Home Swap Day

Home swap day has arrived at last!

Look through our pointers below to help your home swap day run as smoothly as possible, and get you settled in your new home as soon as possible.

Read all meters (gas, electric, water) to record all these details in one safe place.
Make sure all windows and doors are locked.
Make sure all water, gas and electricity supplies are switched off, the new occupiers might not be moving in on the same day.
Make sure all essentials are loaded into the car or packed safely in a bag you can keep with you if you are travelling to your new home by bus or train eg. "Moving day Kit" and moving folder.
Do a final check to ensure nothing has been left behind or overlooked.
Check everything has been loaded into the van.
Have all keys ready for handing over.
Keep the refreshments flowing, a home swap can be thirsty work!

Check all belongings as they arrive and note any damaged items, if you have used a removal firm you may be able to claim for any damages.
Read all meters (gas, electric, water).
Check that all the lights work in each room on arrival and before it gets dark, as you won't be familiar with the layout of this new home.
Make the beds, so that at the end of a long day you can at least get a good night's sleep.
Clean through the house
Plug in large appliances such as washing machines, along with telephones, TV's etc
Unpack your Moving day Kit you will probably need these things now!
Children - let older children organise their new bedrooms, as well as involving them it will also keep them from under your feet for a while.
Try to unpack and organise one room at a time, will be less time consuming in the long run.
Rope in as many family and friends to help with the unpacking, and of course keep the tea flowing to show your appreciation.
Once you are in your new home try to find some time to investigate the area and familiarise yourself with where things are eg. Supermarket, bank, post office, bus stops.