Central London to Manchester 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 | £550 to £950 |
| Studio or one bedroom flatTwo crew, one van | £1,150 to £1,850 |
| Two bedroom flat or houseTwo or three crew, a Luton | £1,600 to £2,600 |
| Three bedroom houseThree crew, usually over two days | £2,100 to £3,500 |
| Four bedroom houseLarger vehicle or two, two days | £2,800 to £4,600 |
Why people make this move
- The media, technology and financial employers around MediaCity and the city centre, which have been recruiting out of London for a decade
- The arithmetic: a two bedroom Manchester city centre flat against a studio in Zone 2, for similar money
- People returning north after a spell in London, which is a large and steady share of this route
Loading and unloading
Loading in Central London
The London end has to run to time on this route in a way it does not on a local move. We want an early start, everything packed and sealed before we arrive, and a legal loading position rather than a long carry. Where a suspension is needed we push for it, because an hour lost in London is an hour of unloading lost in Manchester at the other end of a four hour drive.
Unloading in Manchester
Manchester city centre is apartment blocks and converted mills, and both usually work well. Ancoats, the Northern Quarter, Deansgate and the Green Quarter blocks have lifts, concierges and loading bays, most needing a slot booked a day or two ahead, and several have a height restriction on an underground bay. The converted mills have goods lifts of varying speed and occasionally a loading door rather than a bay. Out in Chorlton, Didsbury and Levenshulme the housing is Victorian and Edwardian terraces and semis with front gardens, ordinary staircases and street parking. The tram network constrains vehicle access on several city centre streets, so the exact address matters for the final approach.
The journey
M1 and M6, or M40 and M6 depending on traffic, around two hundred miles and four hours in normal conditions. The M6 around Birmingham is the reliable delay and it can add an hour on its own.
For a one or two bedroom we do it in a day: load early, drive, unload in the afternoon. For a three or four bedroom house we usually load one day and unload the next, quoted as a single job rather than two, because eight hours of driving and a full house does not fit into one set of daylight hours.
Why a three bedroom is usually two days
A full house takes three or four hours to load properly and as long again to unload. Add eight hours of driving and the arithmetic does not work, whatever anyone quotes you. Something has to give and it is usually the care taken at the far end.
We load in the afternoon of day one, drive, and unload on the morning of day two. It is quoted as one job with one figure, the van is locked and insured overnight, and nobody is carrying a wardrobe up a staircase at eleven at night.
What you are paying for at two hundred miles
Roughly half the figure is the crew's time rather than the load. A one bedroom flat that would be a £580 job inside London is £1,150 to £1,850 to Manchester, and the furniture is identical.
That is the honest arithmetic of a dedicated van: two or three people and a vehicle committed to your move for a day or two, with an empty return leg nobody else is paying for. A shared load costs less precisely because someone else is paying for the other half of the van, and it costs you the fixed date.
City centre blocks and the tram
The Ancoats, Northern Quarter and Deansgate blocks are good buildings to move into once the slot is booked. What catches people is the approach: several city centre streets carry tram lines and vehicle restrictions that a satnav will not respect.
Give us the exact address and we will plan the final approach before we set off. It is not a thing you can work out from the cab of a Luton at four in the afternoon after four hours on the M6.
What makes this move go well
- Have everything packed and sealed before the day, because the schedule has no slack in it
- Book the loading bay and goods lift at the Manchester end as soon as you have a date
- Expect a three or four bedroom house to run over two days, and budget the time rather than the money for it
- Check the height limit on any underground bay, since several rule out a Luton
- Avoid Friday, when the M6 around Birmingham is at its worst
Central London to Manchester: common questions
How much do removals from London to Manchester cost?
A one bedroom flat is £1,150 to £1,850, a two bedroom £1,600 to £2,600 and a three bedroom house £2,100 to £3,500, including VAT. A small load is £550 to £950. That is a dedicated van and crew for your move alone, with no shared load and no delivery window.
Is it done in one day?
A one or two bedroom, yes: load early, drive four hours, unload in the afternoon. A three or four bedroom house is usually two days, loading on the first afternoon and unloading the next morning. It is quoted as one job with one figure, not two.
Why is it so much more than a move inside London?
Because you are paying for two or three people and a van committed to your move for a day or two, including an empty return leg. The same one bedroom flat is £580 inside London and £1,150 to £1,850 to Manchester with identical furniture. The difference is the time, not the load.
Do you do part loads to save money?
No. A shared load is cheaper because someone else pays for the other half of the van, and the trade is a delivery window of several days instead of a fixed date. If the date matters less than the price, that is a reasonable thing to look for elsewhere.
What happens to my things overnight on a two day move?
They stay loaded in the van, which is locked and covered by our goods in transit insurance throughout. Nothing is unloaded into a storage facility and reloaded, which is where damage on long distance moves usually happens.
Do I need to book anything in Manchester?
If you are moving into a city centre block in Ancoats, the Northern Quarter or on Deansgate, book the loading bay and the goods lift as soon as you have a date, and check the bay height. Terraced streets in Chorlton or Didsbury need nothing more than ordinary parking.
