Central London to Brighton prices
A dedicated van and crew for your move alone, on the date you booked. Everything below includes VAT, the fuel, the mileage and the Congestion Charge on the London leg.
| What you are moving | Price |
|---|---|
| Single item or a small loadA few boxes, a bed, a sofa | £350 to £650 |
| Studio or one bedroom flatTwo crew, one van, same day | £750 to £1,250 |
| Two bedroom flat or houseTwo or three crew, a Luton | £1,100 to £1,800 |
| Three bedroom houseThree crew, a full day | £1,500 to £2,500 |
| Four bedroom houseLarger vehicle or two, sometimes two days | £2,000 to £3,300 |
Why people make this move
- The commute works: an hour on the train from Brighton to Victoria puts London within reach without London rent
- People leaving a one bedroom Zone 1 flat for a two bedroom near the sea at a similar monthly cost
- Families and remote workers who kept the London job and gave up the London postcode, which is most of this route since 2021
Loading and unloading
Loading in Central London
The London end is the ordinary Central London problem: the floor, the lift and whether the van can stop. Because the crew then has a two hour drive and an unload at the far end, the loading has to be efficient rather than merely possible, so we are stricter about parking here than on a local move. Where the street has no legal stop we push harder for a suspension than we would on a job that stays in the city, and we would rather start at eight than at ten.
Unloading in Brighton
Brighton is harder to unload into than most people expect and the parking is the worst part. Almost the whole of central Brighton and Hove is in a permit zone, and a van left without a permit or a suspension will be ticketed quickly. Brighton and Hove City Council runs its own bay suspension application and wants several working days. The housing is the other half: Regency and Victorian terraces in Kemptown, Brunswick and Montpelier that run four and five storeys with no lift, narrow staircases that turn, and basement flats reached by their own steps down from the street. The Hanover streets are steep enough that the parking position matters more than the door does. The Lanes and the older central streets are narrow and partly pedestrianised, and a Luton will not go down several of them.
The journey
A23 and M23 the whole way, which is fifty five miles and about an hour and three quarters when it flows. Getting out of London is the slow part rather than the motorway, and the Friday afternoon southbound run is reliably worse than any other slot in the week.
The move happens in one day. We load in the morning, drive, and unload the same afternoon, with the crew and van dedicated to your move rather than shared with anyone else's. On a four bedroom house we will sometimes propose loading one day and unloading the next, quoted as one job.
What a dedicated van means, and why it costs more than a part load
Your move travels on its own. One van, one crew, loaded in London in the morning and unloaded in Brighton the same afternoon, on the date you booked. Nothing waits for another job going the same way.
The cheaper alternative you will be quoted elsewhere is a shared or part load, where your things travel with someone else's and you get a delivery window of several days rather than a date. That can be forty per cent less and it is a genuinely reasonable option for a small load with a flexible timetable. It is not what we do, because the fixed date and the fixed price are the two things we sell.
Brighton parking, which needs a fortnight
This is the single thing that goes wrong on this route. Central Brighton and Hove is permit-controlled almost throughout, the streets are narrow, and there is nowhere to improvise on the day. A suspension has to be applied for through the council with several working days of notice.
Tell us the Brighton address as soon as you have it, ideally a fortnight out. Where a suspension is worth having we apply and pass the council's charge through at cost. Where it is not, we plan the carry and price it in, which is a decision better made in advance than from the cab.
The stairs at the far end
A Regency terrace in Kemptown or Brunswick is typically four or five floors with one staircase, no lift, and a turn at every half landing. A flat on the third floor of one is a serious carry after a two hour drive, and we crew for that rather than sending two people and hoping.
Basement flats have the opposite problem and are usually easier: a short flight down from the street, though often with a narrow entrance at the bottom. Tell us the floor at the Brighton end and we will size the crew to it, which is what keeps the figure fixed once you have it.
What makes this move go well
- Give us the Brighton address a fortnight ahead so a suspension can be applied for inside the council lead time
- Avoid Friday, which is the worst southbound slot on the A23 and the busiest moving day of the week
- Say which floor the Brighton property is on and whether the building has four storeys or two
- Check whether your street is narrow enough to rule out a Luton, particularly near the Lanes
- Have everything packed and sealed the night before, since the day starts early on a long distance move
Central London to Brighton: common questions
How much do removals from London to Brighton cost?
A one bedroom flat is £750 to £1,250, a two bedroom £1,100 to £1,800 and a three bedroom house £1,500 to £2,500, all including VAT. A single item or a small load is £350 to £650. That is a dedicated van and crew for your move alone, loaded in London and unloaded in Brighton the same day, and it undercuts a full service removals firm on the same job.
Is it done in one day?
Yes for anything up to a three bedroom house. We load in the morning, drive the fifty five miles, and unload the same afternoon. On a four bedroom we will sometimes propose loading one day and unloading the next, which is quoted as a single job rather than two.
Do you do part loads or shared vans?
No. Everything we quote is a dedicated van and crew on a fixed date. A part load is cheaper, often by forty per cent, and it means a delivery window of several days rather than a date and your things sharing the van. If that suits you better, it is a reasonable thing to look for elsewhere.
What about parking in Brighton?
It is the hardest part of this route. Central Brighton and Hove is permit-controlled almost throughout and a van without a permit or a suspension gets ticketed. The council runs its own suspension application with several working days notice, so give us the address a fortnight out. We apply and pass the charge through at cost.
Can you handle a four storey Regency house with no lift?
Yes, and it is most of what we unload in Kemptown and Brunswick. We crew for the staircase rather than the room count, which usually means three people rather than two. Tell us the floor at the quote stage and the figure holds.
Is the Congestion Charge included?
Yes, along with the fuel and the mileage. There is no per mile addition on a long distance move and no charge appearing at the end. The £18 daily Congestion Charge applies to the London leg and it is inside the quoted figure.
