Moving House Checklist Ireland for 2023

Changing homes without a moving house checklist can be messy. A moving house checklist helps you organise your furniture and belongings without needing to think about it. That’s why we’ve put together this easy-to-use guide with a printable moving house checklist to make your move stress-free!

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Why Have a Moving Home Checklist?

A moving home checklist can help you organise your move effectively and takes away a good deal of the stress and worry. Preparing all your belongings, utilities, broadband, waste collection, and other services in good time will stop you rushing around at the last minute getting everything together. At least you're not moving an entire office!

We’ve put together this moving house checklist to help you get your move under control. In this guide, we’ll go through all the steps you need to take from two months before moving to moving day itself!

Moving House Checklist

1. Two months before move
2. One month before move
3. Two weeks before move
4. One week before move
5. Two days before move
6. Moving Day
7. After Moving

You can also download our printable moving house checklist to help you tick off each part of the list you’ve completed!

Two Months Before

After scrolling through rental websites for weeks, and finally finding the place of your dreams, you should start getting ready to move right away! Although it seems extreme, preparing your move at least two months before the day makes a lot of sense.

There are so many things that might either go wrong or be delayed, that having a plan in advance can save a lot of anxiety. Even before signing the tenancy agreement, being well prepared with a moving house checklist will help you out in the long run.

Pick a Moving Date

Picking a moving date should be the first thing you do on your moving house checklist. Having a specific day in mind for your move call helps you plan around that day and give you a clear idea of what to do at that time. In picking the perfect day for your move, you should consider both the season and the day of the week since there are days that are more expensive than others.

Remember to book days off work! You should let your employer know that you’re going to be moving home soon. Try to let them know as soon as possible so they get someone to cover your shift or to prepare for your absence in good time. In our moving house checklist, booking time off is at the top of the list!

Check Your Rent Contract

If you’re renting, you will need to double check your rent contract to see what notice period you will need to give to your landlord before you leave. The usual notice period is around 30 days but it can vary from contract to contract. There might also be other details in your tenancy agreement that require other things before you leave.

Check If Your New Property Needs a New Connection

It’s not always a guarantee that your new property will have both an electricity and gas connection. If you’re on a dual-fuel tariff, you’ll need to make sure that you have gas at your new place so you can transfer your tariff with you.

If you find out your new home doesn’t have a gas connection, you should get in contact with your gas network operator.

One Month Before

The month before your move is when you start actively sorting out your belongings and planning out how your move is going to happen. Keeping an eye on that all important moving date, you’ll need to start letting your providers know you’re off.

Book a Removals Company

One of the most important things you’ll need to sort out on your moving house checklist is how you’re going to move all your furniture, clothes, and linen to your new home. You’ll need to evaluate how much you have to know exactly what to book.

Typically, if you're moving to a smaller home with just one or two bedrooms, you might just want to hire a van, but if you’ve got more stuff to shift, you’ll need a house removals company.

Notify Your Utility Companies

A month ahead of your move is a good time to start notifying your utility companies of your move. The process of moving energy suppliers to new properties typically takes at least two weeks, but there might be unexpected delays, especially with the ongoing energy crisis. Your water companies will also need to be notified too.

Post Redirection Fees

You can ask An Post to redirect your post temporarily until everyone gets your new address. This ensures that any post sent to you to your old address will end up at your new address.

Last Updated: 08/07/2022
Source: An Post Website

Two Weeks Before

Two weeks before you leave is when you have to start packing. Giving yourself enough time to pack things away and organise how you are going to transport it all to your new home will make things a lot easier on the way.

Begin Packing Non-Essentials

A good moving house checklist will start with packing up the non-essential items that you have around the house. These could include:

• Seasonal clothes
• Spare bedding and towels
• Cushions
• Table cloths
• Toys

All of these can be put away safely and still easily accessed if you end up needing them.

Remember to use up frozen food! During the last two weeks, you should try and use up all the frozen food you’ve got left in the freezer. This will help you not waste the food in there and also make defrosting the freezer much quicker!

Look Into Storage

If you’re downsizing, or unsure how all your furniture and other things are going to fit in your new property, you might want to consider renting some storage space. Renting storage space will allow you to break up your move more efficiently to avoid any clutter, and it also takes the stress out of moving everything at once.

Get Moving Boxes

This is one of the most vital parts of a moving house checklist, and often one that’s missed out! Most professional movers provide boxes and will do the packing and unpacking for you. However, if you are not in a position to pay for a professional moving company, you'll need to gather your own supplies.

