Updated on December 23rd, 2020 – We are updating this post regularly to keep you up to date on the lock-downs and possible restrictions so you can better plan your move.
December 2020 – Can I still move home even in Tier 4? – Yes, estate agents and removal companies are still working normally regardless of which tier you currently live in or are moving to.
The government has stated: “Estate and letting agents and removals firms can continue to work. If you are looking to move, you can go to property viewings.’
July 9th 2020 – Rishi Sunak, the UK Chancellor has announced changes to stamp duty relief in Ireland and England. With immediate effect and until March 2021, the threshold for stamp duty has been raised from £125,000 to £500,000. Fantastically good news for many home movers and the removal industry. Read more at www.gov.uk
As many businesses and industries experience major disruptions during the COVID-19 outbreak, the moving industry if one of the affected industries as major lock-downs both on city and country levels are being enforced worldwide. Here we will update you on some of the developments regarding the coronavirus and how it affects the moving industry.
We see a lot of younger people moving back to their parents. Because of the closure of colleges and universities, many students are also coming home. Meanwhile, a rapidly increasing proportion of home sales are falling through, as would-be buyers reassess whether to make a big financial decision in these shifting times.
Measures for managing a safe move during Coronavirus
Wear protective equipment and clean every surface in your new home.
Many professional movers have the capability to provide virtual estimates, rather than in your home. This will limit your contact with other people.
To ensure everyone’s health and safety, if you or anyone within your household have contracted the Novel Coronavirus, or are isolating due to exposure to the virus, please call your moving company and explain the situation. In many cases, movers will work with you to reschedule your move.
If you must cancel your upcoming move, be sure to ask questions about how your professional mover is managing cancellations. You may want to postpone if for the summer.
If you are in a vulnerable group, over 60, or have a compromised immune system, schedule your move after the pandemic is over if it is possible.
Provide your moving crew access to a sink, soap and paper towels throughout your move. If this isn’t practical, provide hand sanitizer.
Purchase new moving boxes and tape, do not use recycled boxes from online sources and free sites, or from stores, as they may be contaminated.
When moving long-distance, you may want to fly in to meet your moving truck. Be sure that you book refundable plane tickets and select hotels that offer free cancellation. Ask about cancellation policies before you book.
Move your packed boxes into the garage or as near to the front door as is possible. This will minimize the amount of time that your moving company needs to be inside your home.
Create a human chain to load boxes onto the removal van. That way only one person will be in the home whilst the moving boxes are moved down the chain into the removal van.
Keep your family away from the moving team. This is not only safer for transmission reasons but is safer for everybody too whilst heavy furniture and boxes are being moved out.
Ensure you have plenty of cleaning products to give your old home a final clean through before you leave.
When you arrive at your new home, have all the family wearing masks and gloves, your new neighbors may be concerned or apprehensive about new people arriving in the area. It will be reassuring for them to see that you take the threat seriously and will create a good first impression.
When you get to your new home give each room a thorough clean.
Wear surgical or thick rubber gloves when you get to the new home and touch nothing with bare hands until you have cleaned every room. Pay special attention to door handles and any keys that you are given.
When unloading your stuff at your new home, again use the human chain method for moving boxes.
Have your moving boxes put into one room, or the garage, to allow you space and time to clean each room meticulously.
Clean each item thoroughly as you unpack it.
Leave the packing materials in your garage, shed, or in the back garden until it is safe to dispose of them.
How Much do Movers Cost?
Save up to 40% on your upcoming move and get a quote from reputable moving experts.
As of today, moving within USA is permitted. International moves are also allowed.
Pentagon officials announced a total domestic travel ban for all troops, civilian personnel, and their families until May 11th in an effort to limit their potential exposure to the Coronavirus.
In most states, movers are considered an “essential service” and allowed to continue to operate provided everyone follows the social distancing guidelines. No US state has currently barred moving companies from shutting down, even in areas under the strictest guidelines like New York City where vehicles with commercial plates can still move freely. The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management said specifically that residents don’t need to cancel moving plans and can move freely but should practice social distancing and self-isolate after arriving in their new home. In the city, moving companies are operating as essential services.
Should you start planning your move now or you should postpone it?
Better price for the best quality. I believe that now you can get a better price for the best movers, that otherwise were going to be fully booked. As we approach the moving season, usually all really great and affordable moving companies are the first to be fully booked, or they have only a few available dates for you to choose from. Now when the demand is way down, it is the right time to shop for a better price.
