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Moving into a new rented home represents one of the most exciting – and often overwhelming times in your life. Having a rental moving in checklist will help ensure you don’t turn up to your new property unprepared. Check out our in-depth guide.
When it comes to a rental move-in, it’s probably best to think about it in stages. There are certain things that can be taken care of on the day, tasks that need to be taken care of with a couple of weeks to go, and other jobs which require a month or so’s notice.
We’ve created an in-depth guide that explains everything you need to know before and after moving into a new rental property. This rental moving in checklist will help ensure you don’t turn up to your new property unprepared.
There are probably some rooms/areas that you very rarely venture into, so it makes sense to clear these out first. These might include the loft, shed, garage and spare bedroom(s). After this, you can then move on to the regularly used areas of your current home. Everyone has their own method for sifting through items, but we’d recommend donating any unwanted items to a charity shop or clothes bank.
Some removal companies need quite a lot of advanced notice, so be sure to confirm this with plenty of time to spare. Get all the details sorted, including arrival time and parking. The London Removal Company have been offering a range of removal and storage services around the UK for over 20 years. Along with removals, they also provide additional services like full packing and fragile packing. You could also rent a van with Enterprise if the amount of stuff you’re moving doesn’t warrant a much larger vehicle.
Before moving in, you can request that any issues you noted during your viewing are resolved. One of the most common examples of this relates to mould and damp. If there are mould/damp-related issues, then getting these sorted prior to your move-in is really important as there can be all sorts of issues otherwise. Not only are damp/mould a threat to your health, but they can also affect heating, cause ceilings to leak and damage electrical appliances.
Moving is about much more than just the new rental property. We’d say that finding the right area for you is equally important. Before moving in, it makes sense to get familiar with the area, so you aren’t moving to a totally unknown place. Have a look at the must-visit shops, restaurants and pubs. You could even join some public groups on Facebook to see what the locals are getting up to.
Many rental properties aren’t bills included, so you’ll need to separately arrange your utilities.
These include:
This isn’t something you’ll want to leave until the last minute, so we’d recommend sorting this with around six weeks’ notice. To save the annoyance of having to make multiple payments each month, you can use a seriously convenient all-in-one bills package that does all the work for you!
It’s also worth double-checking your deposit amount and how much needs to be paid upfront. Enquiring about your deposit and rent is something that can be done when asking questions at a rental property viewing.
If you’re moving out of another rental property, then you’ll want to make sure it’s left in the same condition as when you moved in. Don’t give the landlord or letting agent any kind of excuse to subtract from or completely take away your deposit. Go from room to room and be as thorough as possible. Check out our guide on what to clean at the end of your tenancy for more information.
There are a bunch of different ways to decide who gets which room in a shared house. These include sorting the rooms by price, having an open discussion or even taking part in a bidding war! Our favourite method for deciding rooms in a shared house is by using a random room allocator. Simply enter the number of rooms up for grabs and a name for each room. Then, the room allocator will randomly assign each housemate their room for the upcoming year. It’s totally fair and a great way to avoid any potential arguments.
If you’re moving into a shared home with people you’ve never met before, then we’d recommend creating a group chat – WhatsApp is one of our favourite messaging apps for this. It’s better to become familiar with your new housemates, so get to know each other and find out who’s bringing which shared kitchen items. You don’t want to end up with six different toasters and no kettle. If you’re moving in with people you already know, then a group chat is still great for figuring out logistics in advance and keeping tabs on cleaning and shopping once you’ve all moved in.
What you don’t want is a jam-packed freezer and just a few days to consume everything inside. Start using up all the food in your freezer with a couple of weeks to go and you should be okay. An alternative idea is to donate any spare food to a food bank. This doesn’t just apply to frozen goods, but any food which needs using up. Once the freezer is empty, you can then switch it off and let defrosting commence.
Not only is it nice to let your nearest and dearest know of this exciting new chapter in your life, but it’ll also ensure your previous address doesn’t become filled with letters from people who haven’t been told otherwise (or family members turning up to a home you no longer live in).
Contents insurance provides your households items with an added degree of security. If they were to suddenly break, then having contents insurance would save you from having to pay out for new items. Getsafe’s contents insurance covers all household goods and offers a brilliant user experience for young renters, thanks to being entirely app-based and offering 24/7 availability through chatbots.
If you’re moving to a new rental property and have been blessed with a driveway, or if the road you’ll be living on doesn’t have any kind of parking restrictions, then there’s no need to worry about this. However, some cities and streets have parking restrictions. In this case, you’ll need to apply for an on-street parking permit.
