THE most annoying things about moving house include having to redirect post, waiting for Wi-Fi to be installed – and dealing with previous occupants’ mess.

A study of 2,000 adults who recently moved found more than a third claimed it was one of the most stressful events of their life and 22% were put off from ever moving again.

More than a third of Brits claimed moving was one of the most stressful events of their life

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More than a third of Brits claimed moving was one of the most stressful events of their lifeCredit: Getty

Other annoyances were being unable to fit furniture through the front door, delicate possessions breaking and getting used to new bin days.

The chaos of moving subscriptions and utilities from one home to another topped the list of 40 bugbears, followed by simply having to pack and unpack your belongings.

Needing to make endless phone calls to sort everything out, not having blinds or curtains to begin with and struggling to work the new heating system also featured in the list.

Charles Davies, spokesman for full fibre broadband provider Hyperoptic, which commissioned the research, said: “The findings show just how many aspects there are to moving home which can cause stress.

Top 40 biggest bugbears when moving home:

  1. Organising services e.g., electricity, subscriptions etc.     
  2. Spending lots of time packing boxes/bags           
  3. Redirecting post
  4. Raining on moving day 
  5. Waiting on a move-in date         
  6. The new home being dirty          
  7. Endless admin  
  8. Waiting for Wi-Fi to be installed
  9. Having to clean my old home    
  10. Being unable to fit furniture through the front door        
  11. Not having blinds/curtains to begin with
  12. Noisy new neighbours  
  13. Having to lift heavy boxes          
  14. Not being able to fit furniture up the stairs         
  15. Finding unexpected holes/scratches       
  16. Unexpected costs on moving day            
  17. Having no idea where anything is in the new home e.g., water, electrics             
  18. Endless phone calls       
  19. Delicate possessions breaking   
  20. Not knowing what is in what box            
  21. The previous tenants leaving belongings at the house
  22. Being unable to find the box of ‘basics’ upon moving e.g., the kettle             
  23. Parking issues outside the new home    
  24. Paying to cancel contracts at a previous home   
  25. Scratched walls from deliveries 
  26. Unable to work the new heating system
  27. Having to wait for furniture to arrive      
  28. Boxes breaking and contents spilling out             
  29. Removal vans showing up late   
  30. Getting used to new bin days    
  31. Using up mobile data allowance due to no internet in the house
  32. Only being notified about moving the day before            
  33. Boxes being put in the wrong room / part of the house  
  34. Removal people leaving boxes downstairs when they should be upstairs
  35. Finding mice in the home           
  36. Creased clothes from being packed        
  37. Wearing the same clothes for days before properly unpacking
  38. Not getting used to where light switches are      
  39. Unable to work from the new home straight away
  40. Unable to hire a big enough van

“Whether renting or buying a place, it’s not only the physical moving of boxes which takes time and effort but the mountain of admin that comes with doing so, including installing Wi-Fi.

“The to-do list can be endless when moving home, so making the job of connecting to broadband in a new place a smooth and stress-free experience can make life a lot easier.”

The study also found six in 10 find the experience of moving “stressful”, with almost a third  going as far as to say it was “overwhelming”.

To make things easier, 38% would have liked to be able to move over a few days rather than just one, while 26% think better communication from estate agents and solicitors would help.

Nearly three in 10 (29%) would also have liked to have had Wi-Fi available as soon as they moved in, rather than having to wait an average of 10 days for it to be connected.

It also emerged movers typically experienced four delays in the process, including the moving date (40%), Wi-Fi being installed (38%) and furniture arriving (21%).

And 31% had to take days off to wait in for deliveries or installations only to be let down, estimating they wasted three whole days each.

As a result, a quarter got impatient waiting for things to be done, while more than a fifth admitting that not having the internet while they moved in highlighted just how much they rely on it.

Delays in having the internet installed also meant 13% ended up paying more for phone 4G, 12% couldn’t work from home and one in 20 even missed payment deadlines for bills.

Because of this, those surveyed via OnePoll would happily pay 11% more for a property if it had access to full fibre broadband, and 27% would delay their move to ensure they had Wi-Fi.

Find out what type of home mover you are here.

One couple found something rather spooky underneath the wallpaper in their new home as a “time travel” message from 1975 was uncovered when they went to redecorate.

Then when you’ve got over the trauma of setting up the Wi-Fi in your new home there could be some simple mistakes ruining its speed.

Make sure you’re following our My First Home series if you’re looking for inspiration to get onto the property ladder too.

Savvy couple buy run-down home for £216k at 24 and ‘painstakingly’ turn it into dream house after pandemic ruined chances to buy ‘perfect’ first property

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk

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