How are people moving house in all this?

[ptumbi]

OK - please don't come in here with ALL CAPS shouting 'stay home', 'What part of stay home don't you understand'... etc etc.

My ds and his gf live in one 'compass point' of the M25, I live in the complete opposite point.

They are moving to a house in the middle-ish.
Mortgage starts in mid-may. Rental is up mid-May too. Ordinarily I would rent a Van, drive up and load their stuff (not too much big furniture - sofa, bed, desk etc) and brave the London roads.

Obv I can't do that now (Can I?) I don't even know if Van Rentals are still open. So - are the moving people working? Are there Man-and-Van firms still allowed to work?

How do people move in lockdown?

No idea I'm afraid but we might be in similar situation soon with job move for partner 3 hours away. It's going to be interesting!! I think the gov guidelines suggest moving house is fine if absolutely essential. Good luck!

How do people move in lockdown?

I’m guessing they don’t.

They extend time in their current accommodation. The mortgage won’t be fixed for a particular date anyway, as it’s rare to have any certainty over a house move date until a couple of weeks before the move, often less.

I know a few people who were due to move in April, who have been told that completion won’t go ahead.

Not all, but many estate agents and removal companies are not operating at the moment.

All they can do is check with seller, agent, conveyancer, mortgage provider and removals and see if it will still be going ahead.

I hired a van last week from Enterprise to finish off moving Something.
A lot of can hire places were closed . I had to use the one in the city too as the local one was shut .

Someone I know moved house last week.
They moved from West Yorkshire to the Dales (fab rural village) and it all happened to plan.

Government advice on house moving at the moment

They are legally allowed to continue doing removals but some companies have decided to stop. My friend has a small removal business and they are still doing house moves but have stopped non essential moves such as single item collections etc. He is requesting that the owners/tenants leave the property during the move, and the removal team adhere to social distancing as much as possible during the move. They are also wearing gloves when lifting boxes etc, but not for white goods/heavy items as the gloves split and they risk dropping items and injury. Hope that helps.

www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

This is the official advice.
We were due to exchange last week and it hasn’t happened, all in the chain are just waiting it out.

The rules do allow for house moves. It was requested that unless you were moving to a vacant property, you try and postpone completion dates but house moves are still allowed if you cannot postpone. They are subject to normal social distancing rules although I'm not sure how practical that is.

If your son and his gf, live together in the same household then they could hire a van and move themselves.

You cannot hire a van and move them as the rules are that we cannot mix with others outside of our own households (with some exceptions which doesn't including you helping someone move house).

I would postpone the move if still in lockdown at that time. Landlords cannot evict tenants at present so there shouldn't be a problem with staying where they currently live.

Thanks all - it looks like they may be obliged to delay completion (not sure where they are in that regard) but otherwise if they are moving to an empty place they can go ahead. The lease is up in May so they have to move - or keep paying the rent (and mortgage?) for a few more weeks at the discretion of the LL.

blackandwhite neither of them drive. They have both been working from home and isolating as such for about 5 weeks now.

I have googled a Man-and-Van in their area; they said that they are open as essential workmen. They are happy to load and drive and unload, so long as social distancing is met. This looks like the best option

The only person I know who’s moved during lockdown was moving to an empty property and they did all the removals themselves. Another friend has their move on hold. Van hire is still open, maybe not all branches, but some definitely are.

We r trying to move. It's all going very slow. We r still holding out it'll all complete soon ish though 🤞

We moved on Last week from rented to our first home which was vacant. Removals firms in our neck of the woods were business as usual. We chose to go ahead to the new house and stay out of their way while they packed up. I do believe van hire is still operational too as I know someone who’s rented one. I hope everything goes to plan for them! Such a stressful time.