UniKitOut is an incredibly popular service with university students up and down the country. They deliver starter kits to students and are delivered ahead of your university arrival. These kits cover the bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Some of our favourite products that you’ll receive in the ‘complete kit’ are bedding, plates, cutlery, chef’s knives, pots and pans, towels and a shampoo/body wash set. It’s fair to say that the value for money with UniKitOut’s starter kits are absolutely superb.
Use the code ‘resooma10’ for 10% off your starter kit at checkout!
It’s time for the exciting task of collecting your brand new keys! To save time and potential stress on the day, it’s always worth checking if the keys can be collected the day before you move in.
Given that moving into a new home can feel a little daunting – especially if this is your first rental property – you’ll want peace of mind that everything works exactly how it should. For example, you can make sure that all the keys work so every part of the house is accessible. You’ll have keys for the front and back door, but also windows and cupboards in some cases.
There are a few other things which your landlord/letting agent should have already taken care of, but are definitely still worth checking to be sure. Once you’ve moved in, smoke alarms become your responsibility, so make sure they work and that the batteries have been recently replaced. Lightbulbs, curtain rods/blinds, taps and locks are all worth a quick once-over. All in, this shouldn’t take you much more than 10-15 minutes.
Unless bills are included and regardless of whether your utilities are set up in advance, you’ll need to take a meter reading. Agents and landlords usually take these too, during times when the property is empty. Jot the numbers down so they can be referred back to if necessary. There are numerous energy saving tips to keep this number down and save you some cash in the future.
As a renter, getting your deposit back should always be near the front of your mind. A brilliant way of safeguarding yourself is by taking photos in every room so you can prove what was/wasn’t damaged when you moved in. Some of the most important things to photograph are damaged furniture, worn/stained carpets and walls covered in blue-tac marks.
An inventory is a report of your new rental property which includes a list of all furniture, fixtures and fittings, along with a description of their condition (and photos in some cases). Get yourself a copy of this so you can check that everything is exactly how it’s been listed in the inventory. If you spot any issues, then inform your landlord or letting agent immediately. Otherwise, you may end up having to replace already-broken items when your tenancy ends.
Keep your fingers crossed that the previous tenants or letting agents performed a thorough clean before moving out, but unfortunately, there’s no guarantee of this. There’s nothing worse than moving into a dirty home, so we’d recommend taking matters into your own hands and doing this yourself by going from room to room. It’s easier to clean in an empty house, so do this before unpacking.
Reward yourself at the end of a long move-in day by cooking a delicious meal. This is also a great way to test out your new kitchen and get familiar with how the hobs and oven operate. Tinned foods, pasta, rice, noodles and flavourings can be purchased in advance, but you’ll want to get fresh goods like fruit, veg and meat on the day.
Once everything else has been taken care of, you can finally begin unpacking. Depending on how much stuff you have and whether or not there’s furniture to build, this could take a few hours or a few days. As long as the living essentials have been taken care of, there’s really no need to rush. Keep going or take your time – just don’t let yourself get too stressed out in the process!
The last thing you want are bins piled high with weeks of rubbish, so you’ll want to find out which days of the week both rubbish and recycling are collected, along with making a note of the times they’re most likely to be emptied.
Having a cleaning rota from the beginning will start you and your housemates off on the right foot. A cleaning rota will ensure your new home doesn’t quickly fall in disrepair, while also making sure that everybody is pulling their weight when it comes to cleaning.
(Link to cleaning rota download here)
The first thing to do here is set up a Royal Mail redirection so all letters are sent to your new rental property. You’ll also need to provide your new address for:
Having proof of address also means you can register to any local services, such as doctors and dentists.
If you want to have a genuine say with what’s going on in your new community, then the best way to do this is through voting. Especially if you live in a part of the country that regularly swings between Conservative and Labour, your vote could make all the difference!
It goes without saying that you need to know who is your landlord is and the best way to contact them. You’ll almost definitely need to get in touch with them at some point so you’ll want to find this info early on.
Beyond that though, being in your new landlord’s good books makes plenty of sense. If you ever need something urgently taken care of or have an awkward question to pose, then you’re much more likely to quickly get the issue resolved when dealing with a landlord with who you’re on good terms.
If you’ve sorted your house but still need to set up bills then we can help with this too – we set up and split utilities for you. Get a free quote for your utilities here.
All your utility bills in one monthly payment, split between housemates
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All your utility bills in one monthly payment, split between housemates
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