How Much Does it Cost to Move House?
The average cost of house removals will vary depending on the size of your home, the removals company that you choose, and the distance that you are moving.
Hiring a company to handle furniture removals and all your household goods for you can take a lot of stress out of the overall home move.
So, are there any example scenarios?
As an example, the average cost to hire a removals company for a 3-bedroom home travelling roughly 50 miles would be around £800-£1,000.
In some cases (like the example given above), the cost of professional packing services and materials is included in the overall price. Check this with your chosen removal service.
Individually, the cost of professional packing services and materials is about £250 and the cost of dismantling and reassembling your large furniture at around £125.
If you are looking to move a one-bedroom home, you can expect to pay around £400-£700 for removals. If you live in a much larger five-bedroom home, then you may pay up to about £1,300-£1,500.
Don't forget about these other cost factors...
Those based in the London area can also expect to pay more for removals costs than those based in the North or other parts of the UK. The more items you have to move, the more you can expect to pay for the removals.
Similarly, the further the distance that you’re moving, the more you can expect to pay a removal company for the work.
Removal Prices
As you can see, house removal prices can vary greatly, depending on the distance of the move and the size of your property.
For a better idea of what you might expect to pay for your particular home removal, take a look at the table below for some average house removal prices:
| Job Description | Average Cost |
|---|---|
| Moving a one-bedroom house – distance 50 miles | £400-£600 |
| Moving a one-bedroom house – distance 150 miles | £500-£700 |
| Moving a two-bedroom house – distance 50 miles | £500-£700 |
| Moving a two-bedroom house – distance 150 miles | £650-£800 |
| Moving a three-bedroom house – distance 50 miles | £800-£1,000 |
| Moving a three-bedroom house – distance 150 miles | £900-£1,100 |
| Moving a four-bedroom house – distance 50 miles | £1,000-£1,100 |
| Moving a four-bedroom house – distance 150 miles | £1,000-£1,200 |
| Moving a five-bedroom house – distance 50 miles | £1,300-£1,400 |
| Moving a five-bedroom house – distance 150 miles | £1,400-£1,500 |
What are the Supply Costs of a House Removal?
The majority of the costs involved with a home removal lies in the cost of the actual removal stage rather than the cost for the materials.
If you are planning on wrapping and packing all of your things yourself before the move, then you may be able to save some considerable costs. You can often find free packing materials on online resources such as the Facebook marketplace from people who have recently moved.
If you would like the house removal company to supply boxes and packing materials for you, you can expect to pay an additional £30-£100 for this.
This will include around 30 large boxes and packing materials. However, the prices will vary depending on how many things you need to pack up and take with you to your new home.
What are the Additional Costs of House Removals?
You may need to consider several additional costs when it comes to home removal costs. Below is a list of the additional things that you may need to budget for with this type of work:
Flat Pack Furniture Assembly
If you are buying new furniture for your new home, then you may need assistance putting it all together. This can be especially convenient if you want to just get on with unpacking all of your belongings without having to worry about putting all of your furniture together.
The average cost to hire someone to assemble flat packed furniture for you is around £20-£60 per hour, depending on the type and size of the furniture and your location in the UK.
Skip Hire
If you are planning on throwing out some things before you move, then you may need to think about waste removal. In this case, the best thing you can do is hire a skip to easily get rid of all of your home waste at once.
Depending on the size of the skip, you can expect to pay around £100-£400 on average to hire a skip for your home waste removal.
Painting and Decorating
When you move into your new home, it’s likely that you’ll want to decorate before unpacking all of your things. Some people may choose to decorate their new home themselves.
However, if you would like to hire someone to do your painting and decorating for you, you can expect to pay around £180-£600 on average per room.
The overall cost will depend on the number of rooms to be decorated, the size of the rooms, and your location in the UK.
New Flooring
Similarly, when moving into a new home, you may also want to consider removing and installing new flooring in some of the rooms. The average cost of flooring installation in the UK is around £400-£1,000 per room.
The overall cost will depend on the type of flooring material that you choose, the size of the rooms, and your location in the UK.
Please refer to our guide on the costs of flooring installation for further information.
Cost Affecting Factors
There are also several additional factors that may affect the overall cost of the job. Below is a list of the things that may affect the price of a house removal:
Size of House
The size of your home will affect the overall cost of the removals job. The larger your home is, the more things you are likely to have. The more things that need to be moved, the longer the job will take, and so this will result in higher removals costs.
Distance of Move
The distance of the move will affect the overall cost of the job. The further away you are moving from your current address, the more you can expect to pay for the job. It's important to keep in mind that part of the cost of the removal includes the fuel cost so, the further you're travelling, the higher these costs will be.
A further house move will also take longer, so this will result in higher labour costs. If you are moving very far away, such as somewhere abroad, then you can expect the removals prices to be considerably higher.
Location of Property
The location of your current property can affect the overall cost of the job. Those based in the London area can expect to pay more for a removals job than those based in the North or other parts of the UK.
Tradesmen Costs for a House Removal
If you are planning on hiring a company to take care of your home removals for you, the majority of the costs for this service are labour costs.
You will only pay additional costs if you are planning on hiring the company to provide your packing materials for you.
