The most important moving tip is simple: start planning four to six weeks in advance. Almost all moving stress can be traced back to starting too late. And the rest of the mistakes? They are surprisingly predictable. We see them come round every week, with students who have three boxes and with families who have a whole loft to clear.
That is why we approach it the other way round in this article. No dutiful list of general moving tips, but the ten mistakes that go wrong most often. For each mistake you read what happens and how to prevent it. Recognise a few of them? Good, then you know what to watch out for this time.
1. Starting to pack too late
The classic scenario: the move is on Saturday, and on Thursday evening the first box is still empty. Packing always takes longer than you think. An average family home easily takes three to four full days, and that is before you get to the shed.
The tip: start two to three weeks in advance with the things you do not use every day. Books, seasonal clothing, the fondue set. Pack one cupboard or room each day, so it stays manageable. You can read how to tackle this cleverly in our guide to packing removal boxes.
2. No buffer between handover and moving day
Many people plan the move for the day they get the keys. Does that work out? Sometimes. But one delayed appointment with the solicitor or a handover that overruns, and you are standing in front of a locked door with a full removal van.
So plan at least a few days between the key handover and moving day. Then you can first do some jobs, clean or lay the floor. If the dates really do not line up, then moving with storage is a good interim solution. And if it suddenly has to happen very quickly, take a look at an urgent move.
3. Not labelling boxes
Thirty identical brown boxes in the new living room. Where is the kettle? Nobody knows. You open seven boxes before you can finally make tea in the evening, and you do not find the towels until Tuesday.
Write two things on every box: the contents and the room it is going to. So not just ‘kitchen’, but ‘kitchen, pans and baking trays’. Put the label on the side, not the top. That way you can still read stacked boxes. Mark boxes with fragile items extra clearly.
4. Packing boxes too heavy
A removal box full of books soon weighs 30 kilos. Nobody lifts that safely, and the bottom of the box does not enjoy it much either. Torn boxes on the stairs are a regular feature of do-it-yourself moves.
Keep 15 to 20 kilos per box as your maximum. The rule of thumb: heavy items in small boxes, light items in large ones. So books go in small boxes, duvets and pillows in the large ones. If you lift a box and think ‘oof’, it is too heavy. Redistribute the contents.
5. Not checking the insurance
Most people only find out how the cover works after the damage is done. Your home contents insurance does not always cover removal damage, certainly not if you carry things yourself and the television slips out of your hands. And friends who lend a hand are usually not insured for anything.
Call your insurer before the move and ask exactly what is covered during transport. If you hire a removal company, ask about their liability and insurance. An accredited removal company has this in order as standard and can tell you precisely what is covered.
6. Forgetting the parking space or permit
You are standing with a twelve-metre removal van in a narrow street in the town centre. No space, but a fine all the same. In many town centres you need a permit or a temporary parking permit, and that is not something you arrange on the day itself.
Check with the council at least two weeks in advance what is needed, for both the old and the new address. No permit needed? Then reserve space with cones or ask the neighbours the evening before for their spot. A removal van that has to park three streets away costs you hours of extra walking time.
7. Registering your change of address too late
Three weeks after the move you discover that your health insurer is still sending post to your old address. So are the bank, the dentist and the tax office. The new residents have a little pile waiting for you by now.
Register your move with the council no later than four weeks in advance; you can often do this from a month before the moving date. Then make a list: bank, insurers, energy supplier, internet provider, employer, school and subscriptions. A mail forwarding service catches whatever you have forgotten in the first few months.
8. Not measuring furniture
The sofa that will not fit through the stairwell is almost folklore. Yet it happens somewhere every week: a 2.80-metre corner sofa, a 2.40-metre stairwell, and four people breaking a sweat trying it anyway.
Measure your largest pieces of furniture in advance and compare those dimensions with the doors, stairs, hallways and lift of the new home. Does it not fit? Then take the furniture apart in good time, with the right tools and a bag for the screws. If that is not possible, a furniture hoist through the window is often the answer. You arrange that in advance, not on the spot.
9. Wanting to do everything yourself
Moving yourself seems cheap. Until you hire the van, drive back and forth three times, take a day off and your brother-in-law goes home with a bad back. In practice the saving often disappoints, certainly if damage occurs.
Work it out honestly before you decide. Hiring a removal company for a couple of hours to do only the heavy work can already make a big difference. We have set out what a move really costs in our article on the cost of a move. That way you at least compare with real figures rather than a gut feeling.
10. No bag for the first night
It is 11 pm on moving day. You want to shower and sleep, but the towels, your charger and the bedding are spread across forty boxes. Welcome to your new home.
Pack a bag for each member of the household as if you are going away for a weekend: toiletries, clothes for two days, chargers, medication and bedding. Add a roll of toilet paper, a few mugs and something to eat. This bag is the last thing to go into the car and the first thing to come out. Little effort, big difference.
Moving without stress
The common thread in all these moving tips: almost every moving mistake comes from a lack of time. Anyone who starts four to six weeks in advance, labels boxes properly and sorts out the paperwork (permit, insurance, change of address) on time removes most of the stress before it can build up.
Would you rather hand over the heavy work entirely? Then you can focus on the best part: settling into your new home.
