When is the best time to move house if you have children?
Moving home with children can be difficult at the best of times. A lot of extra planning and preparation needs to be done. Thankfully, we've pulled together this guide on the best time to move house if you have kids.
Moving house can be a mission regardless of the time of year. When you’re moving with children, it means taking the time to do some extra planning so that you can keep disruption to a minimum and make the process as smooth as possible.
Timing a house move can be difficult., t all depends on whether you have a property to sell, then finding a buyer whose timelines match yours. Then, of course, the same applies to the property you are buying - and whether everything can sync up there, too. Due to the number of moving parts in the buying and selling process, it can take several months for everything to go through from the point of accepting an offer to the exchange and completion stage.
Those moving to a rental property are lucky in that there will be less variables affecting the house move, so you’ll be able to plan further in advance and not have to worry about losing a buyer and a chain falling through.
With the academic year, school holidays, and being able to take time off work all affecting your move, below are some of the best times of year to consider moving house when you have children.
Summer
Many would agree that with the school term starting in September, summer is one of the best times of year to move house if you have children. You have several weeks for your kids to settle in before the new school year starts, which helps start the new school year on a good note.
It’s no surprise, then, that August has been ranked by many removal companies as the busiest month of the year. If your children are staying at the same school and you’re moving within the area, there will be less time needed for adjustment. However, if you’re moving out of the area, a new surroundings and a new school can be a lot for children to process. So, the more time they have the better it is for everyone in the family – parents included.
If you’re selling your property and buying another, taking an ideal move-in date of the middle to end of July, this would mean having an offer agreed on your property around the middle of April, with the typical process taking twelve weeks. This then leaves you and your children a period of six to seven weeks to get used to your new surroundings and make your new house feel like a home.
Another factor to bear in mind is the age of your children. For example, those with teenagers will not need to worry about disruption as much as those with much younger children. Sleep schedules can be an issue for younger children, which are likely to get disrupted during a house move. Also, teenagers with important exams such as GCSEs and A-Levels will have completed their exams a few months prior to schools breaking up for summer.
Winter
Of course, it’s not always possible to perfectly time your house move, so other school holidays, such as the winter holiday period, is a good time to move, where you’ll have a cushion of time to settle the children in before the start of the next term. However, you probably don’t want to be moving right before Christmas and the end of the year, so unless it’s a date right at the start of the holidays, you may want to think carefully. Most people usually start to slow down around this time of year, resulting in possible delays. On top of that, a lot of companies close down for the holidays early, so it’s good to plan in advance.
Spring
The Easter holidays can be a good time to move too, as they’re still in the first half of the year and you could be all settled in before the summer period. This means you’ve got extra time for planning your summer holiday, too. It’s also likely to be cheaper, with less people moving house around this time. Due to the surge in people moving home in the summer, removals companies will charge more because it’s the peak season. As such, moving in Easter can be a way to save a pretty penny.
Bank Holidays & Half Term
Half term can be a handy time to move as well, even though you may not have lots of time to settle in., But, if you are able to take some time off work, it might be possible to achieve more - as long as everyone puts their energy and focus into the house move, even if that’s just for a week or two. Once it’s over, it’s then done and dusted.
Although an even shorter period of time, a bank holiday still gives you an extra day, and if you’re able to take the Friday off, you can end up with four days to sort out all your logistics and settle in. For example, you could do your actual move on the Friday, unpack and get your bearings over the weekend, then have an extra day’s buffer on the Monday. Smooth as a whistle.
Summary
When you have children, there are a seemingly endless number of factors to consider during your house move. From not wanting to get in the way of your kids while studying for exams - while still fitting in extracurricular activities - to minimising disruptions and disorientation for very young children, it can be a mammoth task.
As we’ve seen, summer is easily the most popular time of year to move for those with children But, it can come at a cost with it being peak season. This doesn’t mean, though, that other times of the year can’t be equally good times to move.
By planning as early in advance as possible and taking into account your personal situation (i.e. whether you’re selling and need to buy or more flexible with a rental property), you can pick the best time of year that suits you and your needs, and possibly save a lot of money in the process.