Expect surges in the summer. As the COVID-19 saga ends, moves will skyrocket. The military will resume the moves, and all the postponed moves will have to happen in a shorter time-frame. At the same time we may have moving companies going out of business (as it happened with the last recession), and this time there may not be relief for moving companies. At the same time we will have a lot of people moving for work interstate that will put additional strain on the service.
Canadian moves and Covid-19
As of today, moving within Canada is permitted. International moves are also allowed.
Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec have ruled that moving companies and moving services are deemed essential services.
According to the Canadian Self Storage Association, self-Storage has NOT been officially declared an essential business at this time, but their advisors unanimously indicate that as an industry, we should be able to retain the ability to provide continued access. The CSSA is seeking clarification on their status and hope to have further information on their ability to continue business shortly.
Moving intentionally from Canada to USA or from the USA to Canada
Moving services have been reduced. On March 21st, Canada and the USA temporarily closed the border. Only essential or urgent travel is being permitted for the foreseeable future, as well as the transit of goods. Until we are notified otherwise, cross-border household goods transportation is “business as usual” and household movers are not being restricted at this time according to the Canadian Association of Movers.
Moving within the United Kingdom and the Coronavirus
As of 13th March 2020, the UK Government has advised that as long as all precautionary measures are taken, and that nobody in your home is under quarantine, home viewings and home moves in England can resume. Home moves in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland remain unchanged from the previous advice.
As many people will be eager to complete their home moves now, and many removal companies will have had to reschedule previously delayed home moves, we would recommend that you contact removal companies as soon as possible to reschedule or book your home move.
Your moving company will, of course, be taking all necessary precautions to keep you and themselves safe, and will in all likelihood have devised the best way for you to move your household items in the current situation. But it pays to be as cautious as possible so by following the few simple ideas in the section above you will minimize the risk to everyone.
For the most up-to-date advice on moving home in the UK during this time visit www.gov.uk
International moves during the COVID-19 borders closure
The most affected moves are the international ones. As many countries have locked their borders for incoming people and non-essential cargo, you may have to reschedule your move if you are planning to move during the end of March or April.
This current situation will, in the future, change, so what
can you be doing now to ensure that you are ahead of the game and ready to move
as soon as possible when restrictions are lifted?
You have plenty of time now to get organised and start your
planning and preparations. So here is a step by step moving plan to help you
make the most of your time and save some money too.
There is plenty you can be doing to get ready to move home,
and whereas a lack of time is normally the problem for most people moving home,
in the current situation you may now have the time to organise your move. And
the more organised you are when moving home, the less stressful it will be.
Home Moving
Checklist
The first thing you need is a home moving checklist and
planner. This is a list of all the things that you need to do to ensure your
home move goes as smoothly as possible.
We have created a home moving checklist for you which lists
all the essential things you need to do and in what order to do them.
Knowing how much your home move is going to cost you is
important so that you allocate funds accordingly.
The internet during this time is going to be your best
friend as all the information you need to create a moving budget is readily
available online.
How to
Create a Moving Budget Template
The internet will help you find lots of useful information about moving costs.
Using an Excel spreadsheet is the easiest way to create a home
moving budget template. You can then use the auto sum features and add and
delete cells as you wish.
For a basic template, you will need a column for the item title and a column for the cost. You may also consider using some formulas to show when you go over or under budget if you add an estimated vs actual cost column.
To help you decide the best and most cost-effective way to move home, whether it be hiring a removal company or moving yourself, it makes sense to have a list of all the costs for each of your options. In some scenarios it may be cheaper moving by yourself, or it may be cheaper hiring a removal company.
A direct comparison of moving costs will be easier if the
expense lists align on your spreadsheet. For example, online bought packing
boxes vs the cost of buying them from a removal company.
You could, of course, use a notebook to do the same job, it is just not as convenient, and you may need a calculator.
To make a home moving budget you will need to know all the costs you need to factor in when moving. How you intend to move home, for example pack and move yourself, or pack yourself and hire a removal company, will determine what each entry on your budget list will be.
How Much do Moving Companies Charge?
To be able to do a proper comparison between the home moving
options you will need to find out how much hiring a good removal company will
cost you.
Get 3-4 quotes from reputable removal companies and use the
highest estimate in your budgeting spreadsheet.
This is easy to do, it takes just a few minutes and is free.
Whilst you will not be able to visit your new home to create
a floor plan, your estate agent or letting agent should have a floor plan that
they can email you.
You can then use this to determine if any furniture you want
to take to your new home actually fits in the available space.