Don’t wait until the last minute to get plenty of boxes, bubble wrap, tape and anything else you may need. You’ll probably need more boxes than you first think. If you can, get a few different sizes so you have the perfect box for all sorts of items.

Check Out Our Moving Boxes Guide!

One Week Before

One week before your move is when you need to make sure you’ve got everything organised into boxes, sections, and that you’ve checked around for anything else that has been hiding.

Go Through an Inventory

If you’re renting, when you started, you might have been given an inventory agreed with your landlord. An inventory is like a checklist of how your flat looked before you moved in and you should go through it to make sure you’re leaving the property exactly how it was before you moved in.

Check Out Our Inventory Checklist!

Label Your Moving Boxes

When you pack your items, be sure that all the contents of each box only contain things from one room. That way you can simply take each box to its corresponding room and dramatically cut back your time sorting through items later. Make sure to label the boxes so you know exactly what’s in them!

Two Days Before

Two days before your move it’s crucial to have everything ready to go when the day comes. Next on your moving house checklist, you’ll need to make sure all your clothes are sorted and you’ve planned out what you’re going to wear when you start moving.

Get the Washing Done

Make sure you have all your clothes washed and dried for your move and have set aside clothes for the next two days. This will save you space as you won’t have to keep your dirty laundry separate from the clean ones!

Disconnect Appliances

Go around and disconnect all the appliances that you’ll be taking with you. Remember to unplug:

• The cooker
• The dishwasher
• The washing machine
• The fridge
• The freezer

This will also help save energy so you’re not using up any more than you need.

Remember to defrost the freezer! After you’ve taken all the food out, defrost your freezer so it can be cleaned and ready either to take with you, or for the next people who move in.

Deep Clean the House

Either clean your house or flat yourself or hire a cleaner to make sure everything is all spotless for when you move out.

Moving Day

When Moving Day finally arrives, if you’ve followed all the steps so far in our moving house checklist, you’ll be ready to load up the van and get everything done as stress-free as possible.

Pack the Moving Van

With your carefully labelled moving boxes, make sure you load the moving van according to what you’ll need to take out first. As a general rule, you’ll want to load the heavier objects first and then your lighter boxes.

Loading Order

1. Heavy Items
   Wardrobes, fridges, freezers, sofas and ovens should be loaded up first. Make sure they’re well balanced so they don’t fall down during transit.
2. Delicate Objects
   Mirrors, televisions, and picture frames should be safely stored away after the heavier items have gone in. You should wrap these up with bubble wrap to prevent them smashing if they’re any problems.
3. Longer Furniture
   Any mattresses or disassembled furniture you have that is longer should be stored along the sides so you leave space on the floor of the van.
4. Heavy Boxes
   Your heavy boxes should go in next, taking up the rest of the floor. You should try and store them in any gaps so they don’t rock about on the journey.
5. Lighter Boxes
   Your lighter boxes can then be packed into the van. Try to get them in as tightly as possible to avoid them shifting about. Use up all the available space!

Take Final Meter Readings

You’ll need to take your final meter readings when you leave your old property. Go around the house to each of the meters and either write down or take a picture of the reading so you are ready to move out and carry on with your bill. Our moving house checklist makes sure you take those final readings!

Remember to check:

• Electricity meter
• Gas meter
• Water meter

Learn More About Meter Readings!

Lock Up Doors and Windows

Remember to lock up all the doors and windows before you say goodbye to your old home for the last time. This will keep it secure for the next occupants who come to live there. Remember to give back the keys to either your landlord or to a relevant party when you finish locking up!

After Moving

Even though you’ve finished, any good moving house checklist couldn’t leave out the steps after you’ve moved in. While you should definitely take a moment to relax, there are still quite a few things to be done in your first weeks in your new home.

Inspect Utilities in Your New Home

Once you’re in your new place, you should find the circuit breaker and water valve. Even if everything is already running fine, you should still locate them, that way you’ll be ready if there’s ever a problem. You should also find your gas and electricity meters and your MPRN number.

Check Your Broadband Speed

You’ve set up your broadband, now make sure it’s as fast as it should be with our broadband speed test. If it’s not, check out our guide to the best broadband providers for your home.

Housewarming Party

Moving is no easy feat, but once you’ve done it, it’s actually a great achievement. You should take the time to celebrate with everyone who helped you complete a successful move. Just make sure you don't break the noise limits in your new area!

If you found our moving house checklist useful... If our moving house checklist has helped you organise your move, we also are aware how complicated it is changing your address. Having to ring up every subscription and notify everyone can be very prone to mistakes! That’s why we’ve created a change of address checklist to help you out.

Check Out Our Change of Address Checklist!