How much does it cost to move house in the UK?

What you are actually paying for

A removal company sells time on the day and space in a vehicle. The price of a move comes from how many movers the job needs and for how long, what the contents take up in vehicle space and weight, and how long the vehicle spends driving between the two addresses. Every other line on a quote changes one of those.

Bedroom count is a shorthand for the vehicle. A surveyor turns the contents of a home into cubic feet, and cubic feet set the van. A Luton body holds somewhere between about 500 and 700 cubic feet depending on the body and the chassis, so a company should confirm that your contents fit the vehicle it plans to send. Once the contents pass what the van holds, the company either sends a second vehicle or sends the first one back for a second load, and the price rises in a step.

Crew hours are the figure people underestimate. Carrying a sofa down four flights to a van parked 60 metres away takes a crew several times longer than carrying the same sofa out of a hallway onto a van on the drive. Although the furniture and the vehicle are the same in both cases, the labour is not, and labour is most of the bill.

The eight things that change the work

Eight factors change how long a move takes and how much vehicle it needs. Two or three of them together add far more work than any one of them alone, which is why a quote can rise sharply.

• Volume. How much there is, measured in cubic feet, not rooms. A sparse three bedroom house can hold less than a full two bedroom flat.
• Weight. Books, tools, appliances, garden stone and a safe are dense. A van has a legal weight limit as well as a volume limit, and weight can be the one that runs out first. Section 5 covers what that means on the day.
• Awkwardness. A piano, a large American fridge, a solid oak wardrobe. Awkward items change the crew size and the equipment rather than the space needed.
• Preparation. Whether the contents are packed, labelled and stacked when the crew arrives, or still in cupboards.
• Access. Floors, stairs, lift size, and whether the lift is shared with other residents on a Friday morning.
• Parking and carry distance. How close a 3.5 tonne vehicle can legally stop to the door, and how far each item travels on foot.
• Distance between addresses. Driving hours, the return leg, and whether the job still finishes inside a driver’s legal working day.
• Waiting. Time a loaded crew spends outside a property waiting for keys, a lift, or a parking bay to clear.

A long carry adds time to every item that leaves the house. A long carry where nothing has been packed adds hours, because the crew packs each box first and then walks it 60 metres.

Same size, different job: three moves

These three moves would be described the same way on a comparison site. A removal company prices them as three different jobs.

Moves A and B involve the same furniture. Move A can cost considerably more, and none of that difference is the removal company charging more for the same work. Move C runs the other way, because a one bedroom home can need a bigger vehicle than a sparsely furnished three bedroom house.

When a quote form asks only for bedroom count and two postcodes, the company is guessing at all of this. A survey, in person or by video, is how the company replaces the guess with a measurement.

Why preparation changes the price

Take move B and change one thing. In the first version every box is packed, taped and labelled by room, and the boxes are stacked in the hall by the front door. In the second version the kitchen cupboards are full, the wardrobes have clothes in them, and there are loose items in every room.

The first version is a loading job. Two movers carry, stack and drive. The second version is a packing job followed by a loading job, and packing a kitchen properly takes one person most of a morning. The same two movers now need a longer day, or the company sends a third person, or the move runs into a second day when a completion time is tight.

Packing yourself also changes what happens if something breaks. Removal contracts often set different cover for boxes you packed yourself. Check the damage clause in the company’s terms before choosing, and see what removal companies’ insurance covers.

Crew size, vehicle capacity and weight

Three movers can work out cheaper than two. An hourly rate for three people is higher, and three people can load enough faster to finish inside fewer hours, because one stays in the van stacking while the other two carry. On a job with stairs or a lift, three movers keep the loading going while items are carried through the building, where two movers spend part of the day waiting.

Vehicle capacity moves in steps rather than smoothly. A Luton van with a tail lift is the standard removals vehicle, with a body of roughly 500 to 700 cubic feet depending on the chassis. A 7.5 tonne removal vehicle usually holds considerably more, though its capacity depends on the body fitted, and it cannot always park where a Luton can. When the contents sit just over one van load, the company either sends a larger or a second vehicle, or makes a return journey on a short move. Most Luton cabs seat three including the driver, so a fourth mover needs a second vehicle or their own transport.

Weight is a separate limit, and it is a legal one

A Luton van is usually a 3.5 tonne vehicle, and the 3.5 tonnes covers the whole thing: the van itself, the fuel, the tail lift, the crew and the load together. The figure is the maximum authorised mass, and a car licence issued from 1 January 1997 onwards allows nothing heavier without the C1 entitlement that covers vehicles between 3,500kg and 7,500kg.¹ The empty van accounts for most of the 3.5 tonnes, so what a Luton can lawfully carry is often around a tonne, and less again with a tail lift fitted.

A tonne arrives faster than people expect when the contents are dense. Boxes of books, a garage of tools, paving slabs, a safe, appliances and solid wood furniture reach the weight limit while the van still looks part empty. A removal company can therefore stand in front of a van with space left in it and tell you the job needs a second load or a second vehicle, and be right.

Overloading is enforced on the road. DVSA examiners weigh vehicles at the roadside, and an excess weight fixed penalty runs at £100 for under 10 per cent over, £200 from 10 to 15 per cent, and £300 at 15 per cent and over. The examiner also stops the vehicle going any further until the load is put right.² A crew that refuses to put the last items on the van is protecting your move as much as the licence of the driver.

Rough ranges by home size

The figures below are what jobs of this size usually come to for a local move with ordinary access. Every move is priced individually, and volume, access and preparation move a job up or down its band.