Use the scale of the floor plan you are sent to set the
scale for the measurements of your furniture.
Common Floor Plan Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Your estate agent or letting agent should be able to provide you with a floor plan of your new home.
Not aligning aesthetics with your lifestyle. This is a classic home layout mistake. By trying to fit all your furniture into the available space in your new home you may neglect to consider your lifestyle. Do you need areas that offer seclusion, or small and cosy areas, or large open family spaces? The room layouts you create should allow you to function as a family, and be practical in their layout, as well as being pleasing to the eye.
Not considering the consequences of your layout. Will the smells from the kitchen waft through into your open-plan design? How much more will your heating costs be? Can people move freely around the rooms?
Your plans exceed your budget. Will creating your perfect home mean you have to then sell the house to pay off the debts you incurred creating it? Or your lifestyle will need to change considerably as you now have no disposable income?
Impractical design. Does your layout create any safety hazards? Will the room feel claustrophobic because you crammed too much into the room?
There is one aspect of moving home that will never change,
no matter what the current world situation is. And that is the more items you
move to your new home the more expensive your packing and moving costs will be.
So now is an ideal time to start going through all your
possessions and deciding if you really need or want all the things you
currently have.
Your thought about any item should be: Do I really love this
item? Is it cheaper to replace it than pay to pack and ship it? Is the item
sentimentally or financially irreplaceable?
Many items you will be able to sell, others you can donate to worthy causes, and the rest can be recycled. Of course, for now, this may not be possible, so set aside space in the garage or a spare room to store all these things that you will be getting rid of in the future.
Start by tackling the shed, garage, or the loft first. These
are the areas that most people dump all their junk into and it will take the
longest to sort these areas out.
Then move onto the kitchen as this is another area which
will take a long time to sort out. Your least used rooms should be next,
working your way to the easiest rooms.
Usually, most people choose to hire professional packers when moving home as packing for a home move is a long and laborious process.
However, you will now be in a position to have the available
time to dedicate to packing your things yourself.
Obviously you will not be able to go looking for free moving boxes, but for now, some online box stores are still working, so you could have moving boxes and packing supplies delivered to your home.
Normally a packing timeline would countdown to moving day, but in this current situation, we will work towards packing all your non-essential items down to having only an easily manageable amount of things left to pack.
Which Rooms
to Pack First When Moving Home
First, you need to decide which order you will pack the rooms in.
Pack the
least used rooms first. Packing up the rooms you use least on a day to
basis will not cause any disruption or discomfort.
Pack the
most difficult rooms first. If you get the most difficult rooms to pack
first out of the way when you have the most energy and enthusiasm, it will be
easier for you. Come the end of the long and laborious packing process a few easy
boxes to pack will not seem quite so challenging.
What Order
Should you Pack your House in when Moving?
Involve the whole family in sorting through and then packing your things ready for your home move.
Garage or shed. Sort these first as they are usually full of long-forgotten and useless things. Once you have sorted out your storage areas you can use these to put the things into that you intend to sell or donate, just make sure the area is waterproof. It normally takes a couple of days to sort out the average garage or shed. Also, consider the weather as many things may have to be put outside whilst you sort through the shed or garage. Have some plastic sheeting available to cover your things just in case it rains.
Loft. Another area that you should allocate a couple of days to sort out. Make sure you have plenty of light (a head torch is really useful as it leaves your hands free), a sturdy ladder, and some help whilst sorting through the loft. Many removal companies will not enter a loft space due to health and safety so the loft must be totally cleared out before moving day.
Under stairs cupboards or storage closets. Another classic area that contains long forgotten and seldom-used items that you can sort out now.
Guest rooms. Any room that is rarely used, a guest bedroom, for example, can be cleared out and packed up.
Kitchen. Because of the number of things in most kitchens, this can take a few days to sort through and pack up. Butt very rarely used items can be packed up ready.
Living room. Sort through the cabinets ready for when you have a moving date.
Children’s bedrooms. Obviously you don’t want to pack these too early but bear in mind that these rooms will take a lot of sorting out, so allow plenty of time.
Bedrooms. Make the best use of your time now by decluttering your wardrobes, drawers, and make up collection for example. Until you know your moving date, you may not want to start packing any of your clothes yet.
Bathroom. Again you can sort through all the old and rarely used lotions etc in your bathroom which will make it easier to pack when the time comes.
By using your time wisely now you will be in a far better position to move home safely and quickly when the time comes.
We must all remember that these uncertain times will come to end and that there will be many new opportunities and good times to look forward to in the future.
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