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Original poster

What day of the week to move?

22 replies

kitchen1 · 01/12/2022 23:35

What is the most popular day of the week to complete and move?

I used to think most people wanted to move on a Friday so that they had the weekend to unpack in their new house.
When I discussed details with a removal company, they said all days are popular!

OP posts:
Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 01/12/2022 23:44

Opt for which suits you the best. With so many different working patterns these days, it’s understandable that all days are equally as popular.

berksandbeyond · 01/12/2022 23:54

In my experience, Friday is still the most popular day for completions.
People will move on any day because

  1. not everyone physically moves on the day they complete
  2. renters
fancyacuppatea · 02/12/2022 06:54

We did a Monday.
Everything was done and dusted by 1pm.

MillennialFalconer · 02/12/2022 07:19

We’re booked in for a Thursday. We need to move on completion day and were advised to avoid Fridays in case there was a delay with completion / mortgage on the day.

superdupernova · 02/12/2022 07:21

Friday was the busiest day when I worked at a solicitors. We opted for Wednesday for our own purchase in case anything went wrong and it was delayed by a day or two. We exchanged and completed on the same day.

DelphiniumBlue · 02/12/2022 07:25

I used to work in conveyancing, and I would always say don't move on a Friday, and especially not the one before a bank holiday. If things go wrong, which does happen, eg bank transfers don't happen quickly enough, you don't want a delayed completion stretching over a weekend. I have known people packed up and ready to move but not able to get into their new home, and faced with either being in breach on their own sale by not letting their own buyers in, but having to find alternative accommodation for themselves AND having to pay interest on late completion plus vendors costs, all because the buyers money didn't arrive in time for it to be sent on.

Dragonskin · 02/12/2022 08:03

I wouldn't complete on a Friday because if something goes wrong, you get stuck for the weekend. We usually opt for Thursday and take two days off so we can still unpack over the weekend while still having a contingency

MissMarpleRocks · 02/12/2022 08:06

I always advised to complete on a Wednesday or Thursday if there was a choice. Never ever on a Friday in case things went wrong.

Lastwhisper · 02/12/2022 09:54

Friday moving is the peak day for removals companies. You may be able to negotiate a discount for earlier in the week and they are less likely to use agency staff.

MMBaranova · 02/12/2022 10:02

You might have to move on the day you have to move, but I’d do my best to avoid Monday (despite flexible working some things might need clearing up on a work day) and not Friday (in case things slip and for the many reasons already posted).

TinyRebelStayPuft · 02/12/2022 11:27

We moved on a Tuesday which worked well for us. Though to be honest the whole selling house and buying a new one process took nearly 11 months so I'd have gladly moved any day of the week such was my desperation to finally move.

Sandsnake · 02/12/2022 11:36

As pps have said, Friday comes with additional risk. We were due to complete on a Friday and, due to some breathtaking incompetence at the bottom of our chain, it didn’t go through. We had a weekend stuck in limbo, hugely stressed and unable to do anything until Monday. I’d probably choose Thursday. Take two days off - lovely four day weekend to sort everything and then Friday as contingency for it it doesn’t happen on Thursday!

FirstnameSuesecondnamePerb · 02/12/2022 11:39

I temped once for a solicitor.
They went for lunch at 12.00 sharp on a Friday, and came back at 3. Leaving only reception to answer the phone.
After 3 hours of calls from people saying "I am sitting outside my new house with all my belongings but they won't give me the keys" I decided never to temp there again.

Dontaskdontget · 02/12/2022 11:44

DelphiniumBlue · 02/12/2022 07:25

I used to work in conveyancing, and I would always say don't move on a Friday, and especially not the one before a bank holiday. If things go wrong, which does happen, eg bank transfers don't happen quickly enough, you don't want a delayed completion stretching over a weekend. I have known people packed up and ready to move but not able to get into their new home, and faced with either being in breach on their own sale by not letting their own buyers in, but having to find alternative accommodation for themselves AND having to pay interest on late completion plus vendors costs, all because the buyers money didn't arrive in time for it to be sent on.

