The Eastbourne Moving House Checklist

Moving house is one of the most stressful life events — but most of the stress comes from not knowing what to do when. We have built this 8-week Eastbourne moving checklist from the practical experience of helping families relocate across Sussex for over forty years. Work through it from the top and you will arrive on move day calmer, more organised and with fewer surprises.

Tip: bookmark this page or save it as a PDF on your phone. If you want it in printable form, ask us for a free PDF copy with your removal quote.

6 weeks before — declutter and notify

• Schedule charity-shop pickups for unwanted furniture and clothes
• List sellable items on eBay, Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree
• Take photos of valuable items and document any existing damage
• Notify schools, nurseries and after-school clubs of the move
• Start using up freezer food, tinned cupboard items and toiletries
• Order any packing materials you will need (we sell at our Lower Dicker shop)
• Book time off work for moving day and the day after

2 weeks before — pack and organise

• Start self-packing non-essential rooms — books, photos, off-season clothes
• Label every box with: room, contents, fragile flag, "open first" priority
• Pack a "moving day essentials" box: kettle, mugs, tea/coffee, biscuits, loo roll, chargers, basic toiletries, a change of clothes
• Confirm parking arrangements at both properties — apply for parking suspensions if needed
• Take final meter readings of gas, electric and water on moving day
• Defrost the freezer (start 48 hours before)

3 days before — final stretch

• Final fridge and freezer clear — eat or donate remaining food
• Pack a separate box of medications, important documents, jewellery — these travel with you, not in the lorry
• Confirm pet arrangements (kennels, cattery, or trusted friend on the day)
• Set up the new utilities — book broadband installation for the new address
• Print or screenshot the new address and key collection details

After the move — The Eastbourne Moving House Checklist

• Take meter readings at the new property and report to suppliers
• Test smoke and CO alarms; replace batteries if needed
• Locate the stopcock, fuse box and gas isolation in your new home
• Register with new GP and dentist within the first week
• Register on the electoral roll at the new address
• Unpack one room at a time, starting with the kitchen and the main bedroom
• Recycle the cardboard — many local authorities offer free pickup; we will collect ours back at no charge
• If you stored items with us during the move, schedule your storage redelivery
• Write a thank-you review for your remover if they did well — it really helps small family businesses

How to use this checklist effectively

The eight-week window assumes a typical Sussex house move with a confirmed completion date. If your timeline is tighter — tenancy ending, urgent relocation, six-week buy-to-let exchange — you can still use the same sequence but compress the early weeks into days. The packing and notification tasks are the ones that genuinely need time; everything else can be done faster under pressure.

Adapting the checklist for shorter timelines

If you have four weeks rather than eight: do weeks 8 and 6 together in the first weekend. Get your quotes, book the remover, start decluttering, file the major change-of-address notifications. Spread weeks 4, 2 and 1 across the remaining time. Pack the non-essential rooms (loft, garage, spare bedrooms) first so you’re not surrounded by sealed boxes for weeks. If you have two weeks: book a removal company that can survey within 48 hours, and consider our full packing service for everything except your day-one essentials.

Adapting for longer timelines

If you have twelve weeks or more: spend the extra time getting it right rather than starting earlier. Use weeks 10–12 to declutter properly (charity-shop drops, household-clearance contact, eBay listings) and to compare quotes from three removers including ours. Use weeks 8–9 to read this whole site — particularly the pricing breakdown and the area page for your destination — so you book from a position of knowledge rather than under time pressure.

The mistakes to avoid

The single biggest mistake we see is customers underestimating volume. The loft, the garage, the under-stairs cupboard and the shed combined often add 30–40% to the cubic-foot figure people assume from looking at the visible living-area furniture. Survey honestly. The second-biggest is leaving change-of-address notifications too late — the DVLA, electoral roll and HMRC notifications all take longer than people expect. The third is not having a day-one essentials box in your own car: kettle, mugs, tea, phone charger, prescription meds, important documents, kids’ toys, pet food, toilet paper.