Moving house should feel exciting, not exhausting. The trick is to spread the work over a few weeks instead of cramming it into the last few days. This checklist walks you through a Cheshire house move stage by stage, from four weeks out to the moment you put the kettle on in the new place. We are Cheshire Removals & Storage, a family-run, BAR-accredited firm that has run house removals in Cheshire since 1994, and this is the plan we would give a friend.
How to use this checklist
Start about four weeks before your move date. Keep one folder or one drawer for anything move-related, so quotes, dates and reference numbers do not go missing. Book your removal company early, good crews fill up fast at month-end and over the summer. Then work through the five stages below in order.
Your moving house checklist at a glance
| Stage | When | What to focus on |
| Stage 1 | 4 weeks before | Book your movers, sort what goes, tell people |
| Stage 2 | 2 weeks before | Utilities, address changes, parking, start packing |
| Stage 3 | The week of the move | Pack the house, confirm the details |
| Stage 4 | The day before | Essentials box, fridge, final bits |
| Stage 5 | Moving day | Load, move, keys, kettle on |
4 weeks before you move
- Book a removal company. Ask for a free survey and a fixed, written quote rather than a rough phone price.
- Go room by room and decide what moves, and what to sell, donate or recycle. Less to move means a cheaper, quicker day.
- Order boxes and materials, or book packing services if you would rather the team did it.
- If your sale and purchase dates might not line up, arrange storage during a house move now.
- Start running down your freezer and store-cupboard food.
- If you rent, give your landlord notice and check what condition the property needs to be left in.
2 weeks before you move
- Sort your utilities: give notice or transfer electricity, gas, water, broadband and council tax for both addresses.
- Set up a Royal Mail redirect and update your address with the bank, GP, dentist, DVLA, employer, insurers and any subscriptions.
- Confirm the moving date and time with your removal company.
- Check access and parking at both homes: narrow lanes, permit zones, and where the van can actually stop. Flag anything tight so the crew brings the right vehicle.
- Book time off work for the move and the day after.
- Start packing the rooms you use least, the spare room, the loft and books, and label every box with its room.
The week of the move
- Pack most of the house, leaving out only what you use daily.
- Confirm arrival time, access and parking with the crew.
- Arrange care for children and pets on the day, or a quiet room to keep them in.
- Decide what furniture needs dismantling, or ask the crew to handle it.
- Keep running down the fridge and freezer.
The day before
- Pack your essentials box and keep it with you, not on the van (see the list below).
- Finish packing everything except the beds and the kettle.
- Defrost the fridge and freezer.
- Charge your phone and keep chargers to hand.
- Confirm the key handover time with your solicitor or agent.
Moving day
- Strip the beds and pack the last few items.
- Take final meter readings and a few photos of the old place.
- The crew loads, transports and unloads everything to the right rooms.
- Do a final walk-through of the old home so nothing is left behind.
- Hand over the old keys and collect the new ones.
- Build the beds first, find the kettle, and take a breather.
What to put in your essentials box
Pack one box you keep with you on the day, so your first evening is easy:
- Kettle, mugs, tea, coffee and a few snacks
- Phone and chargers
- Medication and a small first-aid kit
- Toilet roll, hand soap and a couple of cleaning cloths
- A change of clothes and toiletries for each person
- Important documents (passports, tenancy or completion paperwork)
- Basic tools and scissors for opening boxes
- Anything your children or pets need close to hand
Moving with children and pets
Move day is busy, so keep little ones and pets out of the way of the crew. Arrange a sitter, or set aside one quiet room with their favourite things. Pack a bag of their essentials that travels with you. Update your pet’s microchip and collar tag with the new address, and at the new home settle them into one calm room first before letting them explore.
Keeping your Cheshire move cheaper and calmer
Three things make the biggest difference. Declutter early, because you pay to move volume, not boxes. Get a fixed quote from a BAR-accredited firm after a proper survey, so there are no surprises on the day. And if your dates do not line up, storage during a house move is far less stressful than trying to cram everything into a garage.
FAQs
Four to six weeks is comfortable for most moves. Book earlier for end-of-month and summer dates, when good crews fill up fastest. If your date is fixed, reserve it as soon as you can.
Give your utilities about two weeks. Broadband can take longer to transfer or install, so sort that as early as you can to avoid a gap at the new place.
Only if you are doing your own packing. If you would rather not, we offer full or part packing services, where our team wraps, boxes and labels everything, or just the fragile items.
We hold your belongings in containerised storage at our depot and deliver them the day your new home is ready, so a broken chain does not leave you stuck.
We cover Cheshire and Greater Manchester from our Stockport depot and Wilmslow office, including Macclesfield, Knutsford, Wilmslow and the surrounding towns and villages.
Ready for your Cheshire house move?
Once you have a date, get a fixed price early. Get a free quote or contact our team to book a survey, and we will take the heavy lifting off your list. Call the Stockport depot on 0161 476 2873 or the Wilmslow office on 01625 837 111.