Your Checklist of Things to Do When Moving House in Central London

If you are moving home and ready to start a new chapter, it is an exciting time with a new future to look forward to. However, moving house brings a large list of tasks and one of the best ways to ensure you cover them all is to use a checklist.  

When moving into or out of central London areas like Marylebone and Regents Park, a house move can be a daunting prospect. From navigating furniture through narrow staircases in your old or new house to traffic congestions and parking restrictions around the house, and the possibility of equity release – there are a lot of things to consider, and your checklist will be unique to you – this is true whether you were a first time renter or selling up and moving house.

We’ve compiled some of the most important tasks and considerations into a useful moving home checklist to help your move go as smoothly as possible. 

Your checklist before moving house 

1. Declutter your home 

Moving is an excellent time to get rid of all the things you don’t use or don’t need. A useful way to do this is to adopt the three-bag method – one bag for recycling, one for charity and one for items you could sell. Being ruthless will make moving easier and might earn you a bit of extra cash to spend on your new home. 

Consider selling items on sites like eBay, Facebook Marketplace or Vinted, you might be amazed at how much money you can make to put towards your moving costs. It also means that you’re offloading items in an environmentally friendly way, rather than putting them into landfill. 

If you have lots of bulky items taking up room in your property, you might want to consider moving them into a storage solution to make moving day a bit easier. You’ll have lots to do on the day and having more flexibility around when you move larger items will remove some of the stress. 

Don’t forget to clear out any outdoor buildings – you might find items in there that you have forgotten about and these will take up extra time on moving day to clear. Closer to your moving day, you should start clearing out kitchen cupboards and try using up all your fridge and freezer food, so you don’t have to waste it by throwing it away when you unplug and move your appliances. 

2. Organise removals and packing 

Once you have got your completion date, organise your removals company as soon as possible to make sure they are available on the date you need them.  

• Consider the services required – Removals companies offer different levels of service, so consider whether you will require services like packing and unpacking your items. 
  
  If you have high value items or fragile items, you might want to consider using a white glove service, which offers a higher level of care and attention to protect your valuables. Whichever removals company you choose, make sure that they have adequate insurance cover for the value of your belongings. 
  
• Boxing and labelling – You should start collecting sturdy boxes and containers to pack items into, and buy plenty of bubble wrap for crockery, ornaments etc. Start packing non-essential items a few weeks before moving to get prepared. 
  
  To make unpacking your items easier, make sure that you label boxes with the room they are going into, and which items are inside. This will avoid the frustration of trying to find which boxes your essential items are in before you have the chance to fully unpack. 
  
• Furniture dismantling – Before your moving day, you should also dismantle any furniture such as wardrobes, tables, sofas etc. and keep all the screws and bolts in labelled bags. 

Want to know more?  Read about our first time buyer guide for Central London, discover capital gains tax when selling a property and explore our guide to staging your home to sell in Central London.

3. Organise utilities & subscriptions 

Moving house means updating your energy supplier, other utility companies and potentially many more of your subscriptions. Contact your providers and let them know the date you’ll be leaving your old house. 

These include: 

• Utility companies – Contact your gas, electricity and water suppliers to confirm your moving date. Then on the day of your move, provide meter readings so your supplier can issue your final bill. When you move into your new house, you’ll need to read the meters there too, so that you’re not paying for more energy than you should. It’s always worth taking a photo of your meter readings in case of any dispute. 
  
• Broadband supplier – Contact your broadband supplier to inform them that you are moving. Organise a date for setting up broadband if you need a new line and router to be installed, as the waiting time for this can be weeks. If you have Sky TV or similar, do the same with the provider. 
  
• Council tax – Change your council tax address to make sure that you won’t be charged after your moving date and to ensure you don’t miss any payments for your new property. 
  
• Royal Mail – You can arrange a date in advance for Royal Mail to redirect your post from your old property to your new property for a set period. The Royal Mail redirection service allows you to pay for a set period of 3, 6 or 12 months and can be extended if needed. 
  
  This should ensure any mail gets to you if you haven’t had the chance to update your address details with banks, subscriptions, healthcare providers etc. 
  
