Instructing the solicitor late
People wait until the offer is accepted, then spend two weeks on ID checks and paperwork before anybody even orders a search.
The fixInstruct before you accept. Ask for a fixed fee and the name of your file handler.
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Moving house, without the 3am panic.
Tell us when you’re moving. We’ll turn it into a week‑by‑week plan, tick off who you need to tell, and show you what the whole thing should actually cost — before anyone invoices you for it.
- 44 jobs, in the order
they actually matter - 37 organisations to tell,
grouped by priority - £75 fixed‑price EPC
from our own assessors - 20+ years in UK
property and energy
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Mail redirectionTakes 5 working days to start
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BroadbandBook 3–4 weeks ahead
When are you moving?
One date. We’ll drop you into the right week of the plan and count down from there.
Nothing is sent to us. Your plan saves to this browser.
–Days to go
–Weeks left
44Jobs to do
Four free tools
The four things that actually go wrong, solved
No account, no paywall, nothing emailed unless you ask. Everything saves in your own browser.
The moving plan
All 44 jobs across seven phases, from eight weeks out to your first week in. Enter your date and it drops you straight into the right week.
Open the planWho to tell
37 organisations that need your new address, grouped by which ones bite first. Tick them off and copy whatever’s left to your notes app.
Open the checklistWhat it costs
Move three sliders and see an itemised estimate — removals, legals, survey, stamp duty. Enough to know within a minute whether a quote is fair.
Open the estimatorThe resource directory
24 links worth having — official services, professional registers and genuinely useful tools. Filtered by what you need right now.
Open the directoryEPCs when moving
You legally need one before the sign goes up. What it is, what it costs, and how to make sure your home gets the rating it deserves.
Read the guideThe moving day runbook
Hour by hour, from the night before to the moment you stop. Print it, hand it round, and stop making decisions at 4pm on the worst day of the year.
Read the runbook
Where moves go wrong
Six expensive mistakes, and how to not make them
None of these are unlucky. They’re all predictable, and every one of them is cheaper to avoid than to fix.
Insuring from completion
You are usually liable for the building from exchange of contracts. If it floods or burns in the gap, that is your problem, not the seller's.
The fixPut buildings cover in place from the exchange date, and check your contract says so.Assuming completion happens at 9am
Funds move through a chain. Keys can land at 4pm. Booking one day off and a 9am removals slot is how people end up sleeping on a floor.
The fixTwo days off. Removals booked for the morning, expectations set for the afternoon.No written fixtures and fittings list
Curtains, white goods, the shed, the TV bracket, the light fittings. Verbal agreements evaporate somewhere around week nine.
The fixGet the TA10 form completed and attached to the contract. Assume nothing stays.Estimated final utility bills
No readings means the supplier guesses, and the guess is never in your favour. Disputing it afterwards takes months.
The fixPhotograph every meter, at both houses, with the serial number in the shot.Spending on the wrong improvements
New boiler? Insulation? Solar? People spend thousands guessing, when the answer is already written down for their specific house.
The fixRead your EPC recommendations first. See how ratings work.
EPCs and surveys
You legally need an EPC before the sign goes up
In England and Wales a home can’t be marketed without a valid Energy Performance Certificate, and your agent will ask for it before they list. It’s the one job that stops everything else if you leave it.
Energy ratingWhat buyers see
homesurvey.euMost UK homes sit in band D. Your certificate also lists the improvements with the best payback for your house — read it before you spend a penny on insulation or a boiler.
Hard-won tips
The things people only learn once
Six habits that separate a calm move from an expensive one. All the tips →
01
Label boxes by destination, not origin
Write the room it is going to, on the side of the box, with a one-line contents note. Removers stack boxes, so anything written on the top is invisible the moment the second box lands. Buy a roll of coloured tape per room and the crew will place every box in the right place without asking you a single question.
02
The essentials box travels with you
Kettle, mugs, tea, milk, loo roll, soap, hand towel, bedding, phone chargers, medication, screwdriver, scissors, bin bags, painkillers. It goes in your car, never the van. On the night you move, the difference between coping and not coping is a cup of tea and a made bed.
03
Photograph every meter, at both ends
Gas, electricity and water, at the old house as you leave and the new house before you boil the kettle, with the serial number in the shot. Those six photographs are the only evidence you will have when a supplier estimates your final bill at three times what you actually used.
04
Change the locks in week one
You have no idea how many keys exist for your new front door — previous owners, builders, cleaners, an ex. A euro cylinder is cheap and takes fifteen minutes with a screwdriver. Test every smoke and carbon monoxide alarm the same day, and replace any you cannot put a date on.
05
Do the disruptive jobs while it is empty
Floor sanding, decorating, rewiring, damp work, moving radiators. Every one of these is faster, cheaper and far less miserable before the furniture arrives. Get quotes during the dead weeks of conveyancing so trades can start the day after you complete.
06
Book two days off, not one
Completion runs on bank transfers moving through a chain, not on the time your agent promised. Keys at 2pm is normal and 4pm happens. Give yourself the following day as well — that is when the broadband engineer, the beds and the first proper shop actually happen.
How long does moving house take in the UK?
From accepting an offer to completion, most moves take 12 to 16 weeks, and a chain of three or more can take longer. Searches and mortgage offers are the usual bottlenecks — which is why instructing a conveyancer before you accept an offer is the single biggest time saving available to you.
Do I need an EPC to sell my house?
Yes. In England and Wales you need a valid Energy Performance Certificate before a home is marketed, and your estate agent will ask for it before marketing starts. An EPC lasts 10 years, so check the national register first — you may already have one. If you need a new one, our sister company homesurvey.eu does them for a fixed £75, including lodging on the register.
When should I book removals?
Get three written quotes around eight weeks out and confirm the booking about four weeks out. Fridays and the last few working days of the month go first. Check the quote states waiting time, packing, insurance level and cancellation terms — those four lines are where disputes happen.
When am I responsible for insuring the new house?
Usually from exchange of contracts, not completion, because exchange is the point at which you are committed. Check what your contract says and put buildings cover in place from that date. Most people insure from completion and are technically uninsured for the gap in between.
What should I do about meter readings?
Take readings at the old property as you leave and at the new property the moment you arrive, before you use anything. Photograph each meter with its serial number visible. Those photographs are your only real defence against an estimated final bill, and Ofgem's back-billing rules are far easier to invoke with evidence.
How much does it cost to move house?
Excluding stamp duty, most UK moves land somewhere between roughly £1,500 and £4,000 once removals, legal fees, an EPC, a survey and sundries are counted. Stamp duty, where it applies, is usually the largest single number by a wide margin. Use the cost estimator for a breakdown based on your own move.
Take it with you
Want the whole thing as one checklist?
The complete moving plan and the 37‑point change‑of‑address list, as one printable PDF with meter‑reading and moving‑day record sheets built in. Download it now, or have it emailed to you.
- All 44 jobs, phase by phase, with tick boxes
- The change-of-address list with the official links
- Meter reading and moving-day record sheets