In short: A moving house checklist works best when you start it early.
This one runs from eight weeks before your move to your first week in the new home, with tasks split for sellers, buyers and renters. It sits alongside the legal work your conveyancer or letting agent handles, rather than replacing it. If you're only thinking about moving, your local branch can value your home or show you what's on the market nearby.
Moving house can sometimes be stressful, and a lot of that can come from doing too much in too little time. Planning ahead is what takes the pressure off, and very little of a move genuinely has to happen in the final week.
This guide can act as an ordered walk-through of what to do and when, for sellers, buyers, renters and anyone doing two of those at once. Your conveyancer or letting agent handles the legal side; this covers everything else that lands on you.
This checklist runs on a rough eight-week countdown, though few moves stick to it exactly. If your dates are not yet confirmed, start as soon as your offer is accepted or you've given notice on a rental. If your move is closer than eight weeks, start where you are and work forward.
The order of the tasks matters more than the number of weeks. Conveyancing needs to start before searches can come back, and removals firms take bookings for the popular dates months ahead. Completion dates also move, sometimes by a fortnight or more, so treat this as a guide rather than a rulebook.
Eight weeks out is the planning stage. If you're selling or buying, this is the point to appoint your solicitor, get your mortgage moving and start lining up removals firms. If you're renting, check your notice period and give notice in writing. Start decluttering now rather than in the final week.
Instruct a conveyancer as soon as your sale is agreed. A conveyancer is the solicitor or licensed conveyancer who handles the legal transfer of ownership when you buy or sell a property, and nothing on the legal side moves until one is appointed. If you haven't got one lined up, you can speak to a conveyancer through us.
Start pulling your paperwork together at the same time. The buyer's solicitor will ask for most of it:
FENSA or equivalent certificates for replacement windows
building regulations sign-off for extensions and structural work
guarantees for damp proofing, roofing or timber treatment
boiler service records and any recent gas safety certificate
the lease, service charge accounts and managing agent details if the property is leasehold
Scottish sellers need the equivalents: a building warrant and completion certificate rather than building regulations sign-off, and a council completion certificate rather than FENSA. Hunting down a certificate from 2011 takes longer than you'd think, and a missing one can hold things up.
Not on the market yet? That step comes first: book a free valuation and work the timeline back from there.
Get your mortgage application in. An agreement in principle is not the same as a formal offer, and lenders can take several weeks once their own valuation is involved. Mortgage advice is worth having early rather than halfway through.
Book your survey alongside it. An RICS Home Survey Level 2 covers conventional properties in reasonable condition; a Level 3 suits older, larger, unusual or heavily altered ones, or anywhere you're planning major works. In Scotland the seller already provides a Home Report with a survey in it, so check what that covers before you pay for your own.
Check what notice you owe, because the rules now differ across the UK. In England, the Renters' Rights Act ended fixed terms for most private tenancies on 1 May 2026: tenancies roll on, and you give two months' written notice timed to a rent due date. In Wales, a periodic standard occupation contract takes at least four weeks' notice, and on a fixed term contract you can usually only leave early if there's a break clause. In Scotland, a private residential tenancy has no fixed term and takes at least 28 days' notice, which you can give at any time.
Give it in writing, email is fine, and keep the reply.
Dig out your check-in inventory while you're in there. Anything you've actually damaged is cheaper to put right yourself than to have deducted later. Fair wear and tear isn't deductible, though, and your landlord has to prove any claim on the deposit, so don't fix what isn't yours to fix.
Get at least two removals quotes. A removals quote is the price a moving company gives you for packing, transporting and unloading your belongings, usually based on an at-home survey of what you're moving. Ask for that survey rather than a figure over the phone, because phone estimates have a habit of climbing on the day.
Start a moving folder too, digital or paper, and put everything in it: quotes, reference numbers, your solicitor's details and later your meter photos. One folder beats fourteen browser tabs six weeks from now.
Finish with the declutter. Eight weeks is long enough to sell what's worth selling, book a charity collection for the furniture you're not taking, and fit in a tip run or two.
Four weeks out is when the admin ramps up. Confirm your removals booking, start telling your utility suppliers and your council that you're moving, and pack anything you don't use day to day. If your new street sits in a controlled parking zone, apply to suspend a bay now, because notice periods run from 48 hours to 10 working days depending on the council.
Pin the removals booking down in writing, with the date, both addresses, the arrival time and what the price actually covers. Packing materials, dismantling beds and wardrobes, and taking apart flat-pack furniture are often quoted separately.
Book the time off work too. Completion day plus the day after is the realistic minimum. If you have young children or pets, arrange cover for moving day now rather than in the last fortnight.
Tell your suppliers you're moving and give them the date:
gas and electricity, so your final bill is based on the right reading
your water company at both ends, since the supplier usually changes with the region
your broadband provider, which is the slow one, as notice periods run from about two weeks to 30 days and a new line takes longer again
your current council, so your council tax account closes on the right day
TV Licensing, which transfers your licence to the new address free of charge, so move it rather than cancelling it
Your change-of-address sweeps across banks, the DVLA and everyone else comes two weeks out, once your date is firm.
