House removals in London, priced before we start.

Giga Removals moves homes across all 32 London boroughs and from London to anywhere in the UK. Studio flats, family houses and everything between. This page sets out exactly how a house removal with us works: what it costs, what is included, how long it takes, and what you need to do before the van arrives.

What a house removal with Giga Removals includes

A house removal is more than a van turning up. Every job we quote includes the vehicle, the crew, the protective equipment and the time to use it properly. Specifically:

• A van sized to your home — small Transit, Luton, a lorry or a pair of vans for larger houses, chosen when you book rather than guessed at on the day.
• A trained crew — a driver on their own for light loads, or a 2 or 3-person crew (driver included) where there are stairs, heavy furniture or a tight schedule.
• Full protection — furniture blankets, corner protection for doorways, ratchet straps in the van and floor runners where carpets are new.
• Loading and unloading — boxes and furniture carried out, loaded, driven, unloaded and placed in the room you tell us, not stacked in the hallway.
• Insurance — £10,000 goods in transit cover on every job.
• Fuel and ULEZ — absorbed into the price. Mileage is charged one way, collection to delivery, at the van’s per-mile rate.

Two things are added to the hourly rate where they apply: mileage, and stairs at an address without a working lift. Beyond that, what sits outside the standard rate is labour that genuinely takes extra time: packing your belongings into boxes, supplying those boxes, and dismantling or reassembling furniture. All of it is on the published price list below and confirmed before moving day, so nothing appears on the invoice that you have not agreed.

House removal prices in London

Our rate card is published rather than quoted case by case, because three inputs decide almost every price: the size of the van, the number of people, and how many hours the job runs. Mileage and stairs are added on top.

Every booking carries a minimum: 2 hours on the small vans and 3 hours on the Luton. You book whole hours. If the job runs over, extra time is charged in 30-minute steps at the same hourly rate, so a two-hour small-van booking that runs twenty minutes over is charged as two and a half hours, not three. Stairs are £10 per person, per flight, for each hour at that address (the ground floor is free and a working lift removes the charge). There is no surcharge for a Saturday or a bank holiday, and no separate fee for evening slots.

If you would rather have certainty than an hourly meter, ask for a fixed price. We quote fixed on request for completion days, chain moves with a tight window, and any job where a building gives you a fixed loading slot. The figure is agreed before the day and holds as long as the load matches what you described.

What a typical London move ends up costing

As a guide, before mileage and stairs: a one-bedroom flat moving within the same borough, ground floor to first floor, is usually a three to four hour job with a small van and a 2-person crew — £225–£300. A two-bedroom flat across two or three boroughs, with a lift at one end, tends to run four to five hours with a Luton and a 3-person crew — £520–£650. A three-bedroom house moving across London is generally a five to seven hour day, £650–£910. A four or five-bedroom house is a full-day job, often with two vans, and we quote it properly rather than guessing.

Those ranges assume you have finished packing before we arrive. If you have not, add an hour — it is the single most common reason a move overruns its estimate.

Why the bigger crew is usually the cheaper option

People often book the smallest crew they can afford and end up paying more. A second-floor one-bedroom flat with a 2-person crew is roughly a four-hour job. The same flat with a 3-person crew is closer to two and a half. At our small-van rates that is £300 against £237.50, the stair charge (per person, per hour) comes out about the same, and you finish before the afternoon traffic rather than in it. The rule we give customers when they book: if there are stairs at either end, or more than about fifteen boxes, the extra pair of hands pays for itself.

Choosing the right van

Van size is the decision that most affects your bill, because an undersized van means a second trip and a second trip means two more hours. We size it when you book using the number of bedrooms, the number of boxes and the two or three awkward items every home has.

A tail lift matters more than people expect. Washing machines, American fridge-freezers, treadmills and solid oak sideboards all load safely on a lift and awkwardly without one. If you have any of those, mention it and we will send a Luton.

How moving day actually runs

Our crews work to the same sequence on every domestic job, which is why the estimates hold up. A typical three-bedroom move looks like this:

• 8:00 — arrival and walk-through. The crew lead walks every room with you, confirms what is going and what is staying, and flags anything fragile or awkward. Five minutes here saves half an hour later.
• 8:15 — protection down. Floor runners on carpets, corner protectors on the doorframes, blankets out ready.
• 8:30 — boxes first. Boxes load before furniture so the heavy items can be strapped against the van walls afterwards.
• 10:00 — furniture and dismantling. Beds and wardrobes come apart if booked, get wrapped, and go in last so they come out first at the other end.
• 11:30 — drive. One trip where possible. Across London we plan around the congestion zone and school-run traffic.
• 12:15 — unload by room. Every box is labelled by room and goes into that room. Furniture is placed where you point, not left in the hall.
• 14:00 — reassembly and final check. Beds rebuilt, wardrobes back together, a last walk-through of the old address and the van.

If you are moving on a completion day, the sequence shifts: we load in the morning, hold the load in the van while the solicitors do their part, and unload as soon as keys are released. Waiting time is £40 per crew member per hour, and we build it into the quote rather than surprising you with it.

London property types and what changes

The building matters as much as the contents. These are the situations we plan around most often.

