Moving House in Nigeria: Costs, Movers & a Week-by-Week Checklist

People spend six weeks negotiating the rent and two days planning the move. Then moving day arrives, the truck driver announces a new price with half the furniture already loaded, the television travels unwrapped, the old landlord withholds the caution fee over a wall you did not damage, and the first night in the new flat is spent looking for the box with the bedsheets.

None of that is bad luck. It is all a scheduling problem, and the fix costs nothing but sequence. Here is what a move actually costs in 2026, how to hire someone without being held hostage on the day, and a countdown that puts each task where it belongs.

What Moving Actually Costs

Indicative 2026 ranges. The spread within each row is mostly distance, floor level and how much furniture needs dismantling.

Then the line items that never make it into anyone's budget:

That last row is not a line anyone enjoys writing down, but pretending it does not exist is how people end up negotiating on a pavement with a loaded truck. Budget for it, keep it in small notes, and treat it as a cost of the day rather than a surprise.

Mover or Do It Yourself?

Self-moving works when you own little that is heavy or fragile: a self-contain, a mini flat, a student's belongings. Hire a bus or small truck, gather three or four people who have done this before, and you will save real money.

The threshold is not the truck, it is the furniture. Once there is a fridge, a washing machine, a wardrobe that has to come apart, a bed frame with fixings, or air conditioners on brackets, the calculation flips. Untrained hands on a staircase break things and hurt themselves, and the cost of one destroyed television or one damaged wall in the old flat wipes out the saving.

The hybrid that most people should consider: hire the truck and the driver yourself, hire loaders separately, but pay a technician properly to handle the air conditioners, the inverter and anything gas-fired.

How to Vet a Moving Company

• Registration and a physical office. A CAC-registered business at an address you could visit behaves differently from a phone number.
• Own vehicles or subcontracted? Ask directly. A company that subcontracts is handing your belongings to someone you never vetted.
• Goods-in-transit cover. Ask whether it exists and what it actually covers. Many Nigerian movers have none; knowing that in advance changes how you pack the valuables.
• A signed inventory at loading. Non-negotiable. A numbered list of every item and box, signed by both sides before the truck moves.
• Written quote itemised by labour, vehicle, materials, dismantling and any stairs or distance surcharge.
• Payment structure: a deposit on loading, the balance only after everything is inside the new place and checked against the inventory. Never pay in full upfront.
• References. Ask for two recent customers and actually call one.

When to Move, and When Not To

• Best months: February to May, and September to November outside the school resumption crunch.
• Worst: December and January. Demand peaks, prices can nearly double, and the roads are at their absolute worst.
• Avoid the heaviest rains where you can. Open trucks and upholstered furniture are a poor combination, and a wet mattress does not recover.
• Midweek beats weekend, and mid-month beats month-end, on both price and traffic.
• Start early. A 7am start in Lagos is worth two hours of daylight later.

The Six-Week Countdown

Packing: What People Get Wrong

• Label by destination room, not by contents. "Kitchen" on every side of the box beats a careful list of what is inside. The loaders are reading it at a glance while walking.
• Small boxes for heavy things. Books and tins in a large box means a box that fails halfway down the stairs. Heavy items go in small boxes, light items in big ones.
• The kitchen is always bigger than you think. Allow twice the time and twice the boxes you first estimated. Every single time.
• Ghana-must-go bags are excellent for bedding, clothes and soft goods — cheap, tough, and they squeeze into gaps in the truck.
• Keep the original boxes for the television, microwave and anything with a screen. Failing that, wrap in a blanket and sandwich between hardboard.
• Drain everything. Washing machine, water dispenser, kettle, the fridge defrosted a day ahead with the door left open.
• Photograph the back of the TV and any wiring before you unplug it. You will thank yourself at the other end.
• Pack a first-night box and carry it in your own vehicle: bedsheets, towels, toilet roll, soap, phone chargers, a torch, plates and cutlery for the household, kettle, medication, and the kettle's plug.

What Never Goes in the Truck

Add the gas cylinder to that list for a different reason: many movers will refuse to carry a full one, and they are right to. Either run it down first, or transport it upright and secured in a private vehicle with a window open.

Moving Day Itself

1. Be present at both ends, or place someone you genuinely trust at each. The single most common source of loss is nobody watching one end.
2. Sign the inventory at loading. Count the boxes. Note any item that is already scratched, so it is not attributed to the move.
3. Photograph the old flat completely empty, every room, with a visible date. This is your evidence for the caution fee.
4. Take and photograph the meter reading at the old property, and the meter number and reading at the new one.
5. Check the inventory at unloading, before the truck leaves. Once it drives off, a missing box is an argument rather than a correction.
6. Pay the balance last, after the check.
7. Feed people and keep water available. A small thing that measurably changes how your furniture gets handled.

The Handover at the Old Place

The move and the handover are two separate jobs, and treating them as one is why so many caution fees vanish.

