The moving house checklist, week by week.
Everything to book, cancel, pack and notify when you move, in the order that actually works. Use it as it is, or let Movemark turn it into a personal plan built around your move date.
18 weeks before: decide and book
The expensive mistakes happen here, not on moving day. As soon as your date is even roughly known:
Confirm your move date in writing. Book your removal company (good ones fill up 4 to 6 weeks ahead; get three quotes and ask what insurance covers). If you rent, check your notice period and hand in notice at the right moment. Start a single folder, digital or paper, for every quote, contract and reference number connected to the move.
26 weeks before: declutter and measure
Every box you don't move is money saved. Go room by room and sell, donate or bin what isn't coming. Measure furniture against the new place, especially sofas, wardrobes and the washing machine gap, and check the new front door and stairs. Order packing materials: boxes in two sizes, tape, bubble wrap and a marker per person.
34 weeks before: paperwork and notifications
This is the week of telling people. Set up your Royal Mail redirect (it needs at least a week's notice, and a year costs less than the problems it prevents). Notify your bank, employer, GP and dentist, the council for tax and electoral roll, DVLA for licence and V5C, insurers, and every subscription that posts you things. Book time off work for moving day and the day after. If you have kids or pets, arrange care for the day.
42 weeks before: pack the rooms you don't live in
Start with the loft, garage, spare room and bookshelves. Label every box with its destination room, not its origin, and keep a list of what went where. Number the boxes. Photograph the backs of your TV and router before unplugging anything. Use up the freezer food. Arrange final meter readings with your energy supplier and tell your broadband provider your switch date (they often need two weeks).
5Moving week: the essentials box
Pack an essentials box that travels with you, not in the van: kettle, mugs, tea, toilet roll, phone chargers, medication, bin bags, scissors, a change of clothes each, and the kids' or pets' favourite things. Defrost the freezer 48 hours before. Charge everything. Withdraw some cash for the crew's tips and takeaway. Confirm arrival time with the removal company.
6Moving day
Strip the beds first so bedding goes in a clearly marked box you can find at 10pm. Take meter readings, with photos, at both properties. Walk every room, cupboard and loft space before locking up. At the new place, direct boxes to their rooms as they come off the van rather than stacking everything in the hallway. Build the beds before you get tired. Everything else can wait.
7The first two weeks after
Register with a local GP and dentist. Update your address on anything the redirect catches that you missed. Test the smoke alarms and find the stopcock, fuse box and meters. Photograph any damage in a rental and send it to the agent in week one. Unpack by room, kitchen first, and flatten boxes as you go; someone nearby will want them.