Moving into a rental property

Moving house is a significant event and can be an emotionally strenuous process, whether you’re leaving friends and family behind or making changes to your routine - not to mention the physical effort required to move your belongings from one place to another!

Taking time to get as organised as possible can help minimise the stress. Our useful guide provides some practical pointers about key aspects of the process to help make moving into your new home as pleasant as possible.
 

Packing and planning

Allow yourself plenty of time to pack your belongings and get ready to move. Moving is a great time to have a clear-out and get rid of things you don’t want or need anymore. It’s worth collecting boxes and other packaging material in advance to help protect your more fragile items.

Clear your schedule and pick a moving day (or days!) that suit you where possible. You’ll avoid unnecessary extra stress if moving house is the only thing you have to worry about.
 

Contents Insurance

As you are renting, you will not be required to have buildings insurance. However, you will need to purchase contents insurance to cover your personal belongings, including any household appliances that you bring with you. Your landlord’s insurance will cover their own property and belongings.

To discuss your requirements, you can speak to one of one of the team at our partners, First2Protect, who can offer a range of products tailored to your requirements. They’ll establish your specific needs before finding the most suitable product for you from their panel of insurers.
 

Utility Providers and Council Tax

Ensure your post and bills get sent to your new address by using a standard letter or email to notify utility companies, your bank, doctor’s surgery, employer, the DVLA etc. that you are moving. You could also set up a postal re-direct with Royal Mail to minimise the chances of your post going astray.

Call the utility companies and local council at your new home as soon as possible to set up your accounts and provide any meter readings they need. This will ensure there is no delay with your bill. Some agents provide this as part of their service to tenants, so check what’s available with them.

They may ask that you call back to supply them with an opening meter reading once you have moved in.
 

Inventory & Schedule of Condition

In most cases, your landlord will arrange to have an independent inventory made prior to you moving in. If this is the case, we will send a copy to you once we receive it. This important document will be used for any deposit negotiation at the end of your tenancy, so make sure you make any necessary amendments or adjustments then sign and return it to us within 7 days.
 

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarms

All rented properties must have smoke alarms fitted on each floor of the living accommodation and CO alarms in any room where there is a solid fuel burning appliance (wood, coal etc.) We, or our appointed contractor, will visit on the day you move in to check and test that these alarms are in working order.

During your tenancy it is your responsibility to periodically test and replace any batteries within the smoke or CO alarms. We recommend you test them monthly as a minimum to ensure that they are in working order. If you find an alarm is not working, and changing the batteries does not rectify this, you should notify us immediately so that we can arrange a replacement.
 

Payment of rent

You are required to pay your rent in cleared funds by standing order each month, so be sure to complete the form provided to set this up (provided with your Tenancy Agreement) and send to your bank. Banks will only take an instruction from you and we cannot set it up for you. Alternatively, you can also set this up online using the account details and the reference provided.

Hopefully these points will help you tick off most of the important tasks so you can focus on getting settled in your new home.