Work backwards from the rooms you use least. The loft, the garage, the spare room, books and out-of-season clothes can all be boxed now without disrupting anything.
Label every box with the room it's going to in the new house rather than the room it came from, and add a line about what's inside. Future you, standing in a hallway of identical boxes, will be grateful.
Start an essentials box at the same time and add to it as you go. An essentials box is the small collection of things you'll want on arrival before you've unpacked anything else: kettle, mugs, tea and coffee, phone chargers, medication, toiletries and a change of clothes.
This is also the point for a second declutter pass. You'll find more to lose now the cupboards are open than you did at eight weeks.
Sort your insurance. If you're buying in England or Wales, buildings cover usually needs to be in place from exchange rather than completion, because the property becomes your risk at that point and lenders expect it. Scotland works the other way round: the seller carries the risk until settlement, so ask your solicitor when your cover needs to start. Check your buildings and contents insurance covers the new address from moving day. Ask what your removals firm's own liability covers too, as it's rarely the full replacement value of what's on the van.
Then think about access at both ends: lift bookings in a block of flats, narrow lanes a van can't get down, gate codes and key safes. Work out where the van can legally sit for a few hours as well, because that's the one that catches people on the day.
Two weeks out, the change-of-address sweep becomes urgent. Update your details with the DVLA, your bank, HMRC, your GP and your insurers, and arrange for your post to follow you to the new address. Then confirm your removals timings and access arrangements at both ends.
Work through it in groups rather than trying to remember everyone at once:
HMRC, the DVLA, your local council and the electoral roll
your bank, credit cards, pension provider and any savings accounts
car, home, life and travel insurers
your GP, dentist and optician
your employer's payroll team, and any school, college or university
the subscriptions that post you something physical, from magazines to contact lenses
HMRC has its own change of address service covering Income Tax, National Insurance, Child Benefit and the State Pension. Your driving licence and your vehicle log book (V5C) are two separate updates. Both are free, and the DVLA can fine you up to £1,000 for failing to do either.
Mail redirection is the Royal Mail service that forwards post from your old address to your new one for a set period, so anything sent to the wrong place still reaches you. You can redirect your mail for 3, 6 or 12 months. There's a fee, with a reduced rate for people on Universal Credit, Pension Credit and certain other benefits.
Royal Mail needs at least five working days to arrange it and suggests applying about three weeks before you move. Leave it later than that and some post will still land at the old address. Redirected post travels as second class, so allow an extra day or two for anything time-sensitive. Treat it as a safety net for the things you forget, not a replacement for telling people directly.
Four things are worth nailing down while there's still time to fix them:
your broadband switch date, and whether an engineer needs access at the new address
a phone reminder to take meter readings and photos on moving day, at both properties
who is cleaning what, whether that's an end-of-tenancy clean or what you're leaving behind for the buyer
your removals timings, the driver's contact number and how they get into both properties
If you're renting, this is also the moment to arrange your check-out inspection with the letting agent. Getting it booked before the diary fills up is easier than chasing it in your final week.
The final week is about checks rather than new tasks. Finish the packing, confirm the date and timings with your conveyancer or your landlord, top up the essentials box, and defrost the freezer if it's coming with you. Charge everything the night before and keep the essentials box off the van.
Pack everything except what you'll actually use in the last few days. One saucepan, a few plates, enough clothes, and the kettle that goes in the essentials box.
Three categories should travel with you rather than on the van:
passports, deeds, tenancy paperwork and anything else you'd struggle to replace
jewellery, cash, laptops and medication
keys, chargers and the essentials box
Defrost the freezer at least 24 hours before it moves, with towels down and a shallow tray underneath. Ask about the plants too. Policies vary, and plenty of firms will only take them if they're packed properly or won't cover them for damage, so the fragile ones travel better in the car.
Speak to your conveyancer about completion day. Completion day is the day the property legally changes hands, usually the day you get the keys, though the exact timing depends on when the money moves between the solicitors. In Scotland this is your date of entry, or settlement. Ask what time they expect funds to clear, where your keys will be waiting and who to ring if the day runs late.
If you're renting, agree your check-out time and how the keys get back to the agent.
Then run through the practical confirmations: your removals arrival window, your parking bay suspension if you applied for one, and the spare keys sitting with neighbours or family at either end. Collect the ones that are yours and hand back the ones that aren't.
Get the small things done while you still have the energy:
charge your phone and a power bank, and keep a cable somewhere you can find it
put the essentials box in the car boot or somewhere clearly marked so it doesn't get loaded
strip the beds last and bag the bedding together, so it's the first thing you find
leave out the window keys, alarm code and appliance manuals for whoever is moving in
Eat properly and get some sleep. Moving day is a long physical day, and starting it on four hours and a coffee is how people end up snapping at each other in a hallway.
