Moving guide
How much does moving house actually cost in London?
Nobody tells you the real number, and it drives me mad. By the time you’re moving, you’ve 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. fml. So here’s what your options actually cost, not just the number on the website.
A man with a van. Usually £60 to £80 an hour, which looks cheap on paper. Until he turns up late, rushes you, the van smells a bit weird, and the traffic adds an hour you hadn’t budgeted for. The hourly rate is almost never what you end up paying. Fine for small, simple jobs.
A big removals firm. Often £1,500 to £1,800 for a tiny one-bed, with packing and crew you didn’t ask for, plus an itemised list of every box before you’ve even finished packing. Brilliant for a big family home, total overkill for a flat.
My flat fee. One price, agreed before the day, everything in, no clock ticking in the background. Here’s exactly what makes up the number:
- Service fee: my time, graft and care on the day. From £225 for a small London move, more for bigger jobs or longer drives.
- The van: hire, my business insurance, fuel within London, tolls, and all my kit (trolley, blankets, straps). Around £150.
- Out-of-London travel: only if we head past the M25, roughly 50p a mile for the round trip.
For a typical London-to-London move, that lands around £350 to £400 all in, and the number doesn’t budge. No “well, that took longer than I thought” at the end of the day.
You’ve got enough on your plate. Moving day shouldn’t come with a nasty surprise bill, so just drop me your postcodes and a rough idea of your stuff, and I’ll send a flat quote back the same day.