How To Declutter Before Moving House

Moving home is one of the most stressful events in life, but there are ways to make the selling, buying and packing process a lot easier for yourself, starting with having a good declutter. 

When to start decluttering

If you really want to make an impact on the amount of belongings you have, it is a good idea to start getting rid of stuff even before you put your home on the market. 

This will give you a sense of how much space you will need in your next property, as you may not require as much storage as you currently have or you could use the extra space as an additional bedroom or hobby area. 

For instance, parents whose children have grown out of large plastic toys like ride-on diggers or play kitchens will be able to free up lots of room in their next residence. 

Another advantage of decluttering before selling your home is it makes your house look far more spacious, and therefore, makes it more appealing to prospective buyers. 

Removing items from window sills and worktops gives the illusion of more space, while at the same time viewers will not be worrying about storage as it’ll look as though there are plenty of cupboards and drawers to hide everyday belongings.

If you haven’t managed to declutter before selling your house, it is certainly worth doing so before you start packing for the move. That way you will have to put fewer items in the removal van and will not need to unpack as many things when you arrive in your new home. 

One room at a time

It can feel very overwhelming knowing you have to sort out everything in your house, which is why it is worth doing it one room at a time. 

When going through everything, divide them into five piles - things to keep, throw away, recycle, donate and sell. 

Choosing what to get rid of can be difficult, so it is important to ask whether you actually need an item or if you’re holding on to it for sentimental value. 

Lifestyle expert Catharina Bjorkman told Country Living: “If you’re struggling to decide what items should stay or go, think about whether they bring you joy or conjure up a happy memory. If the answer is no, then it needs to go.”

Clothes, toys, games and appliances that have been outgrown or discarded can be gotten rid of, as they are unlikely to be used in the new house if they haven’t been touched in months, or even years. 

Anything that hasn’t made the cut can either be sold, taken to the tip, recycled or donated. You could make some extra cash by selling items you no longer use, such as posting clothes on Vinted or toys on Facebook Marketplace, which could create an incentive for the family to get involved in decluttering. 

Alternatively, you could give some of the children’s belongings they no longer use to friends’ kids or charity, or advertise them for free on social media to anyone who could benefit from them. This will make you feel as though you are helping out other families by sorting through your own things. 

Once you have made progress with getting rid of items, you will feel a lot better about the move, knowing that everything you unpack will have a worthwhile place in your new home. 

2024 Could Be The Time To Move As Prices Start To Climb


The last couple of years have been tumultuous for the property market, with house prices declining and mortgage rates soaring. 

However, the tide could be turning, with property values beginning to creep up, which means more homeowners may be tempted to put their residence up for sale. 

2023 - a year of falling values

Lots of people who were thinking about moving home last year are likely to have put off their decision, as house prices dropped for nine months out of 12. By August 2023, they were 4.5 per cent lower than they were the previous August, according to the Halifax House Price Index. 

While things improved in the autumn, house prices were still below what they were the previous year. 

As prices kept dropping, this deterred vendors from putting their house or flat on the market, diminishing housing stock. This has eventually started to push values up, as demand for houses exceeds supply, which is why values are now increasing. 

Changes set to occur in 2024

This is why 2024 has started off well for sellers, with values 2.5 per cent higher than they were in January 2023. They are also the same proportion greater than they were during the previous quarter, and 1.3 per cent higher than in December 2023, which amounts to an average increase of £3,785 over the month.

Director of Halifax Mortgages Kim Kinnaird said: “The recent reduction of mortgage rates from lenders as competition picks up, alongside fading inflationary pressures and a still-resilient labour market has continued to increase confidence among buyers and sellers. This has resulted in a positive start to 2024’s housing market.”

What will happen in the future?

Although this is a good sign for the housing market, buyers and sellers have been warned to remain cautious. 

Interest rates are still higher than they were before, which is making it more challenging for homebuyers to be accepted for, and afford, a loan. 

At the same time, demand is still greater than supply, which could push prices higher even more. This means both first-time buyers and homemovers can expect to pay more for a new home in the coming months than they did last year. 

Despite this, Ms Kinnaird stated that values could also potentially fall due to a “backdrop of broader uncertainty in the economic environment”. 

With this ambiguity, those who are hoping to move up the property ladder may want to consider doing so sooner rather than later. 

By putting their house up for sale now, they are likely to secure a buyer easily due to the greater demand. At the same time, they can price their home higher than they could have last year, without having to spend much more on their next abode. 

Having to also factor in the cost of hiring a removal van, solicitors’ fees, conveyancing charges, and stamp duty, as well as rising mortgage rates, homemovers may want to start planning their relocation in case prices begin to rise even more.