Moving day playbook
Hour by hour: what happens, when the money moves, when you get keys, and the checks people forget.
Before the day: two warnings
- Avoid Friday completions if you can. Fridays are the busiest day to complete and late fund transfers are a known cause of delay, if funds miss the deadline on a Friday, you may not complete until Monday, with the van loaded.
- Verify bank details by phone. Only ever send money to your conveyancer using details confirmed verbally on a number you found independently, completion-day payment fraud is real and devastating.
The day, hour by hour
- 08:00
Final packing & strip the beds
Essentials box in the car (not the van). Bedding into labelled bags. Phones charged, chargers in your pocket.
- 08:30
Removals arrive, walk them round
Show the crew what goes, what stays, and what's fragile. Agree which room codes match which boxes. Confirm the destination address in writing.
- 09:00–12:00
Loading, and the money moves
Nothing here is yours to chase while it travels. Loading carries on regardless.
- ≈12:00–13:00
Meter readings & photographs (the home you are leaving)
Photograph gas, electricity and water meters with the date visible. Final walkthrough: every cupboard, the loft, behind doors, the shed.
- 13:00–14:00
Completion, keys released
The agent hands the keys over, not your solicitor.
- 14:00 onwards
Collect keys & first jobs in the new home
Photograph the new home's meters immediately. Find the stopcock and fuse box before you need them. Test smoke alarms.
- Evening
Beds first, boxes later
Make the beds before you're exhausted. Kettle on. Takeaway. Everything else is tomorrow's problem, you're in.
- Evening
That's the sale done
The keys are with the agent and the money has moved. Nothing else today is yours to chase.
Final walkthrough (old home), tick as you go
Moving day is Chapter 4 of six. HouseChapter guides the whole story, including the first 100 days after you get the keys.
Keep this playbook for the day
Saved with your move, with your own completion date, your removals time and your people's numbers filled in.
Free, and the answer above is yours either way.