Some common questions crop up online for anyone who’s thinking of moving soon. A few examples are the correct insurance, moving checklists, home inventories, and an increasing consideration for things like smart tech. One subject requires further study to see how effective or accurate it is. Is there a best time of year to move home?
This tends to include things like the best day of the week for a removals job as the two topics intersect. To be honest, even before starting the relevant research, there are a few too many grey areas. We’ll use this article to explore the truths and half-truths in more detail. The result should be a better understanding of the various aspects, including geographical differences.
Delving into the Details – When to Relocate –
So, straight off the bat – let’s throw up a few ‘axioms’ you might associate with this question. Unequivocally, Friday is the best day to move because you’ll have the weekend to spread the unpacking out over. There’s plenty of truth in the latter point, but the more accurate wording might be ‘the most popular’ day of the week. More on that soon, but it’s undoubtedly a firm favourite from the moving tipsters.
When weighing up the seasons, summertime takes pole position in terms of bookings. Literally, everyone and their dog prefer the warmer months, and everything else is a consolation prize only. If you suffer the unfortunate consequence of missing out on booking between June and August, you might have to accept spring as a backup begrudgingly. And woe betides those unfortunate souls who find themselves packing boxes during autumn, or worse – winter.
We’re pulling your collective leg a bit here, just in case that doesn’t translate well from the page. The data does highlight more people move during the summer months. However, there are several caveats to consider, notably the stiff competition and full bookings. You might inadvertently find yourself taking a risk with a substandard moving company because the reputable ones are full.
Now to put some work in and dive headfirst into the research that’s on offer.
Benefits and Pitfalls for Spring and Summer Moves –
Compare My Move’s article covering the best day and time of year is hard to beat when it comes to a broad evaluation and results. We’ll be basing a fair amount of this blog on its data because it’s very objective and wide-ranging. For example, they provide us with regional information, so it’s not focused on London or Southern England. And the sources for their research are credible. If this counts as peer-reviewed, then consider this our official thumbs up. Please note we’re not in any way qualified to do this.
Let’s not spend more time qualifying the lead – look at the most popular seasonal winners. Summer tops the bill, which comes as no surprise, and this is down to time off. For families, this coincides with the summer holidays and the perception of several weeks to unpack. That might be enough for most people, but the caution here is this – it’s also when most people try and book time off work.
Spring comes in at a favourable second place for similar reasons. There’s a term-end break, bank holidays to utilise, and a half-term in between. Furthermore, both seasons have (slightly) better weather and less chance of extreme conditions. More days of sunlight to work with, and it’s unusual for movers to use additional protective sheeting.
It’s easy to see why both rank highly when moving to a new home. That said, due to these exact reasons, you’re in for a battle to secure the particular day or date you desire for removal bookings. Then you’ll need to factor in your annual leave, and you might need some thorough preparation to line things up. It’s conceivable this will make it necessary to start planning a few months earlier.
A Case for Moving During Autumn or Winter –
We don’t need to promote spring or summer – both have plenty of suitors and benefits. While autumn is a slightly easier sell, winter is hard to push to prospective movers. At Move, Store & More, we look at things from all angles and pride ourselves on challenging the status quo. And there’s a case to be made for a late autumn or winter relocation.
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first and lead with an honest appraisal of the downsides. Undoubtedly, the weather is a significant and feasible reason that puts people off moving in winter. You’re bound to have more issues with heavy rain or driving in icy conditions from November through until the beginning of March. So, be careful to choose a moving company with suitable protective sheeting and adequate removal equipment.
Now we can go through some positive reasons for choosing an autumn or winter relocation. First of all, you will have the pick of when to move because it’s quieter. Therefore, the likelihood of a battle for a Friday moving day is very low. It’s also possible you can get a reduction in the overall cost of the removals job via a one-off or recurring discount, so shop around and put some feelers out. Autumn tends to remain mild until late October, so you might enjoy favourable weather on your moving day.
Are Fridays Really the Best Day to Move?
It wouldn’t be much of a Move, Store & More blog section if it weren’t littered with yes-but-maybes. And we now have the question to top them all – is Friday really the best moving day? If you ask Compare My Move, they’ll confirm this and seal it with a figure of 34%. For context, Saturday is in second place with 16%, so it’s winning in this regard.