On moving day, record the numbers on your gas, electricity and water meters before you leave, walk through every room and cupboard, and hand your keys over as arranged. Do the same in reverse at the new place, then find the fuse box and stopcock and check the heating, hot water and smoke alarms are working.
Start with the meters. Meter readings are the numbers you record from your gas, electricity and water meters on the day you leave and the day you move in. They make sure each supplier bills you only for what you actually used. Photograph each one with the reading visible and the date on your phone, which settles any argument later.
Then work through the house:
open every cupboard, the loft hatch, the airing cupboard, the shed and the garage
check behind doors and under the stairs, where things hide in plain sight
leave whatever your fittings and contents form says you're leaving, if you're selling
gather every key and fob: window keys, shed and garage keys, meter keys, window restrictor keys
turn off the lights, shut the windows and lock up
In England and Wales that's the TA10 Fittings and Contents Form, the list you filled in yourself early in the sale, setting out exactly what stays and what goes. In Scotland the same ground is covered by the missives. Taking five minutes to check it against the house avoids the awkward phone call a fortnight later about a missing curtain pole.
Hand the keys to your agent or your conveyancer as you agreed, and not to the buyer directly unless you've been told to. If you're renting, this is your check-out inspection, so take dated photos of every room once it's empty.
Do the walk-through before the van is unloaded, while the rooms are still empty and you can see them properly.
take and photograph the meter readings straight away
check the property matches what you agreed, including anything the seller or landlord left
note any damage or missing items and tell your agent that day, not next week
find the fuse box, the stopcock and the gas shut-off valve
turn on the heating and hot water to check both work
test the smoke alarms and any carbon monoxide alarm
Point the removers at the labelled rooms rather than stacking everything in the hall. It takes longer on the day and saves an afternoon later.
Get the essentials box out and put the kettle on. The boxes will still be there tomorrow.
The first week is when missed admin catches up with you, so treat it as part of the checklist rather than the finish line. Submit your meter readings, register for council tax at the new address, change the locks if you own the place, find out when the bins go out, and register with a GP if you've moved area.
Send your meter readings to both suppliers, the old one and the new one, within a few days. Then register for council tax with your new council. Find your local council looks up the right authority from your postcode across England, Wales and Scotland, and each one handles registration on its own site. If you've changed area, register with a GP near the new house before anyone needs one. The NHS find a GP search covers England; in Scotland start with NHS inform, and in Wales with NHS 111 Wales. Do the same with a dentist while the lists are open.
Now pick off the smaller jobs:
change the locks if you've bought, since there's no knowing how many keys are out there
find out which bin goes out when, and where the nearest recycling centre is
update the accounts that still hold your old address, from delivery apps to loyalty cards
check your redirected post is actually arriving, and chase anything that isn't
test the smoke alarms and find out when the boiler was last serviced
The point of a timeline is that the work spreads out instead of piling up in the last fortnight. Almost everything here can be started earlier than people expect. Knowing when each piece is due is what makes that possible.
If you're still at the thinking-about-it stage rather than mid-move, start there instead. View properties in the area you're considering, or find your local agent and ask what's actually selling nearby.
And if the whole thing hinges on what your current home is worth, book a free valuation and build the timeline around the answer.
When should I start planning my house move?
Eight weeks before your move is a sensible starting point, and earlier does no harm. That's the stage to instruct a conveyancer if you're buying or selling, get removals quotes in, and give written notice if you're renting. If your move is closer than eight weeks, start with the earliest tasks and work forward rather than trying to do everything at once.
Who do I need to notify when I move house?
Four groups cover most of it: government bodies including HMRC, the DVLA, your local council and the electoral roll; financial providers such as banks, credit cards, insurers and pension companies; utilities including gas, electricity, water and broadband; and personal contacts like your GP, dentist, employer and any school. There's no single form that updates all of them, and HMRC, your driving licence and your V5C log book are three separate jobs. A Royal Mail redirection catches whatever slips through.
How much does moving house cost in the UK?
It varies widely, so treat any single headline figure with suspicion. Conveyancing, a survey, removals and mail redirection are the costs almost everyone meets. Buyers may also pay stamp duty, mortgage arrangement fees and a lender's valuation, while sellers pay agency fees. The quickest route to a realistic number is to ask your local agent for a breakdown based on your property and your circumstances.
How far in advance should I book a removals company?
Four to six weeks before your move is the usual advice, though popular dates go sooner than that. Fridays, bank holidays and the end of the school term fill up first. Get quotes from at least two firms, ask for an at-home survey rather than an estimate over the phone, and check whether packing materials, dismantling furniture and insurance are included in the price.
What if my completion date moves?
Completion dates shift more often than people expect, so build a little slack into your timeline where you can. Removals firms will usually rearrange if you give them notice, though a late change can cost you. Tell your conveyancer as soon as you hear, because everything downstream depends on that date, then let your removals firm and your utility suppliers know the same day.