Things to Remember When Moving House

Sops and I know a thing or two about moving house. We have had to move house three times in the last 2 years. Thankfully, we have now bought a home and so do not plan on moving again for quite a while, (unless we win the lottery and move into that mansion we keep looking at on Rightmove.com.) During this time of upheaval, we have picked up a few hacks on how to move efficiently and economically. Here are some things to remember when moving house, that people easily forget to do.

Keep Reading for a Free Moving House Itinerary.

Moving from a Rental Home

Renting is great. It provides temporary accommodation if that’s what you need. Also, if anything goes wrong with the house or built-in appliances it is for the landlord to fix.

However, to ensure you receive your full deposit when you move out of a rental property, you have to make sure it is in tip-top condition. Your landlord or estate agency will give you a list of what needs to be cleaned ready for inspection. Here are a few tips on what to remember when you are moving from a rental property:

• Give yourself plenty of time to clean the property before you vacate it, so you don’t have to do too much once you leave.
• If you have pictures hanging up by Command Strips take them down a few weeks before you move house. Despite their claim not to take paint off, sometimes they do. You don’t want to be left painting the walls on the last day before you move house! (Yes, this has happened to me).
• If your carpets have become grubby, hire a carpet cleaner from Rug Doctor to wash them before you leave. This is cheaper to do than leaving it to the estate agency to hire a professional. (I had to do it last year after my cat puked up several times around the house).
• Take the food out of the the fridge/freezer a couple of days before you move house, so you can clean the appliances and turn them off at the wall. But doing this allows you a day or two to defrost and clean the freezer. NB. You may have to eat some weird mixed up dinners in the last week. However, be sure to consume defrosted food safely.
• Take a photo of the gas, electric and water meters before you leave to settle your utility bills.

Moving into a New Property

Whether you are moving into a brand new house or a rented cottage dating back to 1884 there are a few things you must remember to do straight away.

• Take the readings of the gas and electricity meters. Also, take a reading for the water meter if you are able to. Report these readings to the utility companies and keep hold of the details in case you switch utility companies at a later date.
• If you are moving into a rented property write a snags list of any faults you see. Take pictures of them and report them to the estate agency. This way you cannot be accused of damaging anything whilst you are renting the property, (unless you do accidently damage something in the property). I accidently broke the washing machine door in one rented property with a bottle of Prosecco, which literally flew out of the fridge! It was a most freaky accident.

• Make sure the local council know you have moved property. You want to be paying the correct amount of council tax from day one. Please note, if you are single, make sure you have a 25% deduction off your council tax.
• Apply to a local school for your child.
• Once you have settled and unpacked the essentials (i.e. the kettle and tea bags), remember to inform the DVLA of your change of address. They will send you a new drivers licence. Also, make sure your car is registered to your new address. I am sure you are a great driver and never get speeding or parking tickets, but if you do get one sent to your old address and you don’t know about it, you could be mounting a huge debt unawares.
• Tell the TV Licence organisation your new address.
• Arrange any post to be forwarded to you using the Royal Mail redirection service. There is a charge for this service. But when you are just settling into your new home it can take time to inform every company and subscription service that you have moved house. I have had ink and cat flea products sent to my old address before now.
• Tell your employer. You may have already taken time off work to move house, so your boss already knows you live at a new address now. But make sure HR is aware for their records.
• Tell your bank. Admittedly, most correspondence is paperless these days. However, it is important to let your bank know your new address and any other organisation you have loans and investments in. You don’t want them sending statements to your old address.
• Are you registered with the local doctors and dentist? If not, why not? Make sure you are registered with at least an NHS doctors surgery. Good luck finding an NHS dentist though.

Things to do Later

Once you have settled and unpacked your boxes and are now sitting with your feet up in your favourite tatty armchair, there are some other things you need to do, that you may not have thought of.

• Are you registered to vote? I have found that as I have moved from rented property to rented property in the same town, the Council automatically knows where I live and I always receive my voting cards at the correct address. I assume this is because I pay council tax? It’s either that or Big Brother is watching me? When I bought this property I checked with the local authority that they had my updated address.
• Join your local library.
• Be sure to register any pets with a local veterinary surgery.
• If you have a dog or cat that is microchipped, make sure your new address has been updated on the microchip database. You can contact your veterinary surgery to find out which company the chip is registered with.
• Get to know your neighbours. Host a small garden party for them, and find out what is hip hop and happening in your local area.

As promised, here is the Free Printable Moving House Itinerary.

Comment

I hope you have found this guide helpful. Have you any other advice you want to share about moving house? Please add your comments below. If you have any interesting stories about moving house, please do share them in our Forum here.

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