Moving day playbook

Hour by hour: what happens, when the money moves, when you get keys, and the checks people forget.

Before the day: two warnings

Avoid Friday completions if you can. Fridays are the busiest day and 115,000 moves a year are delayed by late fund transfers — if funds miss the deadline on a Friday, you may not complete until Monday, with the van loaded.
Verify bank details by phone. Only ever send money to your conveyancer using details confirmed verbally on a number you found independently — completion-day payment fraud is real and devastating.

The day, hour by hour

08:00
Final packing & strip the beds
Essentials box in the car (not the van). Bedding into labelled bags. Phones charged, chargers in your pocket.
08:30
Removals arrive — walk them round
Show the crew what goes, what stays, and what's fragile. Agree which room codes match which boxes. Confirm the destination address in writing.
09:00–12:00
Loading — and the money moves
Your conveyancer sends completion funds via the banking system (CHAPS). In a chain, money moves link by link up the chain — you're waiting on everyone below you.
≈12:00–13:00
Meter readings & photographs (old home)
Photograph gas, electricity and water meters with the date visible. Final walkthrough: every cupboard, the loft, behind doors, the shed.
13:00–14:00
Completion — keys released
Sellers must typically vacate by 1pm (2pm in some contracts). Once the seller's conveyancer confirms receipt of funds, the agent releases keys.
14:00 onwards
Collect keys & first jobs in the new home
Photograph the new home's meters immediately. Find the stopcock and fuse box before you need them. Test smoke alarms.
Evening
Beds first, boxes later
Make the beds before you're exhausted. Kettle on. Takeaway. Everything else is tomorrow's problem — you're in.

Moving day is Chapter 4 of six. House Chapter guides the whole story — including the first 100 days after you get the keys.