Lockdown and moving house - is it actually possible?

[LeaveTheBottle]

Hi,

Quick bit of background - we are in a medium chain. All surveys and valuations done. Mortgages in, searches and enquires mostly done so waiting for the final loose ends to be tied up and then should have agreed exchange and completion dates in the next couple of weeks I would think.

Apparently everyone in the chain is keen to get things moving full steam ahead (as it stands) and nobody has yet expressed cold feet, but I am still very anxious.

If we do go into lockdown before we have a completion date set up, can we actually physically move? I hear in some countries who are in lockdown, moving house is permitted, with the necessary precautions I assume. I can't imagine removals companies being open for business though, but then maybe there is a way this could be done if we all kept our distance??... Can't see how we could do it without them.

Is there anyone in the know about this? I can't stand to think we'll be stuck here indefinitely. It's taken us a couple of years to get to this point and it's been hell. It really has been a nightmare.

TIA

It might be Conrad, you can't self isolate if you no longer own your house, you have to get to your new home somehow.

@Rlw2020 I guess it may all depend on the vendors too. We are moving 2 mins round the corner but they are moving about an hour away! I guess we will soon find out! Fingers crossed for us all but they main thing is we stay safe x

I'm half moved from one house to another, I still have items to pick up, I have just gone and shoved s much as I can fit in the car tonight but now have no clue if I can get the rest now 😭

Oh christ, this is us too. DP and I are moving into a rented house nearer to his base. Estate agent rang early morning today and said she wants us to move in and sign paperwork tomorrow instead of the originally planned Saturday as they were preparing for things to change. Shitting myself now - we really need to go tomorrow and get this sorted. Going to ring ASAP tomorrow Hoping it’s classed as essential

We are due to complete on the 31st it’s a new build and I have to be out my current house on the 3rd of April I have no idea how to proceed from here 🙈

Same here too.
We exchanged over a week ago and are supposed to complete in a week from now. It’s 20 min down the road, so not massive travel involved. I would assume the activities around not becoming homeless classifies as “essential travel/work” but who knows! Any intel from others would be appreciated, I’ll share info from our solicitors tomorrow too!

Vintagevixen very very good point!

Literally just signed up because of this!
The property was bought off plan. I'm just waiting for the completion statement and funds to be transferred - and this can happen some time this week or the next. Don't really know what to do :(

Have asked the solicitor and the sales reps - hopefully will get some useful answers tomorrow

Conrad also they haven't bought in a travel ban (some other European countries have).

We exchanged last week, and due to complete on Friday (27th)
Desperate to know if we’re going to be able to physically move now??

Advice on twitter from Robert Jenrick MP Secretary of State for housing, he has tweeted advice for the housing, construction and building maintenance sector. People working on site can continue to do so, I would assume that applies to removals.

We are also due to move this week although from one rented property to another rental.

Add into the mix that we have to get a ferry to our new house and I have no idea if we'll be allowed to do this, also meant to be starting a new job!!

Removal company have already emailed to say they'll be in touch.

So anxious and unsure what is going to happen

Hello, nothing really to share as I’m in a very similar position to some of you. I’ll hope to know more like you tomorrow morning!

We’re due to exchange and complete on Wednesday this week with removal company coming tomorrow. No idea if they’ll cancel, but hoping not as it’s taken us 14 months to get here.

Will let you know the outcome.

Fingers crossed for all of you.

In France, you can’t. Sorry guys. If you can make it quick before the lockdown becomes even worse.

Thanks. That’s somewhat comforting...

Glad to hear there is more people out there that are in the same situation we are in. Due to move on Friday! We need to know what is happening. Our sellers pulled out middle of last week due to Corona (cash flow related) , pretty upsetting for us as had been looking forward to the move for months. Spent last week frantically looking for a flat to rent as we wanted to go ahead with our sale. Just when we thought everything was coming back together we get this confusion. Now trying to figure out if we can move if our removal men can't work. Can we hire a van? Are we even allowed to move? Are we being selfish even considering going ahead with the move?
Partner has been in bits all week due to seller pulling out and just don't know what to do.... We don't even know if our buyers still want to go ahead, are they even allowed to move? Help, good luck all...

Hi OP - in a similar situation though we're moving from rental to rental, and just 2 min down the road. We've given notice/signed new contract, so are planning to crack on with it when time comes (mid-April). We can do it pretty much without any external help, so am hoping will be able to proceed. So i would think that if you can manage it yourselves, and observe the rules the govt outlined (no more than 2 ppl etc) it's not impossible.

We're all in uncharted territory here so I would not assume that the investors will follow rules to the letter - speak to them and explain your predicament, hopefully they can accommodate.

More broadly - this clearly is something that the govt needs to give some guidance around...

Hi i am wondering the same - my removals company have said they have been told to cancel all book8ngs from tomorrow - we are due to move on 7th completion day - 80% packed up moving 2 hours away cant move ourselves too far and too much stuff - really worried now.

We’re moving from rented into our first owned property; the utility companies have already been informed so the switch over is in progress, what do we do about that if no one can actually move?? And how about the mortgage?! If we haven’t actually moved into the property?! This is all such a mess 😣😣😣

We have signed missives due to mov this Friday 27th March. Wondering same as everyone if move will go ahead and do we have to legally move out of house if removals don’t go ahead? 😬

I'm wondering the same. We exchanged a couple of weeks ago and due to move into our new build on monday (30th)!

We have 1 week to move out of our current house then need to hand our keys over. We're fine moving smaller stuff in my small car as luckily we're only moving 2 mins away but was needing family help and to borrow a large van the following weekend to move the sofa, fridge, washer etc and now I've no idea what we can do!

So anxious, will be ringing the solicitors and house builders tomorrow for advice

We've literally just kicked off process of moving from one rented property to another today. I'd hang fire but the property we are in isn't suitable for our 3 month old baby! I'm already losing my mind (and sleep) keeping an eye on her at night. I'm scared to wait three weeks then it's all extended. If we could hire a van we could maybe load it between us, but both the old and new property need to be cleaned and the new one needs repainted. What on earth do we do?!

A long, anxious night ahead. Just want it to be 9am so I can ring!

I have been speaking to my solicitor via email tonight. Due to move on thursday 26th. Everything is signed and our mortgage funds have been released. We are still good to go.

Arrgh we are selling up too! Literally kecking it because we haven't quite exchanged contracts yet and I really need this sale to not fall through as we are in the middle of moving abroad.