Ask anyone halfway through packing a three-bed semi in Kesgrave what the worst bit of moving house is, and most will say the last week — the bit where every cupboard somehow produces three more boxes than expected. According to TwentyCi’s latest Property & Homemover Report, they’re not alone: close to 1.5 million households across the country are currently moving, around 100,000 more than this time last year, and 2025 turned out to be the busiest year for property listings in a decade.
The numbers behind that are worth knowing if a move’s on the cards. Over 1.7 million homes went on the market in 2025 — up 2.1% on 2024 — and sales agreed passed 1.25 million, a rise of 2.3%. Completions, the point where the van actually turns up, ran 10.1% ahead of 2024 and nearly 3% above pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Because that surge feeds straight through into demand for removals and storage, booking a date well ahead of completion, rather than the week before, still makes the difference between getting the slot you want and taking whatever’s left.
The report also breaks down when people actually spend money after a move — 7.7% of all mover-related spending happens in the first week alone, and nearly a quarter of it within the first month. That tallies with what turns up on the day: a 7.5-tonne Luton van backed up with the tail-lift down because the driveway on a Woodbridge terrace won’t take it any closer, flat-pack wardrobes half-assembled, and a fridge freezer that needs the long carry round the side because the front door won’t take it straight through.
With the Bank of England’s December rate cut giving the market a bit more confidence heading into 2026, that pace looks set to continue rather than ease off — which for anyone in Ipswich, Felixstowe or out toward Aldeburgh means booking a reputable firm sooner rather than later, particularly around the completion-day pinch points at the end of the month when everyone seems to want the same Friday.
T. Humphrey Removals has been helping households across Ipswich, Woodbridge and the wider Suffolk area get from one address to the next — packing, storage, house clearances, the lot — for long enough to know a well-organised move from a rushed one. Anyone with a date already in mind can get in touch through thumphrey-removals.co.uk/.
