Moving out can be a tough job, often you help each other, especially with cleaning. So how do you move out during a lockdown when only half the tenants stayed in Reading? Student Zilah Atfield fills us in.
During the lockdown, only four out of six of my housemates chose to stay in our student home, while the other two either moved back to their family or a boyfriend’s house. The four of us have been living in our six-bed house for the last few months doing exams, and classic lockdown activities such as pub quizzes. Now we are coming to the end of our tenancy, like many of you, we are figuring out how to pack, clean and move while social distancing.
Our friends who spent lockdown out of the house have visited to collect their belongings and clean their rooms – we kept socially distanced, cleaning surfaces and door handles. The four of us have been organising ready to pack up, taking larger items to the recycling centre (book a slot! You can’t just turn up), donating clothes and smaller items to charity (via posted donation bags), and giving away via Olio. This is a great way to sustainably have a clear out if, like me, you are going to struggle to fit everything in the car!
We’ve brought lots of cleaning supplies and will spend our final few days here scrubbing everything clean in an attempt to retain every penny of our deposit.
Top Tips
My top tips for moving out if you are in a similar situation are:
- Start clearing out your stuff now – charity shops are closed, and you need to book slots in advance for the tip, so you will need to plan.
- Keep communicating with your housemates; let them know when you are in the house.
- Take the opportunity to Marie Kondo your life, using the app Olio my house has cleared out bags of clutter that we have accumulated over our student years.
- Clean the oven! Leaving a dirty oven is a classic way to lose your deposit.
If you need any further information about moving out, please see this information from RUSU.