The short version
- Photograph the meters before a single box comes off the van. It is the only evidence you will have if the first bill is wrong.
- Find the stopcock, the consumer unit and the gas shut-off in the first hour, not the first emergency.
- Change the locks. You have no idea how many keys exist.
- Scottish homes must have interlinked smoke and heat alarms. Check the property actually complies rather than assuming.
- Unpack beds and the kitchen first. Everything else can wait, and most of it will.
The first hour, before anything is unloaded
There are four things worth doing between getting the keys and the van being unloaded, and all four become much harder once the hall is full of boxes.
Photograph every meter. Electricity, gas and water if there is a meter. Get the serial number and the reading in the same shot, with the date visible on your phone. Send the readings to the suppliers the same day. A disputed opening bill is almost impossible to argue without this and trivial to settle with it.
Walk the property empty. This is the only time you will see it without your possessions in it. Look at the floors, the walls and the ceilings, and photograph anything damaged. If something was supposed to be left and is not there, or something has been removed that should not have been, now is when you can raise it with your solicitor rather than three weeks later.
Check what has actually been left. Fixtures and fittings are listed in the missives, and disputes about a missing light fitting or a removed shed are easier to resolve on the day of entry than a month afterwards.
Decide where the van unloads from. If you are in a controlled parking zone or a narrow street, this is the moment to work out where the vehicle sits, not while a crew waits.
Find these before you need them
Every property hides its controls somewhere different. Find them on day one, while you still have the energy to look and before the cupboard they are in is full of boxes.
| What to find | Usually located | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Water stopcock | Under the kitchen sink, or in the close in older flats | A burst pipe gives you seconds, not minutes |
| Consumer unit and main switch | Hallway cupboard, under the stairs, or near the front door | Tripped circuits, and any electrical work |
| Gas shut-off valve | Beside the gas meter | Gas smell, or any appliance work |
| Boiler and its controls | Kitchen or bathroom cupboard | Hot water on the first evening |
| External stop valve | Under a small cover in the pavement or path | If the internal stopcock will not turn |
In a Glasgow tenement, some of these are not inside your flat at all. The stopcock may serve several properties and sit in the close, and the water supply arrangement can be shared. Ask the seller, ask a neighbour, or ask the factor if the building has one. Finding out during a leak at eleven at night is the wrong time.
While you are at it, work out how the entry system works, how many close keys exist, and where the bin store is. These sound trivial and they are the things that make the first week irritating when nobody has told you.
Change the locks in the first few days
You have no way of knowing how many keys to your new home exist or who holds them. Previous owners, former tenants, tradespeople, cleaners, family members and old letting agents may all have had a set at some point.
This is not a comment on the previous occupants. It is simply that keys accumulate over the life of a property and nobody keeps a register. Changing the cylinder on the front door is straightforward, inexpensive relative to everything else you are spending, and buys certainty.
In a tenement, the close door key is a separate question. It is usually a shared system and changing it is a decision for all the owners rather than for you, so check with the factor or your neighbours before doing anything to a communal door.
While you are thinking about security, check that windows lock and that the keys for them exist. Window keys are the item most often lost between owners, and an insurer may ask about window locks when you take out cover.
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The safety checks that are actually a legal standard in Scotland
Scottish homes are required to meet a specific fire alarm standard: interlinked alarms, so that when one sounds they all sound. This is not the same as having a smoke alarm in the hall, and plenty of properties changing hands do not meet it.
The standard requires one smoke alarm in the main living area, one smoke alarm in every hallway or landing, and a heat alarm in the kitchen, all interlinked with each other. Where there is a carbon-fuelled appliance such as a gas boiler or a wood burner, a carbon monoxide detector is also required, though that one does not need to be interlinked.
Test them on the first day. Interlinked alarms should all sound when you press the test button on any one of them. If only one sounds, they are not interlinked and the property does not meet the standard. Sealed battery units have a life of around ten years, so check the date printed on them too.
The other first-week safety items:
- Locate the escape route from every bedroom. Particularly in a top floor flat.
- Check the carbon monoxide detector. Test it, and note where it is.
- Arrange a boiler service if there is no recent record of one. You are inheriting an appliance with an unknown history.
- Find out where the loft hatch is and whether there is a light up there.
Unpack in the order that gets you a normal evening
The goal on day one is not to unpack the house. It is to get to a point where you can sleep properly and make a meal. Everything else can and should wait.
The order that works:
- Beds, assembled and made. Do this while you still have energy, not at midnight. It is the single thing that determines whether day two starts well.
- Bathroom. Toilet roll, soap, towels, toothbrushes, shower curtain if there is one.
- Kitchen basics. Kettle, mugs, a couple of plates, cutlery, one pan. Not the whole kitchen.
- Curtains or blinds in bedrooms. If the previous owner took them, this becomes urgent at bedtime in a way it is not at three in the afternoon.
