For You are moving into or out of an apartment with a managing agent.
Find out who signs what
This is the step that stalls, and it stalls because two different parties are involved. The managing agent runs the building day to day; the freeholder owns it. Some permissions come from one, some from the other.
Ask the agent directly: do you need anything from the freeholder, and if so, does it come from me or from the removal company? Getting that answer early is worth more than anything else on this list.
What agents typically ask for
It varies by block, but the pattern is consistent enough to plan around.
- Written notice of the date, usually further ahead than people expect.
- The removal company’s public liability certificate.
- A lift booking, where there is a lift.
- Sometimes a refundable deposit against damage to communal areas.
- Confirmation of permitted working hours — many blocks are weekday daytime only.
The lift is the constraint
In most managed blocks the lift is the only realistic route for anything large, and it is shared with everyone else in the building. A booking gives you a window rather than exclusive use for the day.
That is why the stair core gets measured as well. If a piece will not fit the lift car, it goes up the stairs or it does not go, and that is much better established before it is packed.
Permitted hours rule out the weekend move
A great many people assume they will move on a Saturday. A great many blocks do not permit it.
If your block is weekday daytime only, that has knock-on effects — taking a day off work, and coordinating with a completion if there is one. Find out early rather than building a plan on an assumption.