Yes. You can book moving day as paid holiday, in the same way as any other day off, and the earlier you ask, the easier it is for your employer to say yes. It’s also worth checking your contract or staff handbook in case your employer offers anything extra for a move.
How much notice to give
The law sets a minimum notice for holiday requests: at least twice as long as the time off you’re asking for. Your contract can set different notice rules, and if it does, the contract applies. In practice, asking as soon as you have a likely date gives everyone the most room.
Your employer can turn down a request for particular dates, for example in a busy week, but they have to give you notice to do that. What they can’t do is stop you taking your holiday at all: by law, your employer must make sure you can take the holiday you’re entitled to during the year. Acas says employers should have a good business reason to refuse or cancel a holiday request.
If you’ve run out of holiday
You can ask for unpaid leave instead. It’s up to your employer whether to agree, but you can explain the reason, and Acas encourages both sides to try to reach an agreement together. Your contract may say how to ask.
If your moving date moves
Moving dates can shift. Telling your manager early that a move is coming, and roughly when, makes it far easier to swap the day if you need to. If you work shifts, it can help to ask whether a nearby day off could be moved to line up with your new date.
Making one day go further
A single day can feel tight for a whole house. A storage unit lets you spread the work out: take boxes over in the evenings or at the weekend before the big day, so moving day is mostly furniture. Our standard access hours are 6am to 10pm, seven days a week, and the minimum stay is two weeks, so it can cover just the weeks around your move.
If that would help, you can get a price online or call us on 0800 2545585 and we’ll help you work out the size you need.
Related questions
- How to move in two weeks or less
- Do I have to be there on moving-in day?
- Short-term self storage for a house move
Further reading