With this in mind, the average labour costs for removals are listed below:
Moving 1-Bedroom House
50 miles distance – £400-£600
150 miles distance – £500-£700
Moving 2-Bedroom House
50 miles distance – £500-£700
150 miles distance – £650-£800
Moving 3-Bedroom House
50 miles distance – £800-£1,000
150 miles distance – £900-£1,100
Moving 4-Bedroom House
50 miles distance – £1,100-£1,100
150 miles distance – £1,000-£1,200
Moving 5-Bedroom House
50 miles distance – £1,300-£1,400
150 miles distance – £1,400-£1,500
The labour prices listed above include the overall cost for hiring a team of contractors to transport all of your goods from your old home to your new home.
The only time you can expect to pay extra costs is when you hire the company to do additional services such as packing and unpacking your items for you or for disassembling and reassembling your furniture for you.
How Long Does a House Removal Take?
If you are planning on moving house, then you may be curious about how long it is going to take to complete the house move. In this section, we will take a look at the average timescales for moving houses in the UK.
Most house removals companies can complete your home move within a day. If you are moving from a small one-bedroom flat, then you could complete the removals within around 3-5 hours.
Removals for a two-bedroom house could take approximately 6-8 hours to complete. If you are moving a three-bedroom house, that may take around 8-10 hours on average. Removals for a four-bedroom home will take around one day to complete on average.
The timescales listed above are averages only. The actual time it takes to complete your removal will depend on the number of items that need to be moved and the distance of the move.
For a more accurate idea of the timescales, it is best to speak to your removals company as they will be able to provide you with accurate estimated timescales based on your specific requirements.
Benefits of House Removals
There are several benefits of choosing a removals company to complete your removals for you. Below is a list of the benefits of house removals services:
Professional Service With Experience
When you hire a reputable removals company to complete all of the removals parts of your home move for you, you can expect excellent service.
This is because removals companies consist of a team of experienced professionals that know more about removals than anyone. Experienced removals companies will also know how to easily lift and manoeuvre heavy or awkward items.
This can take a lot of stress out of moving as you know your move will be handled professionally and efficiently.
Carrying and Heavy Lifting
Heavy lifting is usually the most difficult part of moving home. As well as being extremely physically challenging, moving heavy items can also be very time-consuming.
It can be particularly difficult and sometimes even dangerous if you have small children that you need to watch while you’re moving.
If you hire a professional removals company to take care of your move for you, they will handle of all of the liftings and carrying for you, so you won’t need to worry about it at all.
Large Removals Vehicles
When you pack for moving house, it can sometimes be quite shocking as you'll most likely realise that you have a lot more stuff than you think. You'll also discover how many large and awkwardly-shaped items you own.
A professional removals company will come with a large van for moving your items from one place to another. This can be a huge benefit as you can move many things all at once rather than having to make a lot of smaller trips.
Although you can hire a van yourself, you may find it difficult to drive the vehicle, or you may find it difficult to load up. A removals company will take care of all of this for you, so this solves these potential issues.
Goods Are Insured
This is potentially one of the biggest benefits of a removals company as your possessions will be insured for the duration of the move.
If something bad happens during the move, you won’t need to worry as you’ll know that your goods are fully insured. This can result in a lot of stress-relief during your home move.
Professional Packing Services
Many people may prefer to choose to pack their items themselves. However, you can save a lot of time and effort by allowing your removals company to pack your items for you.
This can make the entire process of moving home much easier and a lot less stressful.
You can choose to provide your own packing materials, or you can pay extra, and the removals company will provide all of the packing materials for you.
When you hire a removals company to pack your goods for you, you can rest assured that they will make sure all of your goods are packed as safely as possible.
FAQs
Q: How do I know if my removals service is safe?
A: When you are trying to find removals companies to contact about your home move, you should ensure that they are members of either the British Association of Removers or the National Guild of Removers and Stores.
Both of these organisations focus on providing the best removals services that benefit both the people who are moving house and the company that is taking care of the move.
These organisations have set standards and rules that the members must adhere to. When you choose a company that is a member of one of these organisations, this will ensure safety and professionalism throughout the entire removals process.
Q: How long will my removal take?
A: There are several factors that will determine how long it will take to complete a removal. This can include the number of items that need to be moved and the distance of the move.
Most home removals can be completed within a day. However, if you have a very large number of things or if you are moving particularly far away from your current location, then the removals may take place over a number of days.
Q: Will the removals company provide boxes and packing materials for me?
A: Most of the time, the removals company will not provide the boxes and packing materials for you as part of their basic service. However, this is often an additional service that you can pay for.
Removals companies will provide boxes and other materials in all different sizes. If you would prefer not to pack your items yourself, your removals company will offer packing services where they will pack all of your goods safely and efficiently.
Q: How long before the move should I contact removals companies?
A: You should start contacting removals companies as soon as you know your confirmed move-in date. Most removals companies will require around 7-14 days' notice before the day of the job.
Avoid fully booking your removal until you are completely sure that everything is in place with the house sale. If you need to cancel or change your removals appointment, this may result in additional charges that can be expensive.
Q: Should I get the locks at my new house changed when I move in?
A: This will depend on your particular circumstances. Sometimes it is best to change the locks at your new home just for your own peace of mind.
You never know who may have hold of a spare key to your home, so it's best to get the locks changed, so you don't have to worry.
We would recommend hiring a locksmith to change your locks before you move into the new address so that you can move in without any worries at all.
Sources
- https://moovshack.com/blog/average-removal-costs
- https://www.comparemymove.com/advice/removals/planning/removal-company-cost
- https://www.fantastic-removals.co.uk/blog/how-long-does-it-take-to-move-house
- https://www.nelsonremovals.co.uk/faqs
