Kun muutat

“Choose a neighbour before the house and a travel companion before the route.”
(Arab proverb)

Checklist for Moving House

• Remember to give notice to your landlord in plenty of time. Your rent agreement will tell you how long a notice period you have to give. It is a good idea only to give notice on your existing home once you have signed a written rent agreement on your new home.

• Remember to notify your electricity company of your move. Also ask for a final statement. Find out whether your housing association has an agreement with a specific electricity company or whether you can choose your own supplier. Finalise your new electricity supply agreement around two weeks before the move.

• Always notify the local registry office that you are moving. You can either notify the registry office by phone or by filling in a form at the post office, the registry office or the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. You can also print the form out from suomi.fi or the website of the Population Register Centre (Väestörekisterikeskus). Alternatively, you can register your move at muuttoilmoitus.fi. You also need to notify your property manager when you move out or in.

• Think about whether you should change the locks in your new home. When you move out, remember to return all the keys to your previous home to the landlord or property manager.

• Hire a van and a removal company in plenty of time. Moving kits are relatively cheap to rent. For more information, consult the yellow pages. Another way is to ask your local shop for spare cardboard boxes.

• The post office has forms for registering changes of address. The post office also provides greeting cards that you can send to your friends and family free of charge to tell them that you have moved house. It is also a good idea to inform your library and banks of your new address personally. For more information, please visit the website of Finland Post Corporation (Posti).

• Transferring your landline telephone number over to your new address is something that you should arrange in plenty of time. This will save you from being without a telephone when you first move in.

• Clean your old home before you move out. This will make moving in much more pleasant for the new tenant. Any items that you no longer want can be taken to a recycling centre or a flea market provided that they are still in good working order.