Moving House in the December School Holidays: A Week-by-Week Countdown

2 November 2026

Short answer: for a move in the 2026 year-end school holidays, book the lorry and the condo lift in the first half of November, order your boxes around 20 November, pack over the last three weeks of term, and move on a weekday in the second or third week of December. The KPM calendar puts the holiday at 4 to 31 December for Group A states and media reports give 5 to 31 December for Group B, which includes KL and Selangor. Avoid the first holiday weekend, the Christmas weekend and the last days of the month, because that is when everyone else is moving, and keep the final week clear for unpacking so the children start the new school year in a settled house.

December is the month many Malaysian families choose for a move: nobody misses school, tenancies often run to the year end, and a new house before the new school year is the plan for a lot of people. That makes the holidays a crowded time to need a lorry. Our general packing timeline explains why bookings need about eight weeks and boxes about three. This guide puts dates on that timeline for a December 2026 move, starting this week.

Why a December move needs an earlier start

Everyone wants the same weekends. The first Saturday of the holidays, the Christmas weekend and the month-end are the obvious days, so they go first.
Tenancies and handovers bunch at the year end. Many leases and new-property handovers fall on 31 December or 1 January, so the last week of the month is busy for movers and management offices alike.
Public holidays shorten the weeks. Christmas Day falls on Friday 25 December. Suppliers, management offices and utility counters that close for it close for the whole long weekend in practice, so plan around it.
It is the monsoon season. MetMalaysia said the north-east monsoon would run from late October to March 2027. Expect afternoon storms on the west coast; our rainy-day moving guide covers keeping cartons and furniture dry.

The countdown

This week (2–8 November): fix the date and book

Pick a weekday in the second or third week of December if you can. A Tuesday to Thursday between 8 and 23 December is the sweet spot: past the first-weekend rush, before Christmas, and with a full week left before school reopens.
Give notice if you rent. Check your tenancy agreement for the notice period and how the deposit inspection works; our guide to protecting floors and walls helps with the second part.
Book the lorry now. A school-holiday date needs four to six weeks’ notice to get the size and slot you want. Our lorry size guide helps you ask for the right truck so everything goes in one trip.
Book the lift at both ends if either home is a condominium or apartment. Management offices limit moving slots per day, and holiday weekends fill first. The condo lift booking guide covers deposits and time windows.
If the children are changing schools, ask the new school or the district education office now how the transfer works and what documents they need. Paperwork that needs a counter visit is easier before the holidays than during them.

9–15 November: sort and count

Declutter room by room. Sell or donate what is not coming. Anything you get rid of now is something you do not have to buy a box for.
Count your boxes. Our box count guide works it out by room. Write the number down by size: small boxes for books and kitchenware, medium for most things, large only for light items like bedding and soft toys.
Decide what goes by car. Documents, valuables, medicines, school things and the first-night box should travel with you, not on the lorry.

16–22 November: order boxes and start on the rarely used things

Order boxes around 20 November. About three weeks out is the point where the boxes get packed rather than stacked flat in a humid store room. Once-used Grade A cartons cost much less than new and are fine for a house move, as long as each one is dry and firm when you fill it; keep new cartons for anything going into long-term storage.
Order the tape and wrapping with them. You need more packing tape than you think, because every box gets an H-seal top and bottom, plus bubble wrap for glass and screens and stretch film for furniture.
Start with the store room. Books, files, festival decorations, spare bedding and hobby gear: anything you will not touch for a month.

23–29 November: pack most of the house

Pack the living room, the spare room and the parents’ wardrobe. Leave the children’s rooms, the kitchen and the bathroom for later.
Arrange the utilities. Ask for the electricity and water to be read or transferred on moving day, and book the internet installation at the new address; installers get busy in December too.
Update your address with the bank, insurers and any subscriptions that post things to you.

30 November – 4 December: the last week of term

Pack the kitchen over two or three evenings. Crockery is the slowest room in the house; our kitchen packing guide shows how to do plates and glasses without a box of broken pieces.
Leave the children’s rooms until school finishes. Pack their books and toys over the weekend of 5–6 December, with them helping and labelling their own boxes.
Confirm the lorry and the lift slots in writing a week ahead, with the address, the floor and the time.

Moving week (8–23 December)

Load in the morning. In the Klang Valley the heavy rain usually arrives in the afternoon or evening.
Pack a first-night box for each child: pyjamas, a towel, a favourite toy, a torch, the charger for whatever they cannot live without.
Unpack the children’s rooms first. Beds made and clothes in the wardrobe on the first night; books and school things by the second day.

The last week of December: settle in before school

Unpack school things first: uniforms, shoes, bags, stationery and the booklist for 2027. The 2027 school year opens in early January, so check your school’s exact date.
Do the rest room by room, and flatten the empty boxes as you go. Our guide on what to do with boxes after moving covers keeping, giving away and recycling them.

The December 2026 countdown at a glance

When	Main jobs
2–8 November	Fix a weekday date, give notice, book the lorry and both lift slots
9–15 November	Declutter, sell or donate, count boxes by room and size
16–22 November	Order boxes, tape and wrap; pack the store room and rarely used items
23–29 November	Pack most rooms; arrange utilities, internet and change of address
30 November–4 Dec	Pack the kitchen; confirm lorry and lift in writing
5–6 December	Pack the children’s rooms with them once school has finished
8–23 December	Move on a weekday morning; unpack the children’s rooms first
24–31 December	Unpack school things and the rest; recycle or store empty boxes

Dates to avoid if you can

Friday 4 and Saturday 5 December, the first days of the holiday in each group of states.
The Christmas weekend, Friday 25 to Sunday 27 December, when many services close.
The last three or four days of the month, when year-end tenancies and handovers bunch up.

If one of these is the only date that works, book everything even earlier and confirm it twice.

FAQ

When are the 2026 year-end school holidays in Malaysia? The KPM 2026 academic calendar puts the end-of-year holiday at 4 to 31 December for Group A states (Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, which keep a Friday–Saturday weekend), and media reports give 5 to 31 December for Group B, which includes KL and Selangor. Check the KPM calendar for your state before you fix a date.

How early should I book a lorry for a December move? Book it in the first half of November. A school-holiday date is one of the busiest times for movers, and the month-end and the weekends either side of Christmas fill first. Booking four to six weeks out gets you the lorry size and time slot you want rather than whatever is left.

What is the best date to move in the December holidays? A weekday in the second or third week of December. The first holiday weekend, the Christmas weekend and the last days of the month are when everyone else wants a lorry, and a weekday is easier for condo lift bookings too. Leave at least a week before school reopens to unpack.

When should I order moving boxes for a December move? About three weeks before moving day, so in the second half of November for a mid-December move. Boxes ordered earlier sit flat in a humid house for weeks; boxes ordered in the last week leave you packing in a hurry. Check that the supplier delivers before the public holidays at the end of the month.

How do I move house with school-age children? Pack their rooms last and unpack them first. Keep school things, uniforms and a few favourite toys in a clearly labelled box that travels in the car, not the lorry, and aim to have their rooms set up within two days of arriving so the last week of the holiday is not spent among boxes.

Boxes for a December move

Quinocycle supplies once-used Grade A cartons from RM1.10 alongside new cartons, with tape, bubble wrap and stretch film. We deliver across KL and Selangor the next working day, free on orders of RM300 and above and a flat RM30 below that.

Planning a December move and not sure how many boxes you need? WhatsApp +60 16-891 6381 or contact us with your home type and moving date, ideally before mid-November. We are open Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm and Saturday 8.30am to 1pm, and closed on Sundays and public holidays, including Christmas Day.