The Home Owner’s Alliance acknowledges that Friday is by far the most popular day when weighing up the stats. However, they’re proposing that it might also be the worst day to move! Colour me/us shocked, but they’re going against what seems like a nailed-on fact. It’s a shocking twist to this tale that almost turns everything on its head, but it’s well worth understanding how they came to this conclusion.
Completion day and final payments are where they take issues with choosing a Friday. That’s because final payments and the role of the banking sector plays a considerable role in mortgages. And if you know anything about the completion day scenario, Friday has a 3 pm cut-off time. If there’s a delay for whatever reason, the bad news is you can’t move in. That’s a weekend to find a hotel or similar, with the possibility of self storage for your belongings. This might cost you an additional £500 – £1000!
There are also potential issues with conveyancing fraud – read more detail in their article because this is important. And if you need a tradesperson to fix something, you’ll pay weekend premiums even for a call out. The final point is directly the result of Friday’s popularity – it’s tricky to get a booking. You might also pay a Friday premium, but that will vary from one company to the next.
Self Storage as Your Backup Plan –
If you’re moving locally, the chances are you can work through a majority of niggles without too many issues. When you add more miles between the two locations, things get trickier. That’s why having a solid contingency plan is a vital safety net, and it will give you the confidence you have something in place. Then you can go about your business and organise your relocation.
Self storage is there in case of a delay – think of Friday completion day issues! We’re not suggesting this to be party-poopers or act as doomsayers. You won’t have to rush around in a panic trying to find somewhere to keep your possessions. Your moving company will either offer this or provide a direct referral to a reliable storage partner.
Another benefit of storage when moving is the ability to pack and move full boxes entirely out of the way. You can stagger things across a few weeks, moving the nonessentials out of the house as you go. This gives you a lot more space, and you won’t have to keep rearranging furniture. And your removals company should be able to load from the storage unit when your relocation day arrives.
Popular Moving Day & Season per Regional Areas –
Our final point is circling back to Compare My Move’s article to focus more on areas of the UK. As you might expect, some of the advice you’ll find online is a bit too general. It stands to reason that other factors influence what day or time of the year attracts more interest. And the differences are worth some additional attention, and we’re also suggesting you elaborate on this when you’re planning your relocation.
The favourite day of the week doesn’t differ much per region, with the only anomalies in the form of Saturday for Greater London and Wednesday for Northern Ireland. When we start to think of the time of year, things shift dramatically. July and August are still by far the standout months, but there are some interesting results in other areas.
If you’re in Scotland, the month of May leads the way, while the North East of England bucks the trend favouring October relocations. Not to be outdone, the North West goes the other side of winter, with January as their most popular month. Southern England, the Midlands and Wales stick with July and August, but you can already see a notable difference per region.
Much like the previous sections on this blog, the primary measurement is popularity from removals data. You can also conversely see these months as problematic for booking for the same reason. Our advice is to send out some inquiry emails with requests for quotes. Please include a note about their most popular moving days, costs, and anything about their packages. You’ll also need to check any prospective moving company’s Google Reviews and Trustpilot ratings to gauge their customer service standards.
Move Store & More – Giving You Insider Knowledge for Relocations –
We are now drawing a line under our Move, Store & More investigation into choosing the best day and season to move. Our mission is to dig through the information out there and report what we discover. Then, we’ll read it, compare it, compile, and assess everything before deciding which bits work best. It’s about balancing this online advice with our professional and personal experiences.
For us, it’s vital to consider every angle when you start organising a relocation. Seek quotes, do plenty of online research, and remember that your decisions today will manifest in three months. So, if you factor in the average selling time of four months, time is a precious commodity. Similarly, put together a costed and thorough budget, considering potential delays.
If you still have questions regarding this topic that we haven’t covered, please get in touch, or leave a comment, and we’ll do some additional digging. Wherever possible, we’ll seek answers and will revert.
We’ll be back with a new blog shortly. Until then, go well, and we hope you’ll Move, Store & More with us soon.