What £2,150 covers
- Three crew as the baseline and four on a townhouse, for the whole day
- Two vehicles running together, or one vehicle and a second run, whichever the street and the completion time allow
- Wrapping every soft and wooden piece in the room before it moves
- Dismantling and reassembling beds, wardrobes, large tables and anything that will not turn on the stairs
- Floor runners and door protection at both ends, including communal parts
- Applying for the bay suspension at each end, with the council charge passed on at cost
- Waiting time on a late completion, at no extra charge
- The Congestion Charge at £18, ULEZ, fuel and mileage
Worked examples
Four typical four bed move jobs with the access at both ends, priced the way we would quote them, so you can find the one that looks like yours.
Marylebone to St John's Wood
Four bedroom mansion flat with a service lift at both ends, porters told a week ahead, two Lutons loading from a suspended bay on the Marylebone side. Weekday, one run each.
£1,780
Pimlico to Wimbledon
Four storey stucco townhouse with a basement kitchen, Westminster suspension for two vehicles charged at cost, four crew, driveway at the Wimbledon end.
£2,290
Canonbury to Stoke Newington
Five floors of a Georgian terrace including a loft room, tight staircase above the first floor, packed the day before, moved over a single long day with four crew.
£2,480
Kensington to Richmond
Raised ground floor townhouse with a garden studio, suspensions in both boroughs, Friday completion with keys released at two, unload finished that evening.
£2,690
What the building does to the price
| Situation | Price |
|---|---|
| Mansion flat with a service lift at both endsThe volume of a house without the stairs of one. The lift booking and the porter decide the day. | £1,650 to £2,050 |
| Townhouse over four or five floorsFour crew, because every item above the ground floor is a separate climb down. | £2,050 to £2,550 |
| No legal stopping and a long carry at one endTwo vans worth of furniture walked from a side street, plus the suspension at cost. | £2,300 to £2,900 |
| Split over two daysNon essentials on day one, the rest on completion day. Quoted as one job. | £2,150 to £2,750 |
What moves the figure
- The number of floors the house is spread over+£290 to £700
- A four bed townhouse with a basement kitchen and a loft room is five flights of carrying. The same four bedrooms in a mansion flat with a service lift is a fraction of the work.
- One vehicle making two runs, or two vehicles at once+£180 to £420
- Two vans cost more on the day and save hours, which matters when the keys are released at two. Where completion is early and both ends are close, a second run is the cheaper plan.
- Suspensions at one or both ends£45 to £120 a day per bay, at cost
- Two vehicles need more kerb than one bay gives you, so a four bed usually means suspending two bays at each end that needs it. Each borough runs its own application and its own rate.
- Where the van stops at each end+£220 to £580
- On a house this size the carry is repeated two hundred times or more. Thirty metres is an inconvenience. Eighty metres from a side street off a red route is most of an extra crew member.
- Packing the house+£1,000 to £1,900
- A full pack of a four bed is a day or more for three packers, done before the move day rather than on it. The kitchen and fragile items alone is roughly half that.
- Friday, Saturday or the end of the month+10% to 15%
- Completions cluster on Fridays and so do the other house moves in your borough, which is also the week the council has the longest queue for suspensions.
Townhouse or mansion flat: two different jobs at the same size
A four bedroom townhouse in Kennington or Canonbury holds roughly the same furniture as a four bedroom mansion flat in Maida Vale. The day is completely different. The townhouse has its bedrooms stacked above each other, a kitchen in the basement and often a loft room reached by a staircase narrower than the rest, so every piece comes down its own set of flights. The mansion flat has everything on one floor and a service lift that takes a wardrobe standing up.
That is why the band is wide. The mansion flat sits in the bottom third of it and the five storey terrace sits in the top third, and the room count on a booking form does not tell us which one you have. We ask about the floors and the lift before anything else.
Two vans, or one van twice
A four bedroom home in the centre fills two Lutons, and there are two ways to move it. Two vehicles and a larger crew loading at the same time, which finishes by the middle of the afternoon. Or one vehicle doing two runs, which costs less on the day and takes considerably longer, because the second load cannot start until the first is unloaded at the other end.
On a rental or a move with no chain, two runs is often fine. On a completion day with keys expected after lunch it usually is not, because the second run ends up unloading in the dark. We pick the plan from your completion time and the streets at both ends, and the quote says which one it is.
