out - Re-read the check-out and deposit clauses: cleaning standard, gardens, and any professional-clean requirement - Book time off work for moving day and the day after it - Order boxes, tape, bubble wrap, labels and marker pens 4 weeks out - Find the check-in inventory and condition report from when you moved in, and walk the place against it - Photograph and list anything valuable or fragile before it is packed - Start packing the rooms and things you rarely use, labelling every box by room 3 weeks out - Tell your bank, employer, doctor, dentist, insurers and licence authority the new address - Set up mail redirection from the moving date - Arrange contents insurance for the new place, starting the day you get the keys - Book the utilities: give notice at the old place and set up supply at the new one 2 weeks out - Confirm the time, address and contact number with the removal firm in writing - Book the lift and the loading bay with the building manager, and check the permitted moving hours in the lease - Book an end-of-tenancy clean, or block out the time to do it yourself 1 week out - Pack a first-night box: kettle, mugs, bedding, towels, chargers, tools, medicines and toilet roll - Run down the freezer and the food cupboards; defrost the freezer the day before - Keep passports, deeds, certificates and cash with you — never on the van Moving week - Take meter readings at both properties, photograph them, and send them to both suppliers - Charge the phones, keep a power bank, and have cash and snacks for the day - Do the check-out inspection with the landlord or agent; photograph and date every room, every appliance and the meters - Hand back every key, fob and parking permit, and get a written receipt for them - Walk every room, cupboard and the loft one last time before you lock up First week in the new place - Take meter readings at the new place on day one and photograph them - Find the stopcock, the consumer unit, the meters and the bin day - Test the smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms, and change the locks if you want to - Check the new inventory line by line, photograph everything, and return it inside the deadline in your agreement - Chase the deposit on the old place in writing, and note the deadline your agreement or deposit scheme sets - Register with the building manager or concierge: fobs, bins, parking and post - Unpack the kitchen and one bedroom properly before you touch anything else This is a generic prompt list, not advice about your move. Notice periods, deposit and check-out rules, what a landlord may deduct, and what happens on completion day all vary by tenancy, jurisdiction and the contract you actually signed — read yours, and ask your agent, landlord or solicitor rather than assuming a line here applies to you. Nothing here is a legal or financial opinion.