Written By Em

We all know moving house is stressful. Some studies rank it as being almost as stressful as a bereavement. But stress can just be the start.

According to research conducted by west London removals firm Kiwi Movers, almost a third of people who’ve moved house in the last five years have injured or hurt themselves doing so. The most common complaints were back injuries, bumped heads, scraped knuckles and pulled muscles.

As well as injuries, house movers regularly have to deal with loss and damage to their belongings, not to mention stress-induced conflict with loved ones and unnecessary moving expenses.

To help house movers eliminate some of these more common challenges, Kiwi Movers has assembled a team of highly qualified experts to pool their knowledge on relocating the easy way. 

Plan your move like a military operation

“Planning is everything” says Matt Lowe, civil engineer, British Territorial Army officer and Director at Kiwi Movers. “With the right plan, you can identify hurdles, save time and shave hours off of the time it takes you to move. This of course will save you money, as well as hassle.”

Begin the planning phase no less than one month ahead of your move date. Start by throwing out clothes you haven’t worn within the last six months and get rid of as much paper as possible.

Document important stuff like bills and official letters by snapping them with your phone, but get rid of as much unnecessary paper as possible. This will save you at least one box’s worth of packing.

You should also stop buying frozen food at this stage. About a week before your move, you will hopefully have used up the remaining contents of your freezer. If not, invite some friends round to use up the leftovers. Who doesn’t love a good feast of potato waffles and IKEA meatballs once in a while?

Other tasks to complete before moving day

• Tell the council, TV licensing, utility and broadband suppliers, employer, bank and anyone else who sends you important letters that you’re moving, when you’re moving and, of course, your new address.
• Book your removal firm as soon as you have a removal date. Removal firms get booked up weeks, sometimes months, in advance.
  • Ask about rate structures. Some firms, including Kiwi Movers, offer by-the-hour removals, which can work out cheaper than booking a crew for the whole day.
• De-clutter. Get rid of as much unnecessary stuff as possible. Don’t be sentimental about it either. Start with duplicate items. Most households have more hand-whisks than they actually need.
  • Then get rid of anything that’s going to need replacing within a year, such as tatty furniture or appliances on their last legs. Better to get rid now and have a new one delivered to your new home, rather than lugging the old one on the day and replacing it shortly after.

The physics of moving heavy stuff

Now that you’ve decluttered your stuff, it’s time to shift what’s left of it. Before moving house, everyone should be aware of their physical capabilities. A lot of injuries come about from people lifting too much, or lifting heavy items when tired.

According to the Niosh Lifting Equation, a healthy adult should be able to carry 51 lbs (23 kg) of weight. But this doesn’t account for tiredness, stairs, or the extra stress to the body of carrying awkwardly shaped boxes along narrow hallways.

Texas-based scientist Dr. Greg Moakes has more than ten years’ hands-on experience in the field of materials science. He thinks many house movers encounter problems when they fail to respect the unique physical properties of each item.

“It’s easier to move 20kg of books than it is to move a 20kg mattress. You can split the books into smaller batches, stack them, carry them on a dolly or lift from an elevated surface to give yourself a host of advantages.

“But a mattress is just one big floppy slab of weight that drags, snags and scuffs at will. People are more likely to get injured moving a mattress up a flight of stairs than carrying a heavy box.”

While it may take a little more time to team up on seemingly easy-to-carry loads, it will save time and stress in the long run. It’s far better for two people to lift something together with ease, than for one person to injure themselves trying to whizz a box up the stairs and then be out of action for the rest of the move.

Avoiding injury

Speaking of avoiding injuries, it’s easy to complete a house move unscathed with just a few simple precautions.

Scott Roberts has worked in the fitness industry for five years. He recommends a pre-move stroll for getting the job done without any drama.

Top Tips for Having a Stress-Free Move

“To avoid injury, people need to concentrate on lifting with correct technique and not rushing things. Keep the back straight and lift with the legs rather than the back when picking items up from the floor, and do a sufficient warm up beforehand.”

Even if you’re pressed for time, Scott warns against rushing into it: “Do not go straight into lifting heavy objects as soon as you get out of bed. Spend ten to 15 minutes waking your body up and getting active. A simple walk around the block can get the heart rate up, before moving on to some more specific drills.

“Bodyweight squats and hip rotations will mimic picking objects up from the floor and any rotational movements you may do. This is where most back issues occur.”

