When planning a move, most people focus on which day to book—Friday, Saturday, midweek? But the time of day you start can be just as important for how smoothly things go. Starting at the right time affects traffic, energy levels, daylight, and even whether you can resolve problems if something goes wrong.
The Case for an Early Morning Start
For most moves, starting early in the morning—around 8am or 9am—is the smartest choice. Here’s why:
Maximum Daylight
Starting early gives you the full day to complete your move. Even in summer, an afternoon start limits your working hours. In winter, with darkness falling by 4pm or earlier, a late start could mean finishing in the dark—which makes carrying furniture safely much harder and increases the risk of accidents or damage.
Beat the Traffic
If you start loading at 8am, you’ll likely be on the road by mid-morning, avoiding the worst of rush hour. Travelling mid-morning or early afternoon means more predictable journey times and less stress sitting in traffic with a van full of belongings.
Peak traffic hours—typically before 9am and between 5pm and 7pm—can add significant time to your journey, especially in cities or on motorways. Starting early helps you avoid both peaks.
More Time for Problems
Things don’t always go to plan. Keys might be delayed, access might be trickier than expected, or traffic might be worse than anticipated. An early start gives you buffer time to handle the unexpected without the move stretching into the evening.
If you’re buying a property, funds need to transfer before keys are released. Banks typically have a 3pm deadline for same-day transfers. Completing the financial side in the morning means you’re not racing against banking cut-offs, and if there’s a delay in the chain, there’s time to resolve it before the deadline.
Energy Levels
Moving is physically and mentally demanding. You and your movers will be fresher and more alert in the morning. By late afternoon, fatigue sets in—and tired people make more mistakes, whether that’s dropping boxes or forgetting items.
Access to Services
If something goes wrong—a utility issue at the new property, a question for your solicitor, a problem that needs a tradesperson—you’re more likely to reach someone during normal business hours. Start too late, and any issues get pushed to the next day.
What Time Exactly?
Most removal services start their day between 8am and 9am. This is early enough to maximise your day without being unreasonably early for residential areas where neighbours might complain about noise.
If you’re in a property chain, your start time may be dictated by when you can access your new property. You can’t start unloading until you have keys, and keys depend on funds clearing and the chain completing. In these cases, aim to have movers arrive as early as practical to load up, then travel to the new property ready to unload as soon as keys are available.
Some operators offer earlier starts—7am or even 6am—for an additional fee. This can be worthwhile for very large moves where you need every available hour, or for moves where traffic is a significant concern.
Afternoon and Evening Moves
Sometimes an afternoon start is unavoidable. Perhaps you’re waiting for a morning appointment, your property chain won’t complete until the afternoon, or it’s the only slot your removal company had available.
Afternoon moves can work fine for smaller jobs—a studio flat or one-bedroom property that only takes a few hours. For larger moves, starting after midday creates real risks of running out of daylight or finishing exhausted late in the evening.
If you must start in the afternoon:
Be realistic about what you can achieve before dark. Have contingency plans if things run over (can you stay elsewhere if the new place isn’t ready?). Ensure the new property has working lights and heating ready for your arrival. Consider whether the move should be split across two days instead.
Avoiding Rush Hour
Traffic considerations vary by location, but general principles apply:
Morning rush: 7am to 9am on weekdays. School runs make 8am to 9am particularly congested. Evening rush: 5pm to 7pm on weekdays. Friday evenings are worse as weekend traffic builds.
The ideal travel window is mid-morning (10am to 12pm) or early afternoon (1pm to 3pm). If you start loading at 8am and finish by 10am, you’ll hit the road at a good time. If you’re still loading at 4pm, you’ll be driving in rush hour.
For longer distance moves, traffic patterns matter even more. A two-hour journey can easily become three or four hours if you hit congestion at the wrong time.
Completion Day Timing
If you’re buying a property, the timing of completion affects everything. For any house or apartment removal involving a purchase, here’s how it typically works:
Your solicitor receives funds from your lender (if you’re using a mortgage). Your solicitor sends funds to the seller’s solicitor. Once funds are confirmed, keys are released—either collected from the estate agent or handed over directly. Only then can you access the property.
This chain of events depends on banking systems, and banks have cut-off times for same-day transfers—typically around 3pm. If your funds don’t arrive in time, completion gets pushed to the next working day. This is why solicitors and conveyancers emphasise morning completions.
For smooth completion day timing:
Arrange for your solicitor to have all paperwork completed in advance. Request that mortgage funds arrive the day before or first thing on completion day. Aim for completion by early afternoon at the latest. Have your removal team ready to go as soon as keys are confirmed.
The Day of the Week Factor
Time of day interacts with your choice of day. Friday is the most popular moving day in the UK—about 30% of moves happen on Fridays. This popularity means:
Removal companies are busier and may charge more. Roads are more congested, especially Friday afternoons. Estate agents and solicitors handle more completions, increasing the risk of delays. If problems arise, you might have to wait until Monday to resolve them.
Midweek moves (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) typically offer better removal availability, lower prices, quieter roads, and faster problem resolution if anything goes wrong. Thursday is particularly popular among those who want a long weekend to unpack but want to avoid Friday’s chaos.
Seasonal Considerations
Time of day matters more in some seasons than others.
Winter Moves
With sunrise after 8am and sunset before 4pm in December and January, daylight is precious. An early start is essential—you might only have seven or eight hours of decent light. Weather can also affect timing: icy roads early morning, or deteriorating conditions as temperature drops in the evening.
Summer Moves
Long daylight hours give more flexibility. You could start at 9am and still have light until 9pm if needed. But summer is peak moving season, so traffic and competition for removal services are higher. Early starts help you beat the heat too—moving furniture in 25°C+ temperatures is exhausting work.
Coordinating with Others
Your ideal start time may need to accommodate other people’s schedules:
If you’re renting, does your tenancy end at a specific time? When can you collect keys for the new property? Are utility engineers visiting to connect services? Do you need to hand over keys to your old property by a deadline?
Build a timeline that accounts for all these factors, with buffer time between each stage. Rushing from one appointment to the next creates stress and increases the chance of something falling through the cracks.
Practical Tips for Your Moving Day Schedule
The night before: confirm arrival time with your removal team, ensure you have keys and access codes ready, pack an essentials box (kettle, toilet paper, phone chargers, snacks) to access first.
Morning of the move: eat a proper breakfast, be ready when movers arrive, do a final walk-through while movers load, take meter readings before leaving.
At the new property: check utilities are working, direct movers to the right rooms, keep your essentials box accessible, take meter readings on arrival.
Evening: don’t try to unpack everything—focus on beds, bathroom essentials, and the kitchen. The rest can wait.
The Bottom Line
For most moves, an early morning start—8am to 9am—gives you the best chance of a smooth day. You’ll have maximum daylight, avoid the worst traffic, and have time to handle any problems that arise. The more complex or larger your move, the more important an early start becomes.
If you’re ready to plan your move, you can get an instant quote and discuss timing options for your specific situation.