• Subscriptions – Inform any subscription providers such as magazines and newspapers with your new address. If you have gym memberships or any other type of memberships, get your address changed with these companies. 
  
• Insurance – You will need to arrange insurance for your new property, including buildings and contents. You may be able to simply switch your current insurance to your new property, but you will need to provide all the required information. If you have a mortgage on your new property, the provider will usually require proof of buildings insurance starting from your move in date. 

4. Make school applications (if needed) 

If you have children who will be moving school, you will need to make school applications as early as possible to secure a place. When changing school mid-way through an academic year, you will either need to apply directly through the school or through the local authority.

School classes might already be full, so applying early will give you more time to find another school in this situation. 

5. Make arrangements for moving day 

As well as making sure that removals are organised for moving day, there are some other arrangements you might need to make. For example, you might require childcare or pet care while you focus on the move. 

Pack overnight bags so that you have all the clothing, toiletries and any other essentials you will need, like toilet roll, to get you through until you have had time to do the rest of your unpacking. You’ll probably also need to factor in some time to do a quick food shop, so you have milk, bread or anything else before you have chance to do a full shop. 

Final questions to ask seller when moving house 

Moving day might be the last opportunity you have to ask the seller questions about the property. So, prepare some questions to ask, such as: 

• Where are the gas/electric/water meters? 
• Where is the stopcock? 
• Who are the current utility providers? 
• Where is the thermostat? 
• Where are the instruction manuals for appliances? 
• Are there any warranties or guarantees left on appliances? 
• Where are the bin collection points and schedules? 
• What is the code for the burglar alarm? 
• Do you have any leftover paint for the current wall colours? 
• Do any surfaces require special cleaning products? 

Your checklist after moving house 

Once you have got past the busy moving day, you’ll still have a few tasks that you will need to take care of. These include: 

Check the house and utilities 

• Condition checks – One of the first things to do when you open the door to your new property is check that everything is as expected. Cross-reference the inventory agreement to make sure that all the agreed items included in the sale are there and check the condition of the property. 
  
  If there are any issues, raise them as soon as possible either with the previous owners or the estate agents. 
  
• Check utilities – Make sure that all the utilities are in working order, such as hot and cold water, heating and electrics. Also, take a photo of the meters so that you can provide the utility companies with a reading so that you are not charged for energy or water used by the previous owners. 
  
• Test alarms – Complete a check of all the alarms, including fire alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and security alarms to ensure they are in working order. Also, check that all door and window locks are functioning correctly. 
  
• Locate the fuse box and stop cock – Make sure you know where the fuse box and stop cock are located. If you can’t find them, contact the previous owners or estate agents to get the location. 

Updating your address after a house move 

Once you are in your new home, you can update your address with the companies that you have not yet informed. These include: 

• DVLA – You are still allowed to drive while your licence has your old address but you should inform the DVLA of your address change promptly. 

• HMRC & DWP – Contact HMRC and DWP to ensure your tax, pension and child maintenance address details are updated. 

• Medical practices – Update your address with your GP, dentist and any other healthcare providers if you have not already done so. 

• TV licence – Move your TV licence over to your new address. 

• Banks and credit cards – Contact all your banks and finance providers, including loan companies, car finance etc. 

• Employer and private pension providers – Contact the HR team of your employer to update your address details, as well as any private pension providers. 

• Electoral roll – Update your address on the electoral roll to ensure you can vote and also as your address is linked to your credit report. 

• Insurance – You should have already arranged your new home insurance but you will also need to update your address with car insurance and health insurance companies to ensure your cover is valid. 

Want to know more?  You can also read about the costs of selling and buying a home, discover tips on what a mews house is and tips for buying one and explore how to negotiate a house price effectively.

Feel confident about moving house? 

This checklist should have provided an overview for the most important moving tasks but everyone has different circumstances and your checklist will include lots of tasks that are specific to you. 

If you are buying or selling property in Marylebone, Camden or Maida Vale with Kubie Gold, we’ll be here with you for every step of the process.