Moving House Checklist

Four to six weeks before the move

Everything in this window exists because it depends on someone else's timeline. Start these the day your move date is confirmed, not when you begin packing.

• Apply for the society or RWA NOC at your current address — this is the item most likely to delay everything else
• Ask the new building what they require from an incoming resident, in writing if possible; requirements vary building to building and change without notice
• Get quotes from packers and movers, and confirm whether their price includes packing material, loading and unloading
• Give notice to your landlord if you are renting, and check what the agreement says about notice period and deposit return
• Book the lift or service elevator at both buildings if they need reserving — in many towers this is first-come and gets taken during peak moving season

Two weeks before

This is the window for anything with a switch-on or switch-off date, so there is no gap in service when you arrive.

• Start utility transfers or new connections: electricity, water, piped gas, broadband
• Book move-in cleaning at the new place for a slot before your belongings arrive, not after
• Arrange pest control at the new address if it needs doing — much easier in an empty flat
• Confirm the packers in writing, including the date, the crew size and the arrival time
• Start using up food that will not travel, especially anything frozen

The week of the move

• Confirm the NOC is actually issued rather than assumed — ask to see it
• Pack an essentials bag for the first 24 hours: chargers, medicines, documents, a change of clothes, basic toiletries, tea or coffee
• Photograph anything valuable or fragile before it is packed, so a damage claim has evidence
• Keep documents, jewellery and laptops with you rather than on the truck
• Confirm handover arrangements with your landlord, including who reads the final meter

Moving day

• Take final meter readings at the old place and photograph them with a timestamp
• Walk every room and cupboard after the truck is loaded — the back of wardrobes and the loft are where things get left
• Check the inventory against the truck before it leaves, and again on arrival
• Keep one person at each end if you can, so nothing waits on a phone call

Who you need to contact when you move

This is the part that quietly stretches over months, usually discovered when something stops arriving. Doing it in the first week is much less work than doing it in pieces.

• Banks, for the address on every account, and separately for any locker
• Insurers — health, motor and home policies each hold their own address
• Employer HR and payroll
• Aadhaar and PAN records, and the address on your driving licence
• Gas connection transfer, which is a separate process from the meter
• Your doctor, school or college, and any recurring subscription or delivery
• The post office, for redirection if it is available in your area

The first week in the new place

Register with the new society or RWA and collect whatever access you are entitled to — gate passes, parking allocation, app or intercom registration. Check that every utility has actually switched into your name rather than merely been applied for, because a transfer that failed silently usually surfaces as a disconnection notice a month later.

The part people underestimate

Not the packing. It is that society paperwork and utility transfers run on other people's calendars, and they are sequential — the new building may not let the truck in without a NOC, and the NOC may depend on clearing dues at the old one. A move that looks like a one-day job is really a four-week coordination job with one physically demanding day in the middle.