Moving House Tips

Moving house can be stressful, particularly if you have a lot of stuff. But if you plan ahead it is possible to minimise any potential problems you may encounter. Follow these house moving tips to save money and time when moving.

Did you know that in 2006 Britain spent £28 billion moving house? While many of these costs came from home repairs in preparation for a sale, estate agents fees, legal fees and stamp duty, a considerable sum also came from the actual cost of moving too – typically removal charges and any storage requirements that are often necessary when moving home.

While it was all too easy to swallow the extra costs associated with moving house during the heady days of the pre-credit crunch thanks to a booming property market, today, anyone moving house is looking to save money wherever possible.

If you are moving house – be it into a newly purchased property or into the ever expanding private rented sector, follow these top tips for a successful home move.

Plan Ahead: Before you move make sure that you write down key dates and events as a visual reminder of what needs to be done by when. Another good bit of advice is to declutter your home before the move, too. Clean out the garage, loft and spare bedroom – if you’ve not used something for 5 years, do you really need to move house with it?

Let Everyone Know: You and your family will be well aware that you are moving house, but remember to let everyone else know too. That may mean a quick Facebook email to all your friends, but you will also need to let utility companies, insurers, banks and the DVLA know too. You’ll also need to update records with doctors, dentists, schools (if you have kids) and anyone else that you can think of.

Storage Boxes: A few weeks in advance of your move you could buy some moving house boxes and begin packing away non essential items such as books, toys, clothes you won’t need and anything else that you can live without for a few weeks. If you have something that you can live without for while and you’d like it out of the way during the busy house move – for example a piano or an antique piece of furniture – a good idea is to put it into storage until you are settled in your new property. This way you can avoid any potential damage to your precious piece of furniture during the move.

Get Your Friends Involved: You can save a considerable amount of money by opting to move yourself, instead of using a removal company. You can hire a van for a day or weekend fairly cheaply and with a few willing friends, (preferably those who can lift heavy items!) you can move at a fraction of the cost of hiring the professionals – you even get a free work out, too.