When you have days rather than weeks
Not every move gets eight weeks of planning. A chain collapses and reforms, a tenancy ends sooner than expected, a job starts in a fortnight, a landlord sells. Suddenly the sensible timeline is irrelevant and the question is simply what can be done by Friday.
A fast move is entirely possible. What it requires is different priorities, not more effort. Here is how to compress it without the wheels coming off.
What is realistically available at short notice
Availability is the first constraint, and it varies more than people expect.
Midweek is far easier than Friday. If your date has any flexibility at all, Tuesday and Wednesday are where the capacity is.
Smaller jobs are easier to place. A man and van for a flat can often be booked within days. A full crew and lorry for a four bedroom house is a bigger ask.
Season matters. In January a week of notice is usually fine. In late August it may not be. Our guide to the best time of year to move covers the pattern.
Ring rather than emailing, describe the job honestly, and ask directly what they can do. A firm with a gap will tell you straight away, and a firm without one will say so rather than wasting your afternoon.
Triage, in order
With limited time, sequence matters more than thoroughness. Do these first, in this order.
- Book the removal. Everything else is easier once the date is held. Take the survey by video, which can happen the same day.
- Order materials, or better, book packing. See below.
- Confirm key handover at both ends, and who is holding them.
- Sort parking. If a bay suspension is needed, this is the item with an unavoidable lead time, so start it immediately or plan for the van to park further away.
- Notify the essentials only. Energy, water, council tax at both addresses, and a Royal Mail redirection. Everything else can be done from your new sofa.
That is the minimum viable list. Banks, subscriptions, the dentist and the DVLA will all wait a week without consequence.
Pay for the packing if you can
This is the single biggest time multiplier available to you.
Packing a three bedroom house yourself takes most people three to five evenings plus a weekend. A crew does the same house in a day, sometimes less, because they do it constantly and are not stopping to reread old letters.
If the budget only stretches part way, buy the kitchen. It is the slowest room in any house, the most fragile, and the one where self packed items are commonly excluded from insurance. Our guide to how to pack fragile items explains why that exclusion matters.
Use storage to buy time
The most useful trick in a rushed move is to separate the two problems. Getting out on time is urgent. Deciding where everything lives is not.
Container storage lets you empty the property on the date you must, hold everything securely, and take delivery when the new place is ready or when you have worked out what fits. Containers can come back in stages, so the house fills at a manageable pace.
This also solves the classic short notice problem of a completion date that has moved twice and may move again.
What suffers when you rush, and how to protect yourself
Speed costs accuracy, so protect the two things that matter.
Evidence. Take ten minutes to walk each room filming on your phone before anything is packed, and photograph anything valuable or already damaged. It is the fastest inventory available and it settles any later dispute. Our guide to making a removal inventory covers the fuller version if you have time for it.
Meter readings. Photograph gas, electricity and water as you leave, and again at the new address before switching anything on. Two minutes, and it prevents a billing argument that takes hours to unpick.
Beyond those two, accept that a fast move will be untidy at the other end. Boxes will be labelled less carefully and the spare room will be chaos for a fortnight. Neither costs money. A missing box and a disputed meter reading both do.
A one week plan
If you genuinely have seven days:
- Day 1. Ring three firms, take a video survey, book. Start the parking suspension. Order materials or book packing.
- Day 2. Notify energy, water and both councils. Set up the Royal Mail redirection.
- Day 3 and 4. Pack the rooms you do not use. Film every room first. Sell or dump anything obvious rather than moving it.
- Day 5. Kitchen and bathroom, leaving out what you need. Pack the essentials bag and the first night box.
- Day 6. Confirm times, addresses and access with the crew. Confirm key handover. Defrost the freezer.
- Day 7. Meter readings, photographs, final walk round of the loft, shed and garage. Then move.
Our guide to the night before covers the last twenty four hours in more detail.
Frequently asked questions
Can I book a removal company at short notice? Often, particularly midweek and outside the summer. Smaller jobs are easier to place than whole houses. Ring rather than emailing, and take a video survey the same day.
How quickly can a house move be organised? A flat can be arranged in a few days. A house typically needs a week to be done properly, and packing is the constraint rather than the transport.
What should I prioritise if I have to move in a week? Book the removal first, then materials or packing, key handover, parking, and only the essential notifications: energy, water, council tax and a Royal Mail redirection. Everything else can wait.
Is it worth paying for packing on a fast move? Usually yes. A crew packs a three bedroom house in about a day against several evenings and a weekend for most people, and self packed boxes are commonly excluded from transit insurance.
What if my completion date keeps moving? Tell the removal company as early as possible, and consider storage. Emptying the property on a date you control, then delivering when the new one is ready, removes the dependency entirely.
What is the one thing not to skip when rushing? Photographs. Film each room before packing and photograph the meters at both properties. It takes ten minutes and protects you against the two disputes most likely to follow a rushed move.
Talk to us
RMV Storage & Removals handles short notice moves across London alongside planned ones, with house and office removals, man and van work, packing services and materials and container storage delivered to your door, across every area we cover including Romford and the surrounding areas.
If your date has moved and you need someone this week, tell us the postcodes, the floor and the date, and we will tell you straight away whether we can do it. Get in touch.
Written by Riki Migliori, Director at RMV Storage & Removals. Originally published August 2017. Fully reviewed and updated summer 2026.