Pensioners – especially those recently bereaved – face particular logistical and emotional challenges when moving house. But sensible planning – and the right removal company – can make the process painless. Here are nine essential tips for moving late in life…

Early planning

1) Start decluttering early

If you’re downsizing from a family home to a smaller property you’ll probably need to get rid of a significant number of household possessions, so start decluttering as soon as possible. Although storage is always an option, a move is a good opportunity to think about passing on items to your children and other relatives. You may want to use an auctioneer to sell items of furniture you can’t take to your new home.

2) Find a quality remover and discuss your particular needs

A good removal company will be fully equipped to cater for the needs of older people and will know how to make your experience as stress-free as possible – so make sure you seek out a quality firm and explain your situation to them. Get recommendations from friends who have recently moved, or read reviews on Google. And look out for the BAR (British Association of Removers) logo, which indicates that the company meets high professional standards.

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Whether you’re moving to get more space, give your children a different kind of life or you’re simply curious about what it’s like, life in the country is going to pull a few surprises on you after life in the capital. Once you’ve jumped the main hurdles – choosing an area, choosing a house, finding a new occupation (unless you’re commuting) – there are all kinds of day-to-day differences that might initially prove challenging. Here are some our tips for getting through the process from start to finish:

Don’t hold on to the idea of a dream country house. You could postpone the actual purchase indefinitely if you search for this mythical idyll. Every home you see will live up to your dream in some ways but not in others. Perfect doesn’t exist and you’ll be looking forever.

Prepare for completely different kinds of house-upkeep. For example, you may be moving into a quaint, picture-perfect thatched cottage – but it will bring with it very different maintenance demands, especially with regards to the roof. Visit the Thatch Advice Centre  to make sure you know what you’re getting into.

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Even with plenty of forewarning, moving house can seem daunting, so when there’s little advance notice and it all needs to be done yesterday, the stress can seem intolerable. With so much to do and so little time, it can seem as if there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Last-minute moving wouldn’t be everyone’s first choice, but sometimes it’s simply unavoidable. Circumstances, whatever they may be, can conspire to throw us challenges we’d much rather have done without, but we have to rise to them the best we can nevertheless. If you’re faced with the task of a last-minute move, then don’t panic. At Ward Thomas, we’ve done them countless times, both in London and beyond, and we know that haste doesn’t have to mean hurry or hysteria. Our experience has given us years of insight into how best to handle fast moves that don’t have the benefit of months of pre-planning. What’s more, we can make them stress-free.

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Relocation in 2017 is something that thousands of London’s residents are very familiar with. Tens of thousands of people have migrated to the capital, either from a different part of the UK or from abroad, to take part in the collective London experience, where culture, entrepreneurship, education, history, a variety of specialist employment sectors and jobs, and an unparalleled nightlife makes relocating to London a lifetime’s ambition for many.

The actual process of relocation has evolved dramatically since Ward-Thomas was established as London’s prestige removals company, and to try and give offer a proper context of the history of the removals sector, we would need to look back to the Industrial Revolution as a loose starting point of the removals industry.

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London life is dominated by culture, and its dedication to fine art, both classic and contemporary, makes it the envy of many major cities in the world. With heavyweight galleries like the Barbican, Tate Britain and Tate Modern, Royal Academy and the National Gallery, to the smaller but equally important places like Guildhall, Lisson and Newport Galleries, to name but a few – London is bursting at the seams with places to visit and become absorbed in artistic wonder.

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