Man and Van in Southwark: Removals Across SE1 and the Borough
Covering SE1 in Southwark. New-build towers, estate flats and offices between Blackfriars Road and Borough. Fixed price agreed before we start, with the parking, the lift and the access sorted in advance.
Southwark means two things to anyone booking a move. It is the stretch of SE1 around Southwark tube station, Blackfriars Road, Southwark Street and Union Street, and it is also the whole London Borough of Southwark, which runs from the river at Bankside and London Bridge south through Walworth, Camberwell and Peckham to Dulwich, and east to Rotherhithe and Surrey Quays. Most of our work is in the northern, SE1 end of it, and the rest of the borough is a short drive from there.
In SE1 we have separate pages for the neighbourhoods that behave differently: Bankside along the river, Borough around the market, London Bridge by the station and the hospital, Bermondsey to the east and Elephant and Castle at the southern edge. This page covers the streets in between, from the Blackfriars Road end of The Cut across to Southwark Bridge Road, where new towers, post-war estates and Victorian terraces sit within a few hundred metres of one another. Further out, Borough to Peckham has its own route page, and Camberwell, Walworth, Dulwich and Rotherhithe are all moves we do regularly on request.
The buildings in Southwark
Three very different kinds of building share the same few streets. The new towers along Blackfriars Road, One Blackfriars at the river end among them, and the newer blocks on Southwark Street and around Southwark station have concierge desks, goods lifts and loading bays booked by slot, and they run like clockwork once the booking is in. Behind them the post-war council estates off Great Suffolk Street, Webber Street and around Nelson Square have proper lifts, long walkways and a carry from wherever the van can stand. Between the two are the older survivors: Victorian terraces and flats above shops on Union Street and Borough Road, and a few Georgian houses on the side streets, converted into flats with narrow stairs and no lift. The Victorian warehouses along Southwark Street, most of them now offices, have wide doors and shared goods lifts of very variable size.
Parking, loading and access in Southwark
The whole of the Southwark SE1 core is inside the Congestion Charge zone, which charges £18 a day on weekdays from 7am to 6pm and from 12pm to 6pm at weekends and on bank holidays, and the ULEZ applies here as across London; both are in the price. Blackfriars Road carries a segregated cycle track along both sides, which has left very little kerb for loading, and Southwark Street and Southwark Bridge Road are busy bus routes where a van cannot stand for long. Loading happens on the side streets instead: Union Street, Great Suffolk Street, Ewer Street, Pocock Street and the turnings off them. Southwark Council runs the controlled parking and issues the bay suspensions, and SE1 is split between Southwark and Lambeth with the boundary running close to The Cut, so we check which council an address falls in before applying. Railway viaducts cross the area towards London Bridge and some of the arches will not clear a Luton. The new developments have booked bays with height limits at the entrance, so the building name decides the van.
Streets we work on regularly
- Blackfriars Road
- Southwark Street
- Union Street
- Great Suffolk Street
- Southwark Bridge Road
- The Cut
- Webber Street
- Nelson Square
- Ewer Street
- Borough Road
What we are usually asked for in Southwark
- New-build apartment moves on Blackfriars Road with booked loading bays
- Estate block flat moves around Nelson Square and Great Suffolk Street
- Conversion flat moves with narrow stairs off Union Street and Borough Road
- Office removals along Southwark Street and Blackfriars Road, usually out of hours
- Short moves across the river through Blackfriars into the City
- Moves south within the borough to Walworth, Camberwell, Peckham and Dulwich
Man and van in Southwark: common questions
Do you cover the whole of Southwark or only SE1?
The whole borough. Most of our jobs start or finish in SE1, and Bankside, Borough, London Bridge, Bermondsey and Elephant and Castle each have their own page because the access is different in each. We also move people to and from Walworth, Camberwell, Peckham, Dulwich and Rotherhithe, and a move that stays inside Southwark only needs the one council for any suspension.
Can you do an office removal in Southwark?
Yes. Office moves around Southwark Street and Blackfriars Road are regular work, mostly small firms moving floors or buildings in the evening or on a Saturday when the goods lift is free. A move of up to ten desks usually costs £650 to £1,600 including VAT, depending on the desk count, the lifts at each end and the timing. We send insurance certificates and crew details straight to your building management.
I just need a man with a van for a few items in SE1. Is that too small?
No. A sofa, a bed or a car load of boxes is a normal job and we price it for its size rather than charging a minimum half day. Tell us the floor at each end and whether there is a lift, because on Union Street and the older terraces that decides how long it takes more than the load does.
How far ahead should I book a loading bay in a new block?
As soon as you have a moving date. Most Southwark developments allocate bays on a first come basis and the popular Saturday slots go early. Give us the building and we will make the booking, but the date needs settling first.
Is Southwark inside the Congestion Charge zone?
The SE1 end is, including Blackfriars Road, Southwark Street and Union Street. Further south the boundary runs around Elephant and Castle, so Walworth, Camberwell and Peckham are outside. Where any leg of the move is inside the zone the charge is already in the price we give you.
Nearby areas we also cover
Moving in or out of Southwark?
We reply to quote requests the same day, usually within a couple of hours.
Prefer to email? quotes@manandvancentrallondon.co.uk. We answer monday to sunday, 7am to 9pm.