Victorian and Edwardian terraces

Narrow hallways, a tight turn at the bottom of the stairs and doorframes that were never designed for a modern corner sofa. We measure the turn before lifting and, where the sofa genuinely will not go, hoist it through a window instead. Bay windows on the first floor make good hoist openings.

Purpose-built blocks and ex-council flats

The lift is the constraint. Most blocks want the lift booked with the concierge or building manager, some insist on protective panels being fitted, and a few restrict moves to weekday hours. Tell us the building name when you book and we will tell you what is usually required there.

New-build apartments

Loading bays are often time-limited and managed by a building app or a concierge desk. Service lifts frequently need booking a week ahead. Balconies, on the other hand, make hoisting straightforward when the internal route is too narrow.

Period conversions

Half-landings, no lift, and a communal stairwell shared with neighbours who will notice any scuff. We run protection on the communal route as standard and photograph it before and after.

Suburban semis and detached houses

Usually the easiest access, but the largest volume: lofts, garages, sheds and gardens. If the loft is coming too, say so when booking, because loft contents routinely add an hour and occasionally a second van.

Packing: full, part or self

You can pack everything yourself, have us pack the whole house, or split the difference. The split is what most customers choose: our crew packs the kitchen, glassware, electronics and artwork, and you handle clothes, books and soft furnishings in the weeks beforehand.

Packing is priced as a package of labour and materials: £400 for a one-bedroom home (2 packers, up to 3 hours) and £600 for two bedrooms (2 packers, about 4 hours), with larger homes in the table below. A full pack is normally done the day before the move rather than on the morning. Materials — double-walled boxes, wardrobe boxes with hanging rails, bubble wrap, paper and tape — can be delivered in advance. Plastic crate hire is worth considering for office moves and for anyone moving twice within a few months.

If you are self-packing, three things make the biggest difference: keep boxes under about 15kg so they can be carried safely on stairs, label the room rather than the contents, and put anything you need on the first night in a clearly marked box that travels last and comes off first.

Dismantling and reassembly

Bed frames, wardrobes, corner sofas, dining tables, desks and flat-pack units are all dismantled and rebuilt by the crew when booked in advance. Fixings go in labelled bags taped to the piece they came from, so nothing is hunting for a bolt at ten at night. A standard bed is £50 to dismantle or £90 to dismantle and rebuild, with a £90 minimum booking; the full list is below.

Two caveats worth knowing. Flat-pack furniture that has already been taken apart several times does not always survive another round trip; we will tell you honestly if we think a wardrobe is at the end of its life. And built-in units, anything plumbed or wired, and gas appliances need a qualified trade rather than a removals crew.

Parking, permits, ULEZ and the congestion charge

Parking is the most underestimated part of a London move. If your street is in a controlled parking zone, the van needs a suspended bay or a dispensation, and boroughs differ widely: some process a request in two working days, others want ten, and costs run from around £25 to well over £100 per bay per day. We arrange suspensions where the borough allows a removals firm to apply, but the earlier it is raised the better.

Where a suspension is not possible, the practical fallback is a long carry, and a long carry costs time. Sixty metres from door to van, repeated eighty times, adds close to an hour to a three-bedroom move. It is worth asking a neighbour to hold a space.

ULEZ is absorbed by us and never appears on your bill. The congestion charge applies only when a move crosses the central zone during charging hours, and we tell you when you book whether yours does.

Insurance and what happens if something goes wrong

Every job carries £10,000 goods in transit cover as standard. If a building manager or concierge asks about insurance before releasing a loading bay or service lift, tell us before moving day.

Damage is rare but it is not impossible, and the process matters. Tell the crew lead on the day if you can, photograph the item, and contact the office. We do not ask customers to chase. High-value items, antiques and anything irreplaceable should be declared when booking so we can either add specific cover or recommend a specialist.

Storage between completion dates

Chains slip. When your completion dates do not line up, we can move your belongings into clean, dry storage, keep an inventory of what went in, and redeliver when the new place is ready. Storage for a one-bedroom flat’s contents is £250–£350 a month, VAT included, with the first month paid upfront, arranged through a partner facility. The redelivery is priced at the same rates as the original move. For a gap of a few days it is usually cheaper than a hotel and far less stressful than living around boxes.

How to prepare for moving day

• Finish packing the night before. Everything else on this list matters less than this one.
• Empty and defrost the fridge-freezer at least 24 hours ahead, and drain the washing machine.
• Book the lift or loading bay at both addresses, and confirm the booking the day before.
• Sort parking — suspension, dispensation, or a neighbour holding a space.
• Keep documents, keys, chargers, medication and valuables in a bag that travels with you.
• Take meter readings and photograph them before you leave.
• Label boxes by destination room, and write on the side rather than the top.
• Make sure someone with the authority to make decisions is present at both ends.

Where we cover

All 32 London boroughs, on the same rate card: Ilford, Redbridge, Newham, Hackney, Islington, Camden, Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Lambeth, Croydon, Enfield, Haringey, Brent, Ealing, Hounslow, Harrow, Richmond, Wandsworth and the rest. Beyond London we cover the whole UK, from the home counties to Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff, with mileage charged one way. See long-distance removals.

For local detail, see our area page for removals in Ilford, or every area we cover.