We have just sold our house and are moving 80 miles West. As it’s been 20 years since we last moved, I’m in the process of considering how to do it – numerous trips in a Luton type van, or pay a removal company to do it?

Any tips?

Pay a removal firm. Even better if you can, get them to pack it up.
Each Luton van trip is give or take 5 hours. 3hrs (1.5hrs each way) travel and 1hr each end loading/unloading having a cuppa/pee/scran etc.

I moved in April (first time in 25yrs!).

Best money I spent in the whole process was the removals company (not man and a van!). Made the day so much easier. And you’ll have a shit load more stuff than you can imagine.

Moving from a 3 bed semi we managed to fill a big lorry and a Luton van and there’s only 3 of us!! 🤣🤣

You may not have the luxury of time for several trips either.

numerous trips in a Luton type van, or pay a removal company to do it?

Consider your insurance with the former – not totally unheard of for rental vans to be nicked off the front drive during house moves with the contents not covered by your home insuance

Using a luton sort of depends on what your possessions are and what you have available for packing it all up. It seems to be increasingly the case that theres very little in the way of anchors and ties bars in retail lutons so you can be limited in how you can secure the load (for your safety) and also stop your stuff getting damaged. People all frequently overload lutons – something like a LWB sprinter can legally carry about 1.2 – 1.5t. But although its bigger (or really because its bigger) a luton can usually only carry about 700kg (which is about the same payload, weight wise – as a berlingo – its quite difficult to not overload them in a house move scenario (driver and passengers will count towards that weight)  where you’re wanting to use as much of the  space as possible

My sister did a removal pod thing – loaded her and boyfriend’s flat into pod, then pod delivered to huse and they emptied it over the week or so ?

I’ve only ever moved from my parents into our first house we still have. Fortunately, my dad got a mate with a side panel truck to help move, even with us not having much, it still took a few trips locally. God knows how nong a Luton van will take with a full house.

If you can afford it, I’d pay someone.

I moved my entire life in a Luton, but there were a lot of casualties. I didn’t take the bed, or a lot of the furniture, as it was old and needed replacing. It was still hard work and massively stressful.

I’d say it depends..

I hired an enterprise van and bribed a mate to help with beer and lunch.

I actually only hired a ‘medium’ van but as luck would have it they didn’t have one on hand on the day so I ended up with a LWB high top tranny with a sliding side door.
Only took 2 trips rather than 3 or maybe 4.

But I was only moving to the other side of town…

I’m single though, if your a family of 4 I’d probably pay someone as it is hard work loading and unloading.

When I eventually move, as well as booking a removal company to pack, move and unpack, I’ll book a local cleaning company and handyman at the destination to collect keys, open up, change lock barrels and get gas, electricity and water readings and switch stuff on. Then I’ll book a week away and let them get on with it, and head home to the new gaff.

Having just moved house on Tuesday of this week I can without question say booking a removals firm was the best thing I ever did!
Two adults and two kids moving from a 3 bed semi and they packed the lorry top to bottom. No room to spare.
Part loaded it Friday (big help to us to get some gear shifted out of the house) and returned Tuesday am to finish it.
Straight to the new house 15 miles away and straight in with the unloading.
Not a cat in hells chance I would have wanted to have done that with a luton van and several mates. Cost £1k (I’m
In the north east) but absolutely worth it.

Now i’ve experienced having someone do it for me, i’m never not using a removal company to pack it up and shift it all. Quite impressive how efficently they did everything.

Once you’re no longer just a single person or maybe a couple moving a short distance between flats or 1 bedroom houses, paying a company to do the hard work is just so much better.

We typically go with “move and fragile pack”, so they turn up a day early and pack up everything fragile: picture frames, crockery, vases etc. If anything breaks in transit then it’s definitely on them. Honestly I’d be tempted to go with a full pack service next time but there is a lot of value in packing over a month and having a huge clearout as you go…

Thanks all, a removal company it is then!

If timings permit i would second getting someone in to deep clean the house before moving in – feels more like yours from Day 1.

If you can spare the money for a removals company I would say it’s definitely worth it having moved twice in the last 18 months from the West Midlands to Cumbria and then locally. One thing I’d definitely not recommend is doing it just yourself and your fella while suffering, with what transpired to be, a compression fracture of the spine. Good times.

We’ve moved several times and I’ve moved several times before that always done it ourselves but I’m nearly 60 and just don’t want the stress of doing it again myself.
Next time we’ll pay a proper company to do it.

Pay. Pay for them to pack and to move.

Every time I’ve moved, I’ve baulked at the price of a full service.

Every time I’ve moved, I’ve regretted not paying for a full service.

If it’s just you or you and a partner then spend a month packing and do it yourself but it’s easier if you’re old enough to rent a 7.5tonne as you will overload a Luton. If you’ve got kids pay a removals firm unless you can send them to granny for a month.

Pay a removal firm. Even better if you can, get them to pack it up.

Absolutely this.

Removers; best few
(several) £’00 you could spend.
As above, get them to do the packing.
Your job is to serve refreshments and leave the pros to it.
Start calling around on Monday as they could be booked some way ahead.
Make sure you’re happy with their insurance cover inc any excess; take out additional if you think it’s necessary.
Check everything as it’s unloaded/unpacked and take photos oc any damage.

Yep as above, I moved from a 2 bed flat to a house and got the pack service thrown in as I was busy at work and it meant I did not have to do anything until move day.
Unbelievably the previous owner deep cleaned the house! Fantastic.

@stox if you don’t mind me asking who did you use. I’m NE and could do with a recommendation 👍🏻

@mickyfinn we used these guys. Almost half the price of the two other quotes we got (Richardsons and Brittania)

https://www.mrshifter.co.uk/

Website shows the area they cover but the reviews indicate they go all. