The best (and worst) days to move house

Most people can’t pick their moving day based on statistics. If you’re in a chain, the date is usually set by everyone involved, not just you. Still, the day you move matters. It can change the cost, how smoothly things go, and how stressful the day feels.

There's no official ranking of good and bad moving days, but years of industry experience have shaped some fairly consistent guidance. This guide looks at what's behind that guidance, and how to make the best of your date, whether you get to choose it or not.

Key takeaways

• Thursday is often recommended as a good choice. It usually has lower demand and gives you a working day before the weekend.
• Friday is still the most popular day to complete in England and Wales, but many in the industry think it’s the hardest day if problems come up.
• Moving in the middle of the week or month is often cheaper for removals because demand is usually lower.
• If you’re in a chain, your date is agreed collectively, but you can still influence it if you raise your preference early.
• Booking your removal company and surveyor early makes it less likely you’ll end up with a less convenient date.

What is the best day of the week to move house?

There’s no official ranking, but Thursday is often a good option if you have some flexibility. It’s usually quieter than Friday for removal companies and gives you a working day before the weekend to handle any issues.

The thinking here is fairly practical. Completion day entails several things happening in sequence: your mortgage lender releases funds, your solicitor confirms receipt, funds pass down the chain to the seller's solicitor, and only then are keys released. Our guide to how long conveyancing takes explains how completion fits into the wider conveyancing process. Any one of those steps can occasionally be held up by something as simple as a bank's internal processing time. If that happens on a Thursday, you've still got Friday to sort it out before the weekend closes everything down. If it happens on a Friday afternoon, your options narrow considerably.

Monday and Tuesday can also be good options, as they tend to be quieter than later in the week. Wednesday can be a little busier, so you may find removal companies have slightly less availability.

Of course, none of this matters much if you're in a long chain and everyone else has already settled on a date. In that scenario, the more useful question is how to protect yourself on whatever day you end up with, which we'll come back to further down.

Why do so many people move house on a Friday?

Friday is widely regarded as the most popular completion day in England and Wales, largely for lifestyle reasons. It gives buyers the weekend to unpack without needing extra time off work, and many estate agents and conveyancers default to suggesting it as the "natural" choice.

Anyone who's spent time in conveyancing or removals will usually tell you the same thing: Friday tends to see a noticeably higher concentration of completions than other weekdays. Part of this comes down to convenience rather than strategy. Nobody wants to take a Wednesday off work, move house, then head back into the office on Thursday surrounded by unpacked boxes.

The trouble is that popularity brings its own pressures. When a large proportion of property transactions all aim to complete on the same day, banks, solicitors and removal firms are naturally dealing with more volume than usual. That's before you factor in that Friday leaves very little room to fix anything before the weekend hits.

What are the risks of moving house on a Friday?

Many conveyancers view Friday as the least forgiving day to complete, simply because there's no working day left afterwards to resolve a delay before the weekend. If funds are held up or a query arises in the chain, Monday can become your only option to sort it out.

This isn't a formal rule, more a pattern that's built up through experience. Because so many transactions are scheduled to complete on the same day, solicitors' firms and banks are typically managing a higher volume of same-day money transfers than on other weekdays. A hold-up affecting one transaction in a chain can occasionally delay everyone behind it, and once banks close for the weekend, there's often little anyone can do until Monday.

This is one reason many conveyancing solicitors will flag the practical trade-offs of a Friday completion to clients, particularly the lack of a buffer day if something needs correcting. Removal companies also tend to charge more for Friday slots, since it's usually their busiest day. If your completion is delayed, you may end up covering extra waiting time or overnight storage you hadn't planned for.

Pro tip: If you're completing on a Friday, speak to your conveyancer beforehand about how completion day will work and make sure any money you need to provide is with them in good time. In a chain, you can't always control the exact completion time.

Is it cheaper to move house on a weekday than a Friday or weekend?

Generally, yes. Moving mid-week tends to work out cheaper than moving on a Friday or weekend, since removal companies typically price around demand, and Friday and Saturday are usually their busiest days.

This table reflects general industry patterns rather than fixed pricing rules, and actual costs will vary by company and region. If you want to understand what can affect the price of your move, our guide to removal costs explains the main factors involved. If cost matters more to you than convenience, it's worth raising the idea of a weekday move with your solicitor and the other parties in your chain early on, rather than defaulting to Friday because it's the assumed norm. You can also find useful tips on reducing moving costs in our moving cost guide.

What day of the month is best to move house?

There's no fixed rule, but month-end can be a particularly busy time for removal companies. If you have some flexibility, choosing a mid-month date may give you more choice of removal slots and potentially more competitive quotes.

Combining a month-end date with a Friday means two of the busiest variables working against you. If your chain has flexibility, aiming for a date in the second or third week of the month, ideally Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, is often suggested as a more comfortable choice. Of course, this does not guarantee a smoother move.

Does moving during school holidays or bank holidays affect your options?

Yes, generally. School holidays and weeks around bank holidays can be busy moving periods, leading to tighter removal availability and higher prices. Professionals involved may also have limited availability around bank holidays.

Families with children prefer to move during the summer break rather than mid-term, which pushes demand up for removals and conveyancing between late July and early September. Bank holiday periods bring different pressure since local council offices and search providers often close or reduce services, slowing the searches your conveyancer needs before contracts can be exchanged.

If your move falls in one of these periods, it's worth booking removals, surveys, and conveyancing as early as you can. Our tips for moving house cover when to start packing, booking removals and preparing for moving day.

Can I choose my own moving day, or does the chain decide it?

If you're part of a property chain, your completion date is agreed collectively, so you can't simply pick your ideal day. However, you can flag your preference early to your conveyancer, who can raise it with the other parties before contracts are exchanged.

This is one of the more misunderstood parts of the moving process. Exchange of contracts is the point at which the completion date becomes legally fixed for everyone in the chain, buyers, sellers and any lenders involved. Once that's agreed, changing it usually requires everyone in the chain to consent, which is rarely straightforward and can risk delaying the whole transaction. You can read more about how chains affect timescales in our guide to the conveyancing timeline.

If you're a first-time buyer with no chain above you, or a cash buyer, you'll typically have more flexibility, since you don't have to work around anyone else's schedule. In that case, it's worth choosing your date with some of the general guidance above in mind, rather than defaulting to whatever your solicitor first suggests.

Pro tip: Raise your preferred completion day with your conveyancer as soon as you have an offer accepted, not once contracts are being drawn up. The earlier it's on the table, the more likely the rest of the chain can accommodate it.

What time does completion usually happen?

The exact timing of completion isn't always within your control, particularly if you're part of a chain. Your conveyancer needs to receive the funds required for completion and transfer them to the seller's conveyancer. Once the seller's conveyancer confirms receipt, completion can take place, and the keys can be released. Our complete guide to conveyancing explains what happens at each stage from offer to completion.

Earlier completion gives you more of the working day to deal with any unexpected delays, but transactions further up a chain may naturally complete later.

How far in advance should you book your removal company?

As a general guide, aim to book your removal company at least four to six weeks ahead for a standard weekday move. For Fridays, month-ends, bank holiday periods or the summer season, eight to twelve weeks ahead is often more realistic if you want your preferred date and want to avoid a late-booking premium.

Good removal companies can get booked up quickly at busy times of year, so it’s worth arranging your move early. You’ll have a better chance of securing the date you want and may also avoid the higher prices that can come with last-minute bookings. Our guide to getting accurate removal quotes can help you understand what to compare before you book.

Does the day you move affect conveyancing or survey costs?

Not usually. Conveyancing fees and survey costs generally don't change based on the day of the week you complete, or the day your survey takes place. What can affect cost and timing is booking too close to your target date, particularly for surveys that require a physical inspection.

Surveyors, much like removal firms, work to a calendar. If you leave booking your survey until late in the process, you risk it delaying exchange of contracts, which then puts your preferred completion date at risk regardless of how carefully you planned it. If you're unsure which survey you need, our home surveying guides explain the different options available.

RICS recommends arranging a Home Survey after your offer has been accepted. Booking it promptly can help keep the buying process moving and gives you time to consider any issues before exchange.

The same logic tends to apply to conveyancing. A solicitor managing a reasonable caseload is generally more likely to hit your preferred date than one who's taken on your case at short notice during a busy period. Comparing quotes early through our conveyancing comparison tool or surveyor comparison tool gives you a head start on both fronts.

Final thoughts

There's no single "perfect" day that suits every move, and much of what's covered here reflects general industry experience rather than hard rules. That said, the pattern is fairly consistent. Thursday is often seen as a sensible balance of lower demand and a bit of breathing room. Friday is the most convenient for your weekend, but generally considered the least forgiving if anything goes wrong. Month-ends, bank holidays and school summer holidays tend to add pressure regardless of which day you pick.

If you're currently weighing up removal companies, conveyancers or surveyors for your own move, the smartest place to start is comparing quotes early, before everyone else's schedule locks in your date. Moving Compared can help you get removal quotes, find a conveyancer, or get a surveyor quote for your move, whatever day you end up with.