Get rid of your stuff in South Africa

Once you've packed the things you're taking with you to the UK, you'll likely find that you're left with piles of things you don't need any more. Here are some simple ways to help them find a good home.

• A service like Moving On and SellnBuy will host a home sale in your house for you in exchange for a cut of the profits (expect about 25%). 

• Sell things to your friends. 

• Sell the things yourself on Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and Yaga (for clothes). Here are tips for taking good photos of furniture.

No matter how hard you try to get rid of your stuff, you’ll likely be left with a bunch of stuff at the end that you’ve just run out of energy to get rid of. Call a local charity shop and book a bakkie to collect donations. Or hire a junk removal service (like JustJunk) to do it for you.

Cleaning your old home

If you need to clean your home thoroughly to make sure you get your full deposit back, there are a few options.

• SweepSouth. So easy to book and likely a bit cheaper than the other options, but a bit more hassle. You’ll need to specify exactly what you want the cleaner to do (check out the list below). You supply your own cleaning equipment, which means you’ll also have to figure out how to dispose of that stuff once they’re done (easiest solution: offer it to the cleaner).

• The Specialists. Specialise in end-of-tenancy cleans. Branches all around the country.

• Pristine Clean. Deep-cleaning specialists. Cape Town only.

• Do it yourself. Here's a good checklist.