• Clean the property to the standard you received it. Cleaning is the first deduction any landlord reaches for.
• Make good the holes: brackets, nails, wall anchors, and the marks left by an inverter or air conditioner.
• Do a joint inspection with the landlord or agent, against the inventory you signed on the way in.
• Ask for a written, itemised statement of any deductions on the day, not "later".
• Run the prepaid meter credit down rather than topping up in your final weeks; units stay with the property.
• Settle electricity, water, waste and estate dues, and keep every receipt.
• Hand over keys against a signed, dated acknowledgement stating how many keys.
• Give a forwarding address and phone number in writing.

Our guide to caution fees and how to get them back covers what counts as fair wear and tear, and if you are leaving mid-term, moving out before your rent expires covers the refund question.

Utilities and Address Changes

• Electricity: final reading at the old address; at the new one, record the meter number and check for inherited arrears before you move in. See bands, meters and light bills.
• Water: get the tanker supplier's number from a neighbour, and confirm who runs the pump. Our water guide covers what to establish first.
• Waste: register with the PSP operator serving the new address. Unregistered addresses accumulate problems quietly.
• Internet: check coverage at the new address before moving day, not after. Relocating an existing service is usually cheaper than a fresh install.
• Admin: bank, employer, subscriptions, delivery apps, and the security or estate office at both ends.

The First 48 Hours

• Change the locks. Cheap, fast, and you have no idea how many keys exist to the flat you just took.
• Find and photograph the essentials: the main water valve, the distribution board and breakers, the meter, the tank, the soakaway.
• Test everything — every tap, socket, switch, light, lock and window.
• Report every defect in writing, immediately. This is the highest-value action of the whole move. A fault reported in week one is the property's prior condition; the identical fault reported in month eight is damage you caused, deducted from your caution fee.
• Fumigate before the furniture if you can still sequence it that way.
• Introduce yourself to the neighbours and the security. In a Nigerian compound this is not a courtesy, it is infrastructure.

If you are moving into a shared flat, agree the house rules in the first week while goodwill is high — our roommate agreement template is built for exactly that conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to move house in Nigeria?

Within the same city in 2026, a self-managed move with a hired truck and loaders commonly runs from about ₦40,000 to ₦120,000. A professional mover handling a one-bedroom typically charges ₦120,000 to ₦250,000, and a two or three-bedroom ₦250,000 to ₦600,000. Interstate moves such as Lagos to Abuja for a family home usually fall between ₦600,000 and ₦1.5m. Budget separately for air conditioner removal and reinstallation, fumigation of the new place, and informal settlements at both gates.

Should I hire a moving company or move myself?

Self-moving makes sense for a self-contain or a mini flat where you own little heavy furniture and have help. Once you have a fridge, a washing machine, wardrobes that must be dismantled, or air conditioners to uninstall, a professional mover usually costs less than the damage and the lost day. The deciding factor is rarely the truck; it is whether you have people who can safely carry heavy items down stairs without destroying them or themselves.

How do I choose a moving company in Nigeria?

Insist on a pre-move survey, in person or by video call, and an itemised written quote based on it. A price given over the phone without seeing your load will be revised upward on moving day, with your belongings already in the truck. Check the company is registered, has a physical office and owns rather than subcontracts its vehicles, ask whether goods-in-transit cover exists, and require a signed inventory at loading. Pay a deposit on loading and the balance only after everything has been checked into the new place.

What should I never put in a moving truck?

Documents, cash, jewellery, laptops, phones, passports, title deeds, tenancy agreements, medication and anything irreplaceable. Carry those yourself in a bag that does not leave your side. Also keep a full gas cylinder out of a loaded truck, since many movers will refuse it outright and it is a genuine fire risk. The rule is simple: if losing it would be a catastrophe rather than an inconvenience, it travels with you.

When is the best time to move house in Nigeria?

February to May, or September to November avoiding the school resumption crunch. December and January are the worst window, when demand peaks, prices can nearly double and the roads are at their most congested. Avoid the heaviest weeks of the rainy season if you can, because furniture and open trucks do not combine well. Midweek and mid-month are consistently cheaper than a month-end weekend.

Do I need to fumigate a new apartment in Nigeria?

It is standard practice and worth doing, particularly in a property that has been vacant. Schedule it before the furniture arrives rather than after, since treating an empty flat is more effective and far less disruptive. Costs commonly run from about ₦15,000 to ₦50,000 depending on the size of the property. In some estates and serviced buildings the landlord or facility manager arranges it as part of preparing the unit, so ask before paying for it yourself.

What should I do in the first 48 hours after moving in?

Change the locks, photograph the meter and record its number and reading, find the main water valve and the electrical distribution board, test every tap, socket and switch, and put any defect you discover in writing to the landlord immediately. That last step matters most: faults reported in the first days are the previous state of the property, while the same faults reported months later tend to be treated as damage you caused and deducted from your caution fee.

Costs in this guide are indicative of the Nigerian market in 2026 and vary considerably by city, distance, floor level and season. Always obtain a written quote based on an actual survey of your belongings.