Moving to an Apartment Checklist

Moving to an apartment has lots of pros and cons and people do it for a number of reasons. Apartments are usually smaller than houses, with no direct access to the road which means less dust getting inside your home, lower bills and lower maintenance costs.

If you are short on incomes or savings, you wish to downsize your home or you’ve just found an apartment that you love, then moving to an apartment from a house or another apartment is a great option for you. Even if you’re not moving into an apartment for the first time, this checklist with tips will make your transition to your new place easier.

Moving into an Apartment Checklist

• The area. Have you chosen your apartment yet? Moving to a different city or a village means getting to know the place first. Make sure you are well informed about the neighborhoods, cost of living, crimes, job, entertainment and education opportunities, depending on your interests. You can drive by to take a look what the place looks like at night and see for yourself if it is safe. May be you can also talk to the locals who work at supermarkets and restaurants. We already have guides to the major cities in the UK which you can explore (Bradford, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, etc.) and more are coming up soon.
• The place. Have you chosen your flat? If you want to move into an apartment, you should first decide what type and size apartment you need, what building you would like it to be in (highrise or not), what floor is preferable for you (first, second, or higher floors), and of course how much you can spend on an apartment. First floors are more vulnerable to robberies while the last floors may have to deal with eventual problems with the roof like leakages. And what happens if the lift breaks down?
• Decide what to take with you. Do you really want to move everything you have to your new apartment? Consider getting rid of some things you haven’t used for a while like clothes that no longer fit, kids’ toys, etc. It is going to cost you money and time and it really isn’t worth it.

• Do the packing. There are different ways to get packing materials for free – contact neighbors, friends, family, and colleagues who have recently moved to see what they have and go to local supermarkets for boxes. Make sure you take only sturdy boxes that are clean and in good condition. Label the boxes properly – write down the contents of the carton and the room it belongs to on the top and at least 3 of the sides of the box. You can use stickers as well – especially convenient for items, packed in bags. If you want to save time, you can assign a colour for each room and mark the boxes in the corresponding colour – for example use green to write on kitchen boxes, black – on boxes with the content of the bedroom, red – children’s room, etc. Make a list with the boxes you have and their contents to easily check if the movers have delivered all of your belongings.
• Take care of pets. No matter where you’ve lived before, your animal friends will need time to get used to the new place when moving to an apartment with a dog, a cat or another pet. Remember to find in advance a good vet for them and plan their move as well. If you will be moving by car, you can take your pet(s) with you on it. It will be less stressful than giving them to strangers and hotels for pets.
• Book your removals. Fill in our form (it’s free of course) and get an idea of your approximate home moving costs. You can check removals’ reliability in our database where you can find reviews about them and ratings given by previous customers of the moving companies. Explain where your apartment is located, how it can be accessed and what special relocation needs you have to find out if there will be any additional costs involved, apart from the quote that you got.
  Your removals will need to know the building – are there stairs to climb or is there an elevator that is available; is there a road available for the moving van or truck to reach the entrance of the building? These questions matter in terms of convenience for the movers to do their job and if there is no lift available and there is some distance to the entrance of the building, it may cost you more money.

As you can see, moving to a flat doesn’t have to be difficult and stressful. Follow the tips in our checklist and your relocation will certainly go better and smoother.

If you would like to share your moving story you can write a review after your move or make a comment to add more useful tips to our checklist.

More useful information:
10 Simple Ideas on How to Make Your New Place Feel Like Home
Your Moving and Packing Timeline