- Everything else, over the following weeks.
Flatten boxes as you empty them and get them out of the way immediately. In a flat with no garage, a hallway of empty cartons becomes a serious obstacle within a day. Do not stack them in a tenement close: it is a shared escape route and blocking it is both a fire risk and a poor introduction to your neighbours.
Resist the urge to start decorating in week one. Living in a property for a few weeks changes your view of where the light falls and how the rooms are actually used, and most people who paint immediately end up repainting.
Send us both addresses, the floors at each end and your date of entry and we will come back with a written quote.
Get a quoteSettling in around Glasgow specifically
Some of the first-fortnight admin is local rather than general, and getting it wrong produces small but persistent irritations.
Bin collections. Days and bin colours vary by street rather than by city, and tenement properties often share communal bins in a back court rather than having individual ones. Check your collection day by postcode with the council, and find out where the bins actually are before the first collection rather than after you have missed it.
Parking permits. If your street is in a controlled parking zone, you will need a resident permit and there can be a wait for it. Apply immediately, and check the visitor permit arrangements at the same time, because you will have visitors before the permit arrives.
The factor. If you have bought a flat in a managed building, find out who the factor is and register your details with them. Shared repairs, close cleaning and stair lighting all run through them, and you want to be on the list before the first bill rather than after.
Council Tax. Open your account with the correct authority. Around Glasgow the boundaries are tight, and Bearsden, Giffnock, Rutherglen and Paisley are all different councils from Glasgow City. For most households the water and sewerage charge is collected alongside it.
Neighbours. In a tenement you share a roof, a close and a back court with people whose agreement you will need for any significant repair. Introducing yourself in the first week is worth more than it sounds.
The full change of address list, ordered by which items carry a legal penalty, is in our guide to who to tell when you move house.
What to check before the window closes
Some issues are only worth raising within a limited period, and the clock starts on the day of entry rather than when you notice.
Within the first days and weeks:
- Anything that contradicts the Home Report. If the report described something as sound and it plainly is not, raise it with your solicitor promptly.
- Missing fixtures. What was included is set out in the missives. Raise omissions quickly.
- New build snagging. If it is a new property, there is a defined defects period and a process. Log everything, photograph it, and submit it as a list rather than in dribs and drabs.
- Appliance warranties. Anything left in the property may still be under warranty, but usually only if registered.
- Insurance. Buildings cover should already be in place from the date of entry. Confirm the contents cover reflects what actually arrived, particularly if anything was in storage.
Keep a single folder, physical or digital, with the missives, the Home Report, the meter photographs, the moving inventory and any correspondence. In three months you will not remember which of the four addresses you were dealing with said what.
What not to rush
There is a strong urge to have everything finished within a fortnight. Most of it is better done slowly, and some of it is actively worse done quickly.
- Decorating. Live with the light for a season before choosing colours.
- Structural changes. In a flat, anything affecting the building fabric may need the agreement of the other owners, and possibly consent. Find out before you plan, not during.
- Buying furniture for gaps. Rooms feel different once you have used them. The sofa that seemed too small in an empty room is often right.
- Unpacking the loft boxes. If they were in a loft for five years unopened, they can wait another month. Some of them should probably not be unpacked at all.
- Judging the neighbourhood. The first fortnight in any new area is unrepresentative. Give it a season.
The one thing genuinely worth doing early is the boring administration: readings, registrations, permits and address changes. It is dull, it takes a few hours, and doing it in week one prevents most of the small problems that otherwise surface in month two.
Send us both addresses, the floors at each end and your date of entry and we will come back with a written quote.
Get a quoteCommon questions about moving into a new house
What should I do first when I get the keys?
Photograph the meters with their serial numbers before anything is unloaded, then walk the empty property and photograph any damage. Both become much harder once boxes are in, and both are the evidence you will want if there is a dispute about a bill or about the condition of the property.
Do I need to change the locks?
It is strongly advisable on your own front door, because there is no way to know how many keys exist or who has them. In a tenement, the close door is a shared system and any change is a decision for all the owners, so check with the factor or your neighbours first.
What are the smoke alarm rules in Scotland?
Scottish homes must have interlinked alarms: one smoke alarm in the main living area, one in every hallway or landing, and a heat alarm in the kitchen, all connected so they sound together. A carbon monoxide detector is also required where there is a carbon-fuelled appliance. Test on day one, because pressing one alarm should sound them all.
How long should unpacking take?
Beds, bathroom and basic kitchen on day one. Everything else over the following weeks, and there is no prize for finishing quickly. Most people find they never unpack a few boxes at all, which is useful information about what was worth moving.
How do I get a quote for the move itself?
Send both addresses, the floor at each end, whether there is a lift, rough volume and your date of entry through the quote form. If you have not yet fixed a date, our guide to when to book a removal company in Scotland covers the timing, and our house removals page explains what a survey looks at.
More guides are collected in our moving guides.