A home near the bottom of its band has level access, parking outside, light furnishing and a short drive. A home near the top has stairs without a lift, a long carry, heavy contents, or packing left to the crew. Of the three moves above, move A sits at the top of the two bedroom band and move B near the bottom of the same band.

Fixed price or time based

Removal companies quote in two ways, and the difference matters most when a move overruns.

A fixed price covers an agreed job. The company allows for the day running long when it sets that price, which is why a fixed quote from a company that surveyed the home is usually higher than an hourly estimate from a company that did not. What a fixed price still covers when the day overruns depends on the contract. Most contracts cover delays inside the job the company agreed, and most allow extra charges when the work turns out to be different from the job quoted, such as packing that is not finished. Ask the company to point at the clause.

A time based price charges by the hour or the half day, often with a minimum. A time based price costs less when the move goes well, and the customer carries the risk when it does not.

Get these in writing for either kind of quote:

• Crew size, as a number of movers, not “a team”.
• Vehicle, as a size and a number of vehicles.
• What starts the clock on a time based quote, and whether travel to the first address counts.
• The overrun rate, and the point at which it starts.
• Waiting charges, any free waiting time included, and the rate after that.
• What is excluded: dismantling, appliance disconnection, loft clearance, parking permits, VAT.

Why the cheapest quote is not always the cheapest move

A quote can be low for two very different reasons. The company is efficient, or the company has priced a smaller job than the one it will find on the day.

An underestimated job shows up the same way each time: the van fills before the house is empty, or the crew is a person short for a fourth floor, or the day runs past the hours the quote covered. The customer then has a loaded van outside and a completion deadline, which is very little room to argue about an extra charge.

Comparing quotes: are they quoting for the same job?

Two quotes are comparable only when both companies priced the same work. Put the quotes side by side and check each row.

Our guide on how to pick the right removal company covers what to check besides price.

The extras people forget

Most headline quotes leave out six common costs.

• Packing service. A full pack is priced by the hours it takes, usually a team for half a day to a full day depending on the home. Ask for it as a separate line, so the quote still stands without it.
• Materials. Boxes, tape and wrapping bought separately come to roughly £50 to £150 for a two bedroom home.
• Dismantling and rebuilding. Some companies include beds and flat pack wardrobes, some charge per item, and some will not touch fitted furniture at all. Name the items in writing.
• Storage. A gap between completion dates means container storage, roughly £100 to £300 a month depending on volume and location, plus handling charges in and out.
• Waiting time. Charged by the hour once any free allowance runs out. Ask for the rate and the allowance as figures.
• Parking. A permit or a bay suspension is set by the council, not by the removal company. Westminster, for example, publishes its own bay suspension charges and the notice it needs, and every council sets its own.

What makes my move complicated?

Answer the questions below and you get a plain description of the logistics of your move, what your answers mean for the crew and the vehicle, and the questions worth asking every company you contact. There is no price in it, because a price needs a survey.

The answers above also make a better quote request. A company that knows about the fourth floor, the shared lift and the loft before it quotes has no reason to change the price on the day.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to move house in the UK?

For a local move, most one to three bedroom homes come to between about £400 and £1,800. The final price depends on the work and the transport the job needs, and a removal company can give a firm figure after a survey.

Why are two quotes for the same house hundreds of pounds apart?

Two quotes usually differ because the companies priced different work. One priced two movers and the other priced three. One saw the home and the other guessed from a postcode. One included packing and the other left it out. Check the crew size, the vehicle, the hours and the exclusions before comparing the totals.

How many movers do I need?

A one or two bedroom home with level access usually needs two movers. A three bedroom home usually needs three, and so does a move with stairs or a lift, because three movers keep the loading going while items are carried through the building. Heavy items such as a piano or a safe change the crew whatever the size of the home.

Can a removal van be overloaded even when it looks part empty?

Yes. A Luton van is usually a 3.5 tonne vehicle, and that 3.5 tonnes covers the van, the fuel, the tail lift, the crew and the load together, so the load it can lawfully carry is often around a tonne. Books, tools, appliances, paving and solid wood furniture reach that weight long before the space runs out. A dense load can need two journeys or a second vehicle with space still showing in the van, and an overloaded vehicle stopped at the roadside carries a fixed penalty of up to £300 and goes no further until the load is put right.²

Is a fixed price better than an hourly rate?

A fixed price suits a move where an overrun would be expensive, such as a completion day with keys released late, because the company allows for that delay when it sets the price. An hourly rate suits a small, well prepared move with easy access. Ask each company for its overrun rate, because that figure is what you are comparing.

What should a moving budget include besides the removal quote?

Check whether the quote covers packing, materials, dismantling and VAT. Parking permits, storage, and waiting time on completion day are the costs most often left out.

Before comparing prices, our guide on how to pick the right removal company explains what to check besides cost, moving into a flat covers lifts and permits, and how to declutter before a move covers the saving that keeps a job inside one van. To see who operates near you, browse removal companies in London.

Sources

The licence and penalty figures in this guide are referenced below. Each source was checked on 22 September 2026. Links open in a new tab.

1. Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, Driving licence categories (2026). Category B covers vehicles up to 3,500kg maximum authorised mass for licences issued from 1 January 1997; category C1 covers 3,500kg to 7,500kg.
2. Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, DVSA roadside checks: fines and financial deposits (2026). Excess weight fixed penalties of £100 under 10 per cent, £200 from 10 to 15 per cent and £300 at 15 per cent and over, with the examiner preventing the vehicle going any further.