Hi Everyone.

I’m planning on moving from one end of the UK to the other. There’s about a ten hour drive between each end.

I haven’t done a big move like this before and I’m at the point of how do I start this and what do I need to consider before and arrange.

There’s me and my partner and some pets.

I plan of starting to look for work and a place to live in the New Year, hopefully finding a job first and then a place to live with an easy commute to it – it’s easier for me to go first as I’m self employed but my partner has to give a months notice so might have to join me later.

I probably won’t be able to travel up and down constantly to view places, so will need to rent somewhere with a virtual viewing and signing documents online (not ideal, I know, I really don’t want to get scammed or end up in something not pleasant).

Has anyone done this before that can help in doing a checklist of things I got to sort out or how to do this in an semi easy way?

I’m getting a bit confused on what to focus on first as my brain is not computing too well, lol.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks so much.

11 comments

  3. If you can, I’d 100% go for a weekend and try to get some property viewings in that time. That way you know that you’re less likely to be scammed. When my friends moved to another city they all done this and it helped them to see the property they’re renting in person too and know a bit more about the area.

  4. Good luck securing rent without a job and without viewing in person.

    Any newspaper you’d like to choose will this month have run articles on how there’s many people viewing every flat available, often at the same time and people offering years of rent up front to secure it yet being turned down.

  5. Blimey. Cornwall to Scotland or vice versa? Hopefully the former, as the opportunities will be significantly better….

    Priority will need to be the place to live, and then everything else will kind of fall into place – you’ll know the potential commuting area, access to services etc. Then you can start applying for jobs – most of that’s via teams these days, anyway.

    And then it’s booking the moving people and off you go.

    Good luck, sounds like a change and a half.

  6. I’m doing the same thing in about 3 weeks’ time.

    I do have a place to live lined up as it is with a family member to give us time to save up a house deposit.

    I did move halfway across the country 4 years ago though.

    My tip for finding a place to live is this:

    0. Book a week or two off work if you can.
    1. Rent a storage unit in your new location.
    2. Pack two lots of stuff – things that you’ll need for a few weeks in the new location (keep this a small amount of stuff); and things you’ll want once you’ve found a place.
    3. Book an AirBnb or something for a few weeks in the new place.
    4. Hire a van.
    5. Drive down, put the long term packed stuff into storage unit, and the rest into your AirBnb.
    6. Book rental viewings, find somewhere, sign contract.
    7. Hire a van on move in day or pay a “man with a van” to get everything out of storage.
    8. Move in and preorder a takeaway for tea while you spend the day unpacking.
    9. Enjoy your new life!

    Some things to consider:

    If you’re flush with cash you could pay a removals company. But I was quoted a couple of grand to move London to Fife. The problem is you either need two drivers or the removals company is going to need to pay their driver to stay overnight before driving back. Hiring a van, including insurance, etc was like £250 plus diesel.

    If you’re flush with cash you could stay in a hotel instead of an AirBnb.

    If you’re short of cash see if you could stay with a friend or family member in the new place for a while.

    In any case, blitz the property viewings, don’t hang around. Where I am rentals are getting snapped up in hours, not days. A bit like job interviews – take the earliest viewing you can. Don’t rush your decision but do be prompt.

    Good luck!

  7. I moved 2 hours away, so not as bad but just couldn’t be asked with the travel. We had a bit of a holiday out of it, rented an AirB&B then visited some places, looked around and saw some mates.

    Making friends hasn’t been the easiest as an adult, but there is an organisation called the Round Table for men or the Circle for women, its UK wide I think. We meet up twice a week, do an activity then every couple of months do charity work, its a decent community of people and not a bad place to start when it comes to meeting people wherever

    A couple of tips when looking at a place:

    * Parking, be pessimistic, we saw a place during the day but at night parking was a nightmare
    * Try the taps and shower, nothing is worse than a piss weak shower
    * Check if the water is on a meter
    * Look at windows (just bought a place with no opening downstairs windows in the front, so any cross breeze means the front door open and its a ball ache)
    * Personal one, may be subjective, look for local shops, if they seem a bit shit it may reflect on the area.
    * Go to places at day and night if you can, get a better view of what goes on.

    Chances are you’ll find a place and it’ll be all be alright. Sure there will be some small issues but you’ll find ways to get them sorted or sort them yourself. Best of luck with it all!

  8. We did this a couple of years ago – Essex to Aberdeenshire.

    We were a bit different in that, having sold a house in Essex, we had funds for moving and renting a place before getting work. Sounds like you aren’t able to do that, but it did make life a whole lot easier. You don’t mention what work you do, but if possible you could look for something hybrid-remote with the idea of starting in the office once you have moved.

    Make sure you look at places before renting. I found our best bet was renting from one of the local estates, simply because I had to keep chasing them for a viewing. I think a lot of locals just gave up. Also finding somewhere to rent with pets was a real trial. If you can afford it, might be worth coming to a long-ish term deal with an airbnb or similar to get you up/down there, leave your other half with the pets, and then take your time to look at and find a suitable place.

    Moving costs will be horrendous, largely because it’s an overnight trip for the staff. We spent about 2.5K on moving a 2 bed flats worth of gear. The rest of my stuff (for a big 3 bed house with garden) is still making my way up from my mother in laws garage, one van full at a time. It was cheaper to buy a van and fill it up each visit than pay for the whole lot to be moved.

    Good luck. It’s not easy, but we’ve found it to be well worth while. If you do happen to be coming to Aberdeenshire or neighbouring counties I might have some useful contacts for you.

  10. I’ve done it a few times.

    I strongly advise securing a job before you do anything else otherwise you’ll struggle to get a place. Then stay in an air bnb whilst you look for a property. Or if you have a face to face interview , arrange a few flat viewings on the same day.

  11. choose a date to go down and view things at least once. slot in as many viewings as you can. choose a place and ask for the place on that day. ideally you can do 2 days there and get more viewings

    either using a moving company or drive yourself.

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