The suspended bay is almost always part of it
On a studio we usually tell people to skip the suspension and accept a slightly longer carry. On a four bed that advice reverses. Two vehicles need somewhere to stand together for most of the day, and a townhouse street in Islington or Pimlico with resident bays on both sides rarely has that space free by chance.
Each borough charges £45 to £120 a day per bay and each wants several working days of notice, longer in the last week of the month. Two bays at each end in two different boroughs is four charges and two separate applications. We make them once you give us both full addresses and pass each charge through at exactly what the council took.
Packing days, and why a four bed usually has one
Most people moving four bedrooms have lived in the house long enough to fill it. Packing that yourself on top of work and a completion date is possible and rarely pleasant. Packing it on the morning of the move is not possible at all, because three packers need a full day or more to do a house this size properly.
So the packing happens the day before, or across two days before on the larger townhouses, and the move day is loading only. Where you would rather pack most of it yourself, the kitchen, the glassware and anything framed are the parts worth handing over, since those are where the breakages come from.
What an hourly firm would charge for the same house
Four crew and a larger vehicle at £170 to £240 an hour, and a four bed townhouse with stairs at both ends takes ten to twelve hours door to door. That is £1,700 to £2,880 on an hourly rate before any waiting on keys, a second vehicle, or a suspension.
Our band runs £1,650 to £2,900 with the middle at £2,150, which is the same money as an hourly firm on a day when nothing goes wrong. The gap opens on the days something does: keys at four instead of midday, a goods lift shared with another move, a loft that took three hours instead of one. At four crew those delays run at roughly £200 an hour on a meter. On a fixed figure they cost you nothing.
How to bring the number down
Every one of these is something you can do rather than something we can discount.
- Move midweek if the completion date can move at all, and avoid the last Friday of the month
- Clear the loft, the cellar and the garden room a fortnight before rather than on the day
- Sell or give away what the new house has no room for before we quote, not after we have moved it
- Pack the books, clothes and bedding yourself and book us for the kitchen and the fragile items
- Give us both full addresses early so the suspensions go in inside the borough lead time
- Ask for a realistic completion time, since an early one can make a single vehicle and two runs workable
- Book the service lift and tell the porter yourself where your mansion block lets residents do it
Four bedroom house move costs: common questions
How much does it cost to move a four bedroom house in Central London?
Between £1,650 and £2,900 including VAT, with most landing near £2,150. A mansion flat with a service lift at both ends sits at £1,650 to £2,050. A townhouse over four or five floors sits at £2,050 to £2,550, and an address with no legal stopping at one end can reach £2,900. The figure covers three or four crew for the day, the vehicles, wrapping, dismantling and reassembly, fuel and the Congestion Charge.
Will it need two vans?
Almost always two loads, and the question is whether they travel together or one after the other. Two vehicles at once is faster and suits a completion day. One vehicle doing two runs costs less and suits a move with an early or flexible handover. Either way the second load is inside the quoted price.
How many people will you send?
Three for a four bedroom mansion flat with a lift, four for a townhouse where the rooms are spread over four or five floors. The extra person is there for the stairs rather than the volume, because a wardrobe coming down from the top floor of a Georgian terrace needs two people on it and someone ahead clearing the way.
Do I need a parking suspension?
On a four bed in the centre, usually yes, and often for two bays rather than one so both vehicles can stand together. Each borough charges £45 to £120 a day per bay and needs several working days of notice. We apply on your behalf and show each council charge as its own line at cost.
How long does a four bedroom move take?
Ten to twelve hours door to door for a townhouse, and a full day is the only honest thing to plan for. A mansion flat with lifts at both ends and two vehicles can be finished by mid afternoon. A late completion or a long carry pushes the unload into the evening, and on the largest houses we split the move over two days.
Should I book packing as well?
On a four bed it is worth at least thinking about. A full pack adds £1,000 to £1,900 and happens the day before, or across two days on a large townhouse. Most people land in between: they pack the books, clothes and bedding themselves and book us for the kitchen, the glassware and anything framed.
Does a late completion cost more?
No. Four crew waiting three hours for keys would run to £500 or more on an hourly rate, and it costs you nothing on a fixed figure. What changes with a late completion is the plan: if keys are expected after two, we will usually send two vehicles rather than one making two runs, and that choice is made when we quote rather than on the day.
How we do the job itself
This page is about the money. The house removals page covers the method: the crew, the wrapping, the access planning and what tends to go wrong.
Prices by area
The band above holds across all 46 Central London areas we cover. What changes between them is the parking and the housing stock, which is what decides where in the band you land.