One final scientific note of consideration comes from Professor Sir Cooper, an expert in organisational psychology at the University of Manchester. Professor Cooper stresses the need to consider privacy, mood and anxiety when planning where to put your furniture: “Position seats and chairs so people don’t have their backs immediately facing room entrances or areas of high foot traffic.”

The average house price in the UK was up by 5.4% in the year to September, according to the latest official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Land Registry. This is higher than the 4.8% rate of growth recorded in August, but is broadly in line with the increases seen during the year so far.

This rise took the average UK house price to £226,000 in September – £11,000 higher than in September 2016 and £1,000 up on August 2017.

By country

The main contribution to this rate of growth was England, where the average property value increased by 5.7% over the 12 months to September, taking typical house prices to £244,000. In Wales, the average rise of 5.3% took property values to £153,000. Following a 3.1% increase in Scotland, the typical house price is now £145,000. In Northern Ireland, the average property value is £132,000, following a rise of 6.0% in the year to the third quarter (Q3) of the year.

Regionally

On a regional basis, London continued to boast the highest average house price, at £484,000, followed by the South East and East of England, which stood at £324,000 and £289,000 respectively. The lowest average price continued to be in the North East, at £130,000.

The North West experienced the highest rate of annual house price growth in September, at an average of 7.3%. This was followed by the South West (6.6%) and East Midlands (6.4%). The lowest annual increase was recorded in London, where the average price rose by 2.5% over the 12 months to September, followed by the North East, ay 4.4%.

By local authority

The largest annual growth of any local authority in the UK in the year to September was seen in Hinckley and Bosworth, where the average property value increased by 15.9% to stand at £215,000. By contrast, the lowest rise was recorded in Halton, where prices actually dropped by an average of 5.2% to hit £127,000.

In September, the most expensive area to buy a property was the Royal London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where the average home costs £1.2m. The cheapest location to purchase a home was Blaenau Gwent, at an average value of £85,000.

Comments 

The Founder and CEO of online estate agent eMoov.co.uk, Russell Quirk, comments on the index: “The market has continued to splutter along, registering yet more marginal positive price growth despite a sustainably lower level of buyer demand. This is certainly promising for those on the ladder and we should see a large degree of stability return, with a heightened level of buyer interest come January.

“It is yet to be seen what, if any, impact the marginal increase in interest rates will have. It is likely that, while many will sit back and see through the Christmas period as a result, there will be no medium to long-term impact on the UK’s appetite to buy property, with the cost of borrowing still very affordable for the masses.”

Ishaan Malhi, the CEO and Founder of online mortgage broker Trussle, also says: “Many people expressed concern for the housing market after Brexit, but prices are 5.4% higher than they were this time last year. That’s an £11,000 increase on the average UK home. With wages growing just 2.2% in the last 12 months, the growing challenge facing first time buyers is plain to see.

“The Budget is now a little over a week away, and rumours are already swirling about some Government support for first time buyers. If Phillip Hammond proposes to boost housebuilding and make homeownership more affordable for young people, it will be a welcome move for those currently priced out of the market. The mortgage sector is slowly innovating to make the process of buying a home less stressful and time consuming, but, until more housing supply brings down the cost of property, homeownership will remain a pipedream for some.”

We also have the thoughts of Richard Snook, the Senior Economist at PwC: “The trend that has been emerging over the summer and autumn is the rest of the UK outperforming London. Annual price growth in London was just 2.5% in September – far behind the strongest performing regions, the North West (7.3%) and South West (6.6%), and less than half the national average.

“Our latest market projection, published in July, was for growth of between 3% and 5% in 2017, with 4% as the central scenario. Growth for the year is now likely to be around the upper end of this range. The other notable trend is that these price gains are being experienced on increasingly low transaction volumes, which were 15.2% lower in July 2017 than July 2016. This does point to a lack of broader market momentum and may lead to a softening in price growth as we move into 2018.”

John Goodall, the CEO and Co-Founder of buy-to-let specialist Landbay, adds: “House prices showed no signs of slowing down in September, as they continued on in their upward climb. Up until this point, a combination of low mortgage rates and high rates of employment have helped balance out the squeeze on household incomes from stagnant wages and rising inflation. However, last week’s rate rise signalled the start of raised borrowing costs for the first time in a decade, which is likely to curtail buyer activity in the coming months.

“As the Budget draws closer, we hope to see some ironclad commitments from the Government on its plan for tackling the growing demand for housing. There may be no quick fix, but now more than ever, the private rented sector will be relied upon by those unwilling or unable to buy a house outright. Without a radical housebuilding plan for both first time buyer homes and purpose-built rental properties, prices will continue to rise over the coming decades.”