What should you do on the first day in your new home?

Checklist for the first day

1. 1

   Step 1: Test the smoke alarm by holding in the button, and check that there is at least one per floor.

2. 2

   Step 2: Count the keys and access cards you have received, also for storage, laundry room and garage, and write down the number. our advice

3. 3

   Step 3: Change the lock or lock cylinder if you own the house. For a tenant-owned apartment, ask the association and for a rental apartment, ask the landlord.

4. 4

   Step 4: Check that the electricity is on and that the electricity grid agreement and electricity trading agreement are in the same person's name.

5. 5

   Step 5: Check that your home insurance is valid for the new address from the move-in date.

6. 6

   Step 6: Place the fire blanket near the kitchen and the fire extinguisher near the exit.

7. 7

   Step 7: Put up your name on the door and mailbox.

Source: Myndigheten för civilt försvar: Fire alarms, Bostadsbolaget: Fire safety, Stöldskyddsföreningen: When you move in and out, Gothenburg Energi: How to transfer your electricity agreement, grid agreement, district heating and gas, Hyresgästföreningen (the Swedish Union of Tenants): Moving guide for new residents, Myndigheten för civilt försvar: Fire extinguishers at home, Myndigheten för civilt försvar: Fire blanket, Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency): Special postal address

Who is responsible for the smoke alarm in the apartment?

The property owner installs it and you as a tenant take care of it, unless otherwise stated in the rental contract. This is what the general advice on smoke alarms says according to the Myndigheten för civilt försvar. The maintenance means replacing the battery, testing and cleaning. If a smoke alarm that the landlord has installed does not work, the landlord should replace it, writes Hyresgästföreningen. The housing company in Gothenburg promises at least one smoke alarm when you move in, and you are responsible for ensuring it works.

Source: Civil Defence Agency: Smoke alarms, Hyresgästföreningen: How do I reduce the risk of fire in my apartment?, Housing Company: Fire safety.

Where should you place the smoke alarm?

Requirements for smoke alarms have existed in newly built homes since 1999. The smoke alarm should be placed in the ceiling, at least 50 centimeters from the nearest wall and near the kitchen and bedroom. The Fire Protection Association recommends that a smoke alarm should not cover more than 60 square meters and that it is cleaned once a year. This means at least one smoke alarm per floor, and more in a large apartment or house.

Source: Civil Defence Agency: Smoke alarms, Fire Protection Association: Smoke alarms. The last sentence is our summary of the advice.

Should you change the locks when you move in?

The Burglary Protection Association advises you to change the locks, as you never know how many duplicates have been made of the keys you received from the previous owner. If you own a house, you decide yourself. In a tenant-owned apartment, check with the association first, as it may have a joint locking system. If you live in a rental apartment, the lock belongs to the landlord, so ask the landlord before you change.

Also count the keys and tags from the first day. When you move out, all must be returned, including copies and tags for storage, laundry room and garage. At Bostadsbolaget, you may otherwise have to pay for the cost of replacing the locks. What applies to the move-out is stated in step 7, inspection and keys.

Source: Stöldskyddsföreningen: When you move in and out, Bostadsbolaget: Move out. The advice to count the keys and ask the association or landlord is ours.

Do you have electricity from the first day?

You need both a grid agreement and an electricity retail agreement, and the same person should be on both. In Gothenburg, Göteborg Energi is the grid supplier, and you cannot choose another. You choose the electricity retail yourself. With Poseidon, you get DinEl if you do not choose. If the apartment has individual electricity metering, like some apartments at Bostadsbolaget, you do not need your own grid agreement and no electricity supplier. Have the facility ID and meter location number at hand when you report your move.

More about the power grid, electricity trade and assigned agreements in the guide to electricity agreements when moving.

Source: Göteborg Energi: How to move electricity agreement, grid agreement, district heating and gas, Poseidon: Move-in guide, The Housing Company: Move-in.

Does the home insurance apply in the new home?

Only if you have changed it. Hyresgästföreningen advises you to contact the insurance company so that you are properly insured from the time you get access, at the latest on the move-in day. Some insurances have move protection that applies to things in both the old and new home for a while, usually one to two months. No law requires home insurance, but the landlord can require it, and the Housing Company does. If you live in a tenant-owned apartment or villa, you need to supplement with a tenant-owned apartment or villa insurance. What is included is stated in the guide to home insurance.

Source: Hyresgästföreningen: Home insurance rental apartment, Hyresgästföreningen: Moving guide for new resident, Bostadsbolaget: Move in, Consumers': When does the insurance apply.

Do you need a fire extinguisher and fire blanket?

The agency for civil defence recommends a powder extinguisher with 6 kilo powder and a fire blanket, which is enough for most small fires in a room. The extinguisher should be easy to reach, preferably near the exit. The fire blanket should be 120 by 180 centimeters and stored near or in the kitchen. In a rental apartment, you pay for the fire extinguisher yourself.

Source: Hyresgästföreningen: Fire extinguishers in the home, Civil Defence Agency: Fire blanket, Hyresgästföreningen: How do I reduce the risk of fire in my apartment?.

What do you do with the address and name on the door?

If you have not already done flyttanmälan (notification of change of address), do it now. If you report within a week, the address applies from the moving day, and how long the change of address takes is in a separate post. Put up your name on the door and mailbox. Skatteverket advises those who are lodgers or subletting to do so instead of writing c/o. The rest of what you change your address for is in the subscription checklist and in Your moving plan.

Source: Skatteverket: Flyttanmälan (change of address), Skatteverket: Special postal address, Hyresgästföreningen: Moving guide for new residents.