The most popular day to move home this year will be this Friday, it has been revealed.
Four times as many households than average are planning to move on 25 August, making it the most popular day to move home in 2023.
HomeOwners Alliance analysis of more than 600,000 removal quotes collected by Reallymoving found that August has been the most popular month to move home for the last 11 years.
The most popular day to move home this year will be on 25 August, when removal firms will be in high demand
August is the most popular month to move, with the last Friday in August the busiest day of the year to move
Paula Higgins, of the HomeOwners Alliance, said: ‘With the long summer bank holiday weekend it’s no surprise this Friday is set to be the busiest day to move.
‘A long weekend gives movers the opportunity to get settled and sorted before families return to school and work.’
The most popular day of the week to move is Friday, with almost a third of movers opting to move on Friday
According to the last English Housing Survey, a total of 514,000 homeowners moved in 2020-21 – the equivalent of 1,400 every day.
Assuming total mover numbers are similar this year, 1.08 per cent of all moves for 2023 are expected to take place this Friday, or 5,500 moves.
Looking at the most popular month and days to move, this translates into 60,000 homeowners moving in the month of August alone and 154,000 homeowners moving on Fridays during the course of the year.
However, Reallymoving said that removal firms are often willing to negotiate on price and encourage movers to move at a less busy time by offering mid-week deals.
My extra cost and hassle of moving on a Friday…
Myra Butterworth paid more to move home on a Friday
Back in 2006, I was selling my third property and buying my fourth.
I knew the golden rule of not moving on a Friday.
Not only it is more expensive as it is such a popular day to move house and removal men are in high demand, but if anything goes wrong, you have less time to sort things out.
If things go wrong, you have to patiently wait for the weekend to pass and solicitors to return to their office on the Monday.
However, I still ended up trying to move on a Friday in December.
As well as starting a new job that week, I needed the weekend to settle in and it was December. Surely in the depths of winter, just before Christmas, fewer people would be moving and I could get away with moving on a Friday.
So I agreed to the long chain moving on that Friday, in the hope of getting the deal done.
However, what I forgot to factor in was Christmas parties, something my seller’s solicitor conveniently didn’t mention.
Indeed, that very morning on moving day, our solicitors and estate agents were all talking to one another, suggesting everything was on track to complete contracts and move house. My large removal van turned up to my home and the removal men started loading it up.
It was during this process, around lunchtime, that things started to go extremely quiet. I soon learnt that my vendor’s solicitor had left the office for the afternoon. Apparently, to go to his office Christmas party, I was told.
It meant that he could not confirm whether he had received my money, which was being transferred to the vendor.
At this point my vendor’s estate agent started negotiating with me so I could at least unload my removal van at what was going to be my new home.
They audaciously offered a one-hour slot to unload as much as I could, to store my items in my vendor’s property over the weekend.
This offer would cost me something to the tune of £1,500 (remember this was in 2006, which taking into account inflation is more like £2,500 today).
It also meant I had to deal with my buyer’s removal men who were just turning up to my property.
A deal was done and contracts were completed on the Monday. I hope my buyer’s solicitor didn’t have too much of a hangover during the weekend.
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Ms Higgins added: ‘In a cost of living crisis, we wanted to point out to homebuyers that there are savings to be had by avoiding the busiest day.
‘With the average two-bedroom move costing more than £500, it would be wise for households to consider moving at a less busy time so they can negotiate a discount on their removals quote.
‘However, this may require you to negotiate with others in the chain through your conveyancer.
‘For those fixed on moving over the bank holiday weekend, prepare for delays as removals firms are put under added strain.
‘And most importantly book removals firms early, and check in with conveyancers as the move date approaches to ensure everything is lined-up.’
Four times as many households than average are planning to move this Friday, analysis of more than 600,000 removal quotes found
The moving day data was drawn from reallymoving removals quotes in the past 11 years
Rob Houghton, of Reallymoving, said: ‘Moving on the busiest day of the year isn’t for the faint-hearted, especially with the August bank holiday also happening that week, pushing more moves onto the remaining four days.
‘Ensure your conveyancer and everyone in the chain knows you’re working towards that date and book your removals firm well in advance, so you only need to confirm as soon as you exchange.
‘It’s best to ask them to come to your house to assess the volume of your belongings. This ensures you have the right sized van and number of team members on the day of your move.’
