Moving house in London

Those of you who follow me on Instagram may have noticed that I recently moved house, from the beautiful, leafy Highbury in North London to the concrete, crazy Shoreditch in the East (sorry for all the terrace photos but I can’t help myself!)

Moving house is no easy feat. In fact, it’s probably one of my least favourite things to do behind camping, queuing and catching the central line in peak hour. But I did it (!) and picked up a lot of ‘should do that next time’s’ along the way.

So here are some of my top tips for how best to move house in London.

Boxes

I bought a ‘moving pack’ from Argos for £30 which came with 15 boxes – 5 small, medium & large, masking tape and bubble wrap. If you’re on a budget you can pick some up from grocery stores if you ask nicely at the counter.

Cleaning

Probably the worst part of moving house. The best thing I discovered during this move was this amazing oven cleaner – it’s pretty much a pouch of chemicals that you leave in the over overnight that magically disintegrates all the grime. It’s brilliant. If you’re short on time or have some spare dollahs then look into hiring a cleaner for a few hours who will help do it for you. Also it may be worth looking into hiring some local handyman services to fix all the little bits and bobs that you may have broken along the way, to make sure you get your full deposit back.

Renting a Van

I find the best and most money efficient way to move is by hiring a van. Both times I moved it cost around £30 to hire a van for the whole day, and both times I managed to do the whole move in just one trip because everything fit. If you’re a part of a car-hire scheme like DriveNow then that’s also a good option, or you can look into Aussie Man and Van style services too. If you’re driving don’t forget to suss out the parking situation first too. If you don’t have much stuff to move then indulge in an Uber, or if you’re really confident then you can try public transport, but from my experience, hiring your own vehicle is the way to go.

Inventory Check

The second you get into your new flat don’t forget to do a full rece of what everything looks like and what condition it’s in. Take all the photos you can and store them somewhere safely. Landlords can be pretty nasty ’round these parts so collect and save all the evidence you have.

Redirect your Post

This is something I never do and always regret. Royal Mail have a redirection service that lets you redirect your mail to any UK or overseas address for up to 3, 6 or 12 months from £30. Check out their website for more info.

Buy/Sell House Things

When I first moved I came across this brilliant website called Freecycle where people give away stuff for free. There’s no catch other than you usually need to go pick it up yourself. It’s such a great way to furnish an empty house on a teeny tiny budget. Don’t expect anything great but you do occasionally pick up some winners. Gumtree and eBay are also the obvious good ones to try whether you need to sell or buy.

What are your experiences of moving house in London? Any tips on the least painful ways to do it?

Kamila x
LNG