The useful moving work starts about eight weeks before completion, and almost all of it is booking, notifying and reading meters rather than packing. Most moving checklists are organised around moving day, which is why people arrive at the final week with the removal firm unbooked and the utilities unnotified. This timeline is anchored to your completion date instead, because that is the date everything else depends on.
One important caveat before the timeline: until your purchase or sale is legally binding, every date is provisional. When it becomes binding depends on the nation:
- England and Wales: the deal becomes legally binding when contracts are exchanged. Exchange can happen quite close to completion, so you may have little firm notice.
- Northern Ireland: the sale is also legally binding from the exchange of contracts, with completion on the agreed date.
- Scotland: the process differs. Once missives are concluded you have a binding contract; ask your solicitor when your date of entry is fixed. Our guide to moving in Scotland: missives and date of entry explains the stages.
The timeline below separates what you can safely do on a provisional basis from what you should only confirm once the date is binding. Renters and people whose move date is set by a tenancy should use their notice and handover dates instead.
Provisional planning versus confirmed booking
This printable table shows which tasks are safe before the date is binding, and who is normally responsible. Print it from your browser; no sign-up is needed.
| Task |
Before the date is binding |
Once the date is binding |
Who is responsible |
| Removal firm |
Get surveyed quotes; hold a provisional date and ask what happens to any deposit if the date moves |
Confirm the date and scope in writing |
You, with the removal firm |
| Completion or entry date |
Treat any date as a target only |
Fixed in the binding contract |
Your solicitor or conveyancer, with the other side |
| Keys and handover |
Ask how and when keys will be released |
Confirm the handover arrangements |
Estate agent, solicitor or landlord |
| Storage |
Ask about availability and terms |
Book if there is a gap between properties |
You, with the storage provider |
| Utilities, broadband and address changes |
Gather account details; schedule only where a future date can be changed |
Give moving dates to each organisation |
You |
| Parking, lifts and building access |
Find out the rules at both addresses |
Apply for suspensions or book lifts |
You or the removal firm, as agreed in writing |
Eight weeks before completion
Get survey quotes from three removal firms. This is the single highest-value task and the one most often left too late. Firms quote on volume, distance, access and date, so a quote given without a survey is a guess that can be revised upward on the day. The guide to what happens in a removal survey explains how to prepare.
- Ask for a survey, by video or in person. In-person surveys can be better at catching loft, garage and outbuilding contents that are hard to show on a call.
- Ask each firm to quote on the same written specification so the quotes are comparable. Differences in what is included are where quotes diverge most.
- Check whether the firm subcontracts. The company you book is not always the company that arrives, and that affects who is liable if something is damaged.
Decide what is not moving. Volume drives price, so this decision belongs before the survey, not after it. Anything you are disposing of, selling or donating should be gone or clearly separated before a surveyor measures.
Six weeks before completion
Provisionally book your firm. Many firms will hold a provisional date without a confirmed completion, sometimes against a deposit. Ask specifically what happens to that deposit if the chain moves the date: this is the question that matters, and the answer varies between firms.
Decide on packing. Packing is a significant optional cost and has a consequence beyond price: goods packed by the owner are commonly excluded or limited for damage to contents. If you self-pack, you are usually accepting that risk. Full or fragile-only packing services exist partly for that reason.
Establish whether you need storage. If there is any gap between moving out and moving in, or any chance of a failed completion, look into storage arrangements now rather than on the day.
Four weeks before completion
Start notifications. Work through these in order of consequence:
- Statutory and financial: HMRC, DVLA (or DVA in Northern Ireland), your bank, your insurers, your pension provider and the electoral register.
- Utilities: energy supplier, water and broadband. Broadband can take the longest to arrange and is a common cause of arriving at a new home without a connection.
- Local authority: council tax at both addresses (rates in Northern Ireland). Overlapping bills are easier to prevent than to reclaim.
- Health and education: GP, dentist and schools. School admission timing can constrain a move independently of the property chain.
- Subscriptions and deliveries: anything with a recurring physical delivery.
