Moving house checklist: the eight weeks that make it easy

Nobody enjoys moving, but almost all the pain comes from doing eight weeks of tasks in the last four days. Work backwards from your move date and it becomes a series of small jobs instead of one enormous one.

Book your removal firm or van now — good ones go early, especially on Fridays and month-ends. Start the great sort-out: every room, three piles (keep, charity, bin). If your dates don't line up, or you're selling and want the house staged empty-ish, book a storage unit now too; a 50 sq ft room takes the contents of a one-bed flat and costs less than most people spend on takeaways in a month.

Tell your landlord if renting. Get quotes for cleaning. Start eating down the freezer.

Redirect your post (Royal Mail needs five working days). Update your address with your bank, employer, GP, DVLA, insurers and the electoral roll. Book broadband installation for the new place — lead times are brutal.

Pack anything you won't touch before the move: books, out-of-season clothes, the loft. Label every box with the room it's going to, not what's in it — the removal crew cares about destination.

Pack a first-night box per person: kettle, mugs, chargers, meds, loo roll, bedding, and the kids' non-negotiables. Take meter readings at both ends and photograph them. Defrost the freezer 48 hours out.

If completion and move-out don't align — they often don't — a storage unit bridges the gap without holding your chain hostage. Weekly terms mean a two-week overlap costs exactly two weeks.

Change the locks, find the stopcock and fuse box, register with a local GP, and unpack the kitchen first. Everything else can wait — which is the other place storage earns its keep: move the maybe-boxes into a unit, live in the house for a month, and only bring back what you actually miss.