Moving out during building works: how to plan your move, storage and return home

One plan for moving out, storage and coming home

Keep a single page with your likely move-out date, the accommodation booking, collection details and the next date you'll review progress. Add the person responsible for confirming each change. Your builder's target finish date is useful for planning, but check it again nearer the time before you treat it as fixed.

Use the free moving planner to organise the household tasks around those stages. Keep your builder's decisions in your project records too, so the moving plan follows the current programme rather than an old email.

Your builder's programme sets your dates

For most extensions, the dates that matter come from your builder's programme: when rooms need clearing, when the kitchen goes out of use, and when you can move back. With Resi, that programme takes shape once your plans are ready and you're choosing a builder through Resi Connect.

When you compare builders, ask each one:

• Which rooms need to be empty, and from when?
• When will the kitchen, bathroom, water, power or heating be off?
• When does the knock-through or roof work happen?
• Is the work phased, and could any rooms be handed back early?
• What's the target handover date, and how will you hear if it moves?

Resi's free tender review call helps you compare the answers like for like. Once you've chosen a builder, get the programme into your contract (Resi recommends a JCT contract) and share it with Stackt, so your collection and return are booked around it.

Should you stay at home or move out during an extension?

Ask your builder to describe the disruptive phases room by room. Can you use a bathroom and prepare food? Will the route between bedrooms and the exit stay separate from the work? Is the spare room still available, or does the next phase need it? Discuss these questions before comparing the price of a temporary flat with the cost of staying put.

To see where these decisions fall in a Resi project, read how Resi's extension process works. Your arrangements also need to fit the actual work and your family's circumstances. Ask the people managing the site to explain what's suitable for your project; a moving or storage booking isn't an assessment of whether the property is safe to occupy.

Agree safety and access arrangements with your builder. The HSE's guidance for domestic clients explains why it matters to ask about the team's ability to manage risks and to allow enough time.

Decide what travels with you and what goes into storage

Do a room-by-room walk-through before choosing a storage size. Begin with the space in your temporary accommodation, not the amount you own. A furnished flat may already contain beds, kitchen equipment and a sofa. Taking duplicate furniture adds another move without solving a household need.

Keep a separate essentials bag for collection day and the first night away. Include keys and the contact details for your builder, accommodation and movers. Photograph furniture before it leaves and keep a numbered list of boxes. Stackt's app gives you a photo inventory of everything it collects. Our home inventory tool helps you list the rest, and the storage calculator helps you work out how much space the stored items may need.

Label for retrieval as well as the final room. "Bedroom, winter clothes, may need in November" is more useful than "miscellaneous". If the build crosses a season, make a second list of items you might want part-way through and discuss access before they're packed away.

Book the move and budget for the complete time away

Give your mover a clear inventory, the floors at both addresses and details of stairs, lifts, parking and bulky items. Tell them where building materials or scaffolding may affect collection. Agree with your builder which rooms must be empty first and leave a clear route for the team. If dates are still provisional, ask how the quote and availability work before confirming.

A useful budget separates the initial move from the cost of time away. List accommodation, storage, packing materials and both journeys. Then add the possible cost of a changed date or an extra delivery. Use actual quotes and cancellation terms rather than assuming a headline storage rate includes every part of the service.

A simple delay scenario. For planning only, imagine an expected eight-week stay becomes ten weeks. Add two weeks of your accommodation and storage charges, then check any charge for moving the return booking. If one provider bills by calendar month and another by week, calculate each on its own terms. This example is a way to test your budget, not an estimate of how long a build should take.

The moving budget calculator can help organise those costs. If you want help preparing furniture and fragile items, compare the scope of professional packing with doing it yourself. Ask what's included, which items need separate attention and who supplies the materials.

Contact your home insurer before work begins and before leaving the property empty. Describe the project and your living arrangements, and ask what cover or conditions change. Separately check the cover, limits and exclusions for belongings in transit and storage. Resi customers can get renovation insurance with discounted broker fees.

Choose renovation storage around access and changing dates

The right storage arrangement depends on how you want to move and retrieve your belongings. With self storage, check the practicalities of transporting items yourself and visiting the unit. With a managed collection-and-delivery service, ask how retrieval works and what notice is needed. Either way, read the quote carefully.

• Confirm the billing period, minimum term and process for extending or ending storage.
• Ask whether you can retrieve individual items, and how each collection or delivery is charged.
• Check how furniture is prepared, whether dismantling is included and which items need specialist handling.
• Confirm what the provider accepts, the available cover and what must stay with you.
• Ask how much notice is needed when the return address, access conditions or dates change.

Stackt's renovation storage service brings together collection, storage and return delivery. Its collection and delivery guide explains the process. Ask for the arrangement and quote that fit your items and location, including any staged return you may need.

Keep accommodation and storage aligned with the build

Review the programme with your builder at each build milestone, and use each one to check your storage and accommodation dates. Record the next milestone, what might affect it and whether any room can be handed back earlier. Tell your accommodation and storage providers about any change to your move-in date straight away, rather than waiting until a cancellation deadline or the final few days of a booking.

Keep one household contact responsible for booking changes. This avoids one person confirming a furniture delivery while another extends the temporary flat. Save written confirmations with your inventory and check the return address, contact number and access details each time you change a date.

If you need a few essentials before the full return, send the provider the box or item numbers. Check the retrieval process first: a delivery service isn't the same as instant walk-in access. The more clearly you labelled the stored items, the easier this will be.

Plan the return around ready rooms, not the original finish date

Before booking the full return, discuss handover, snagging and any required building control sign-off with your builder. Ask which areas you can use, whether trades still need the access route and what needs to happen before furniture returns. Check that cleaning is arranged and ask about protection for new floors and surfaces. Agree where the team can unload and place larger furniture before filling rooms with boxes.

A phased return may make sense if bedrooms are ready but trades are still using another part of the home. Compare that convenience with the price of separate deliveries. A staged furniture return doesn't replace your project team confirming suitable access and living arrangements.

• Confirm the date with your builder, accommodation and moving provider.
• Check access, parking, lift bookings and the furniture layout for the finished rooms.
• Tell the provider which items should arrive first and which can stay in storage.
• Keep bedding, essential kitchen items and the first-night bag easy to find.
• Check returned items against the inventory and follow the provider's reporting process for any concerns.

Once the essentials are in place, unpack by room rather than opening every box. Keep the inventory until all deliveries are complete. A planned return gives you time to check what has arrived without turning a newly finished room into another temporary store.

Where Resi and Stackt fit into your extension plan

Resi is the UK's largest home extension company, with 10,000+ extensions. Resi handles design, planning and building regulations, then introduces homeowners to vetted local builders through Resi Connect, with a free tender review call.

Stackt handles the moving and storage: collecting from your door before work starts, storing everything safely, and delivering it back, all at once or room by room.

Resi customers get 50% off the first month of storage in London and Manchester. Claim it through the Resi customer page, or ask your Resi contact for an introduction.