Set up mail redirection. This helps with fraud prevention as much as convenience, because financial post arriving at your old address can be misused. Use a written change-of-address list so nothing is missed.
Two weeks before completion
Confirm the booking as soon as the date is binding. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland that means exchange of contracts; in Scotland, conclusion of missives. Convert your provisional booking to a confirmed one immediately, because popular dates such as Fridays and month end can fill quickly. If exchange happens very late and your firm cannot do the date, the guide to last-minute house removals covers your options.
Check your insurance position. Two separate things need confirming: what the removal firm’s goods-in-transit cover actually includes, and how your own contents policy treats the transition between addresses. Standard removal liability is often limited per item, so high-value items usually need declaring separately in advance.
Start the essentials box. Not packing generally: one clearly marked box covering the first night, such as kettle, mugs, tea, chargers, medication, toilet roll, basic tools, bedding and a change of clothes.
One week before completion
- Photograph everything of value before it is packed, and keep the dated files. This is the evidence base for any damage claim, and it cannot be created after the event.
- Confirm access arrangements at both ends: parking, lift bookings and any council permit or bay suspension, which usually needs applying for in advance.
- Run down the freezer and plan appliance disconnection. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how long fridges and freezers should stand before being switched back on.
- Confirm what the firm will not carry. Paint, fuel, aerosols, plants and some chemicals are commonly refused. Discovering this on the day leaves you with a car full of them.
- Agree a no-show plan. Save the firm’s phone number and booking reference, and know what you would do if the van does not arrive; see what to do if your removal company has not turned up.
Completion day
- Take meter readings at the old property (gas, electricity and water where metered) and photograph each meter with the reading visible. Disputed final bills often trace back to a missing reading.
- Walk the property with the crew before they start, and again before they leave.
- Take meter readings at the new property on arrival.
- Check the inventory against what arrives and note any damage in writing before the crew leaves. Damage-reporting deadlines in removal contracts can be short, so read yours in advance.
What to do if the chain breaks on the day
This happens more often than people expect and few people plan for it. If completion fails while your possessions are loaded:
- Your goods may stay on the vehicle or go into the firm’s storage overnight, usually at a cost that is not in the original quote.
- Your insurance position may change once goods are in overnight storage rather than in transit. Confirm this in advance, not on the night.
- Ask, before you book, what your firm’s specific procedure and charge is for a failed completion. A firm that has a clear written answer has dealt with it before.
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should I book a removal firm?
Get quotes about eight weeks out and book provisionally at around six weeks. Confirm as soon as the date is legally binding. Fridays and the last working days of the month tend to be the busiest slots.
Is it cheaper to move mid-week?
Often, because demand tends to concentrate on Fridays and month end when many completions are set. If you have any influence over the date, ask firms to price a mid-week, mid-month date as well.
Does my home insurance cover the move?
Not automatically, and cover for goods in transit is usually a separate matter from your contents policy. Check both the removal firm’s liability limits and your own insurer’s position on the transition between addresses before moving day.
What happens if I pack the boxes myself?
Self-packed boxes are commonly excluded or limited for damage to the contents, on the basis that the firm cannot see how items were packed. The box itself may be covered while the contents are not. Read the specific wording rather than assuming.
Do I need to be there on the day?
Someone with authority to make decisions should be present at both properties. Crews encounter access problems, ambiguous items and placement questions constantly, and a nominated contact who is not on site slows everything down.
Next step
Once you know your approximate date and volume, compare firms on a like-for-like basis rather than on headline price. Our removal options comparison sets out the differences between local man-and-van services, long-distance removals and international moves, including where liability and insurance differ between them.
Sources
- GOV.UK, “Selling a home: Transferring ownership (conveyancing)” (England and Wales)
- nidirect, “Buying a home: step-by-step guide” (Northern Ireland)
- mygov.scot, “Selling a home: the legal process, Missives” (Scotland)
This timeline describes typical UK practice. Conveyancing steps differ between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and dates become certain at different stages. Confirm your own timings with your solicitor or conveyancer.