This is great advice and why we chose not to complete on Friday

We picked Thursday and moved over the weekend. That gives you Friday to get professional cleaners in and avoids problems if keys are handed over late. We were due to get the keys at 12.00 Thursday but vendors ran late packing and we got them around 6pm. If they hadn’t handed them over that day it would have been useful the agents and lawyers being open the next day etc.

Frazzled2207 · 02/12/2022 11:48

Friday is def the best practically as you then have the weekend to settle in. But last minute hitches would be very unwelcome on a Friday afternoon

removal company def said Friday was the most l popular but made the point that if Thursday became Friday they wouldn’t be able to help as Fridays always booked up way in advance. We moved on Wednesday in the end.

FI0N · 02/12/2022 11:48

DelphiniumBlue · 02/12/2022 07:25

I used to work in conveyancing, and I would always say don't move on a Friday, and especially not the one before a bank holiday. If things go wrong, which does happen, eg bank transfers don't happen quickly enough, you don't want a delayed completion stretching over a weekend. I have known people packed up and ready to move but not able to get into their new home, and faced with either being in breach on their own sale by not letting their own buyers in, but having to find alternative accommodation for themselves AND having to pay interest on late completion plus vendors costs, all because the buyers money didn't arrive in time for it to be sent on.

This is exactly what happened to my friend . Her husband insisted on moving on a Friday bank holiday so he wouldn’t have to take any annual leave. It all went wrong and they didn’t actually get into their new home until the Wednesday but they had to move out on the Friday.

They had to pay the removal company twice as they had to load the van then put it into storage. Some of us gullible friends had even agreed to help then move so we spent half of our bank holiday weekend sitting around waiting for the phone call from the solicitor.

In the end they had to move into a hotel for 5 nights and put the dog in kennels.

it cost them a fortune and all because her DP wanted to save all his annual leave days for his hobby Hmm .

ReviewingTheSituation · 02/12/2022 12:06

We moved on a Monday, and I'd do so next time. It meant we had the weekend to finish packing etc, took Monday off to move and then went back to work on Tuesday. We didn't want/need to unpack all in one fell swoop, so didn't feel we needed a lot of time after moving.
The removers re-assembled beds, and all bedding was packed up ready to put straight on, so that was a 5 minute job. Kitchen essentials (pans, crockery, cutlery) don't take long to put away (all the gadgets, casseroles etc can wait), books/pictures/incidental shelving - it was good to take time/take stock before putting them in their final resting place.
I think I took the odd half day over the following few weeks to do bits of 'sorting' - definitely worked better for me than a mad scramble in the first couple of days to empty all the boxes.

123sunshine · 02/12/2022 12:34

As suggested above I would avoud a friday in case things go wrong. I moved a few months ago, short chain should all have been fine, however our mortgage company cocked up spectaucuarly and whilst our sale completed at 11:00am the funds for our purchase didn't hit my solicitors account until 16:50 (as the automated payment runs didn't work) so it was looking very likely we would have been unable to complete on the purchase and would have been in limbo, over a weekend this would be a nightmare, costly and 3 nights to home yourself. I also have a close friend who did fail to complete and were homeless for a weekend, these horror stories do happen (though not too often) at least mid week you could hopefully sort the following day. Howeverr in reality you dont always get to choose the dates as all parties have to agree and have secured removals.

Jules912 · 02/12/2022 12:44

Not Friday for the reasons above. Our solicitor managed to mess up the bank transfer and we had to spend the weekend in a hotel. Fortunately they admitted fault and covered all the costs but was a very stressful weekend.
Saying that our removal men were lovely and actually came after another job to deliver our stuff on the Monday.

MaggieFS · 02/12/2022 13:30

Never a Friday for completion. If something goes wrong you'll be left high and dry until the solicitor, EA and mortgage lender are back on the Monday.

MinnieMountain · 02/12/2022 13:42

I’m a conveyancing solicitor. We moved on a Monday.

RM2013 · 02/12/2022 17:45

We haven’t discussed dates yet but was thinking Friday as that’s usually my day off but good advice here. Maybe will go for a Thursday and book time off either side so have a few days to pack and some to unpack

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