New Homeowner Checklist: Your First Year in a New Home

Before you move in

• Arrange buildings insurance from exchange of contracts. Once contracts are exchanged you're usually bound to complete, even if the property is damaged before completion, and mortgage lenders usually require buildings insurance from exchange. If you're buying a leasehold flat, the building is usually insured by the freeholder or management company. Check with your conveyancer.
• Ask the seller for the paperwork. Ask for boiler service records, electrical certificates, building regulations completion certificates, window certificates, guarantees (for example for damp proofing, roofing or windows) and appliance manuals. See the documents every home should have.

Moving day

• Take meter readings for gas, electricity and water, photograph them and send them to the suppliers.
• Find the stopcock and check it turns, so you can turn the water off fast if a pipe bursts.
• Find the fuse box and the gas meter, and the gas shut-off lever next to the meter.
• Check you have every key, including for windows, sheds and garages, and any alarm codes.

Your first week

• Change or rekey the external locks. You don't know who else has a key.
• Test the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and fit more if any are missing. See the smoke alarm rules and the carbon monoxide alarm rules.
• Register for council tax with your new council, and register to vote at your new address.
• Update your address with your bank, employer, GP, DVLA and everyone else. See our change of address checklist.

Your first month

• Book a boiler service if there's no record of one in the last 12 months. Check whether the boiler's manufacturer warranty can be transferred to you. See what a boiler service should include.
• Get the chimney swept before you light a fire, if the home has one. See chimney sweep costs and how often.
• Look up your home's EPC on the GOV.UK energy certificate register and read its recommendations. See how to improve your EPC rating.
• Start a home file. Keep the purchase papers, certificates, guarantees and manuals in one place. See how to organise house documents.

Your first year

• Walk round the outside each season. Look at the gutters, roof, drains and walls. The home maintenance checklist lists what to look for, season by season.
• Think about an electrical inspection (EICR) if there's no record of one in the last 10 years. See EICR inspections for homeowners.
• Keep every receipt and certificate for work you have done. See how long to keep home receipts.
• Plan next year's jobs so nothing comes round as a surprise.

Let Home+ keep track for you

Home+ is a free app that turns this checklist into a plan for your home. Tell it about your home and it builds a maintenance schedule, reminds you a week before each job is due and keeps your certificates and receipts in one place.

See the maintenance schedule · See the document vault

Frequently asked questions