Moving guide
How much does moving house actually cost?
Nobody tells you the real number, and it drives me mad. By the time you’re moving you’ve already paid the deposit on the new place, the agents, the boxes and tape, and somehow your old landlord’s still keeping half your deposit anyway. The last thing you need is a total blind spot on the cost of moving your stuff from point A to point B.
So here’s what your options actually cost.
A man with a van. Usually somewhere around £60 to £80 an hour, which looks cheap on paper. Until he turns up late, rushes you, and the traffic adds an hour you hadn’t budgeted for. The hourly rate is almost never what you end up paying, with extra surprise charges often being added at the end. Fine for small, simple jobs. Not so fine for full-on moves.
A big removals firm. Often four figures even for a small one-bed, with packing and a crew you may not need, plus a requirement for an itemised list of every box and freestanding item before you’ve even started packing. Brilliant for a big family home, total overkill for a flat or a house share.
Our flat fee. One price, agreed before the day, everything in it, no clock ticking in the background. It’s based on the items and access you describe to us:
- The service fee. Your mover’s time, graft and care. From £225 for a small in-city move, going up with the size of the job and the length of the drive.
- The van. The van itself, business insurance, fuel for a short trip, tolls, and all the kit. Around £150.
- Travel and fuel. Roughly 50p per mile for the round trip if it’s a longer one.
For a typical small, in-city move, the total tends to land somewhere in the region of £350 to £400 all in. Example figures, correct as of October 2026, and every quote is priced on your actual move. As long as the move matches what you told us the fee won’t change, and that’s the deal both ways: describe it accurately, all the furniture and the flights of stairs and the parking included, and we will always honour the fee we gave you. If there’s significantly more than you mentioned on the day, we’ll talk it through and agree anything extra with you first, rather than springing it on you at the end.
You’ve got enough on your plate. Send us your postcodes and a rough idea of what you’ve got, and we’ll send a flat fee back.