10 Things to Do After Buying a House — New Homeowner Checklist

Buying a house is one of the biggest financial commitments you'll ever make. By the time you reach completion day, you've already dealt with mortgage applications, surveys, solicitors, searches, and the particular kind of anxiety that only a property chain can produce. The last thing you want is another to-do list. But the first week in a new home is actually the best time to sort a few important things — partly because you're already in "admin mode," and partly because some of these tasks become harder (or impossible) the longer you leave them.

This isn't a list of 47 tasks designed to overwhelm you. It's ten things that genuinely matter, in rough order of priority. Most take minutes rather than hours. A few could save you hundreds of pounds.

1. Check if you overpaid stamp duty

This is the one most people don't know about, and it's the reason this site exists. When you bought your home, you paid Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on the full purchase price. But legally, you shouldn't have paid SDLT on any moveable items — called chattels — that were included in the sale. Carpets, curtains, light fittings, white goods, garden sheds, fitted wardrobes that aren't structurally attached — these are all chattels, and their value should have been deducted from the price before your stamp duty was calculated.

The problem is that almost nobody does this at the time of purchase. Your solicitor filed the SDLT return using the headline purchase price, and HMRC's own calculator doesn't prompt for chattels either. The result is that the majority of homebuyers in England overpay stamp duty by anywhere from a few hundred pounds to over a thousand, depending on the property price and the volume of chattels included.

You have four years from the date of completion to make an overpayment relief claim to HMRC. But the best time to do it is now, while your memory of what was included is fresh and your solicitor's file is still easily accessible. The TA10 form — which lists every chattel included in the sale — is in your completion documents, and you can use it as the basis for a claim.

2. Keep your solicitor's completion file safe

Your solicitor will send you (or may have already sent you) a completion pack containing the key documents from your purchase. This file is more important than most people realise, and it's worth storing somewhere safe and accessible rather than shoving it in a drawer and forgetting about it.

The completion file typically includes your SDLT5 certificate (proof that stamp duty was paid), the TA10 Fittings and Contents Form (the document that lists every chattel and fixture included in the sale), the title deeds (or confirmation that the title has been registered electronically with the Land Registry), the completion statement(showing the final financial breakdown of the transaction), and copies of the contract and any supplementary agreements.

You'll need these documents if you ever make a stamp duty refund claim, if you sell the property in the future, if there's a dispute about what was included in the sale, or if you need to prove ownership for any reason. The TA10 form in particular is the single most important document for a chattels-based SDLT claim — it's the contemporaneous record of what was agreed. If you haven't read it yet, now is a good time. You can learn more about what it contains and why it matters in our guide to the TA10 form.

3. Check your council tax band

Millions of homes in England and Scotland are in the wrong council tax band. The bands were set based on property values in April 1991 (in England) and April 2003 (in Wales and Scotland), and they haven't been systematically reviewed since. That means your home's band was set based on what it would have been worth over three decades ago — and if the original valuation was inaccurate, you could be paying hundreds of pounds more per year than you should be.

Checking is straightforward. Look up your property on the council tax band checker and compare your band against similar-sized properties on your street and in your immediate area. If neighbours with comparable homes are in a lower band, it's worth investigating. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) handles band reviews in England and Wales — you can request a review online, and if the VOA agrees your band is too high, your council tax will be reduced and you may receive a backdated refund. Be aware that a review can also result in your band going up, though this is uncommon.

This is one of those tasks that takes 30 seconds to check and could save you a significant amount over the years you live in the property. Worth doing on day one.

4. Read your meters and set up energy accounts

On the day you move in — ideally before you start using any appliances — take a photo of your gas and electricity meters showing the current readings. This is the simplest way to draw a clean line between the previous owner's usage and yours, and it protects you from being billed for energy you didn't use.

Your property will already have energy suppliers in place. You're not obligated to stay with them — you can switch to any supplier you like from day one. Contact the existing suppliers to give them your meter readings and let them know the property has changed hands, then either set up a new account with them or switch to a better deal. If you're not sure who the current suppliers are, you can find your electricity supplier by calling 0800 048 7444 (the Meter Number Helpline), and your gas supplier by calling 0870 608 1524 (the National Grid gas enquiry line).

If the property has a smart meter, it may need to be re-registered to your new account. Your supplier will walk you through this. Don't assume the smart meter will automatically update — it often doesn't.

5. Update your address everywhere

This is the tedious one, but it matters. A surprising number of things can go wrong if your address isn't updated promptly — missed bills, lapsed insurance, credit score issues, and the quiet frustration of important post arriving at your old address for months.

Start with the essentials: DVLA (driving licence and vehicle registration — legally required), banks and credit cards, employer (for payroll and tax records), HMRC (if you file self-assessment), GP and dentist, and your home and car insurance providers. Then work through subscriptions, pension providers, the electoral roll (your local council website), and any direct debits tied to your old address.

