Moving house in London: the complete checklist

Renting? Serve notice in the form your tenancy demands and diarise the inventory check-out. Buying? Exchange is the only date worth planning around — until contracts are exchanged, completion is an intention, not a fact.

Get removal quotes now, while you still have choice. A good London quote is written, itemised and includes parking, permits and ULEZ. If a company will not put access in writing, it is planning to re-price you on the day.

• Confirm move date, or the exchange window you are working towards
• Book removals and packing; ask what happens if completion slips
• Photograph anything awkward — pianos, corner sofas, wardrobes that will not turn
• Check whether your building requires a certificate of insurance from the mover

This is the London-specific bit. Most boroughs need five to ten working days' notice for a bay suspension and charge per day. Some accept an online application; a few still want a form and a phone call. Your mover should be doing this, not you — but ask, and get the reference number.

In managed blocks, book the goods lift and the loading bay the moment you have a date. Many buildings only permit moves on weekdays between 09:00 and 16:00, or ban them on Sundays entirely. A booked lift is a two-hour saving; an unbooked one can end the move before it starts.

• Bay suspension or dispensation applied for and reference noted
• Goods lift and loading bay booked with the building manager
• Permitted move hours confirmed in writing
• Communal-area protection agreed with the managing agent

Sell, donate or clear what you are not paying to move. A Luton van's worth of things you do not want costs the same to carry as things you do.

Then measure. Front-door width, the turn on the stairs, the lift's internal depth and the ceiling height in the hallway. Furniture fails at the turn, not at the door — and knowing early means we dismantle rather than improvise.

Pack in the order you will unpack. Start with storage, spare rooms, books and out-of-season clothes; leave the kitchen and the bedroom you sleep in until the last two days.

Label on the side, not the top — boxes get stacked. Write the destination room, not the contents, and add a number for anything fragile so it can be checked off at the far end.

• Boxes delivered, tape, paper and marker pens in one place
• One inventory list, numbered, shared with the crew
• Fragile items wrapped in paper first, then bubble, then boxed upright
• Keys, documents and valuables set aside to travel with you

Meter readings on the day, not before. Redirect post for at least three months — London tenancies churn fast and the next occupant will not chase you. Tell the council for council tax, and register on the electoral roll at the new address.

Book broadband early: an engineer visit can be three weeks out in some London exchanges, and working from home in an empty flat with no line is a miserable first week.

Crew arrives, walks both properties, agrees the loading route and lays floor protection. You confirm the inventory. Nothing goes on the van that is not on the list.

Keep one box and one bag with you: kettle, mugs, tea, phone chargers, medication, toilet roll, bedding, a change of clothes and the toolkit. That first-night box is the difference between arriving and unpacking at midnight.

On a completion day you cannot load until funds have transferred, which in practice means a start between 11:00 and 14:00 and a hard finish before the block's move window closes. Book the crew for the full day, not a slot, and warn the building manager it may run late.