The Royal Mail redirect service is worth setting up as a safety net. For a fee (currently around £35 for three months), Royal Mail will forward all post from your old address to your new one. It doesn't replace updating your address — organisations still need your new details — but it catches anything you forget. You can set it up online and it starts within five working days.

6. Review your buildings insurance

Your mortgage lender will have required buildings insurance to be in place from the date of exchange (not completion — exchange). In many cases, your solicitor arranged a basic policy on your behalf at the point of exchange to satisfy this requirement. That policy may be perfectly adequate, but it's worth reviewing it now that the purchase is complete and you have time to read the details.

The key figure to check is the rebuild cost. Buildings insurance should cover the cost of completely rebuilding your home from the ground up — not the market value of the property. The rebuild cost is usually significantly lower than the market value, because it doesn't include the land value. Your surveyor's report may include a rebuild cost estimate. If it doesn't, the Association of British Insurers and the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) provide a calculator that gives a reasonable estimate based on your property type, size, and location.

Also check what's covered and what's excluded. Standard buildings insurance covers the structure, roof, walls, floors, fitted kitchens, and permanent fixtures. Some policies exclude certain types of flood risk, subsidence in specific areas, or damage to outbuildings and boundary walls unless you add them explicitly. If you're in a high-risk area for any of these, make sure your policy reflects it. And if your solicitor arranged the initial policy, compare it against a few quotes from comparison sites — the convenience policy is rarely the cheapest option.

7. Test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors

This takes five minutes and it's one of the most important safety checks you can do. Walk through every room and press the test button on each smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector. If any alarm doesn't sound, replace the battery immediately. If the alarm is a sealed-unit type (no replaceable battery), check the expiry date on the casing — most have a ten-year lifespan, and if it's past that, replace the entire unit.

Since October 2022, it has been a legal requirement in England for all rented properties to have smoke alarms on every floor and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance (such as a gas boiler or wood-burning stove). There's no equivalent legal requirement for owner-occupied homes, but the safety logic is exactly the same. If your new home doesn't have adequate coverage, pick up a few alarms — they cost under £20 each and could save your life.

While you're at it, locate your fuse box (consumer unit), your stopcock (the valve that shuts off the mains water supply — usually under the kitchen sink), and your gas shut-off valve (usually next to the gas meter). Knowing where these are before you need them in an emergency is the kind of thing that only matters once, but matters enormously when it does.

8. Book a boiler service

Your home's boiler is one of the most expensive things to replace if it fails, and regular servicing is the single best way to extend its life and catch problems early. Check when the boiler was last serviced — the date should be recorded in the boiler log book (a small booklet usually kept near the boiler), or you can ask the previous owner's solicitor via your own solicitor if it wasn't handed over.

If the boiler hasn't been serviced in the last twelve months, book a service with a Gas Safe registered engineer. An annual boiler service typically costs £60 to £100 and takes about 45 minutes. The engineer will check the boiler is operating safely and efficiently, inspect the flue, test for carbon monoxide leaks, and flag any components that are showing wear.

If your boiler is still under manufacturer's warranty, keeping up with annual services is usually a condition of that warranty. Missing a service can void the warranty entirely, which means a repair that would have been covered for free could end up costing you hundreds. Even if the warranty has expired, a well-maintained boiler lasts significantly longer than a neglected one — and a £80 annual service is a lot cheaper than a £3,000 replacement.

9. Get a pest inspection if anything was flagged

If your surveyor's report mentioned signs of damp, woodworm, timber damage, or evidence of rodent activity, it's worth getting a specialist pest inspection sooner rather than later. These issues rarely get better on their own, and catching them early almost always means a simpler and cheaper fix. Left unaddressed, a minor woodworm problem can become structural timber damage, and a few mice in the loft can become a full colony within a couple of months.

Certain types of property carry higher risk. Period homes, rural properties, houses with cellars or basements, loft conversions, and anything with exposed timber or older construction methods are all more susceptible to pest and damp issues. If your property falls into any of these categories and the survey raised even a minor concern, a specialist inspection is a sensible investment — typically £100 to £200, and it gives you a clear picture of what you're dealing with before you start unpacking.

If you need to find a reputable pest control company, PestPro Index is a free, independent directory of vetted pest control providers across the UK, with no lead fees or hidden charges.

10. Enjoy your new home

You've done the hard part. The offer, the mortgage, the survey, the chain, the solicitors, the sleepless nights wondering if it would all fall through — that's behind you now. The admin will sort itself out over the next few weeks. Not everything has to happen on day one.

Make yourself a cup of tea (once you've found the kettle). Order a takeaway on your first night if the kitchen isn't unpacked. Walk around the rooms and let it sink in that this is yours. The list above is important, but it's not urgent — it can wait until Monday if you completed on a Friday, and it can wait until next week if you need a weekend to recover from the move.

The first few weeks in a new home are a strange mix of excitement and chaos. Things will go wrong — you'll discover a tap that drips, a door that sticks, a radiator that doesn't heat up. That's normal. You'll figure it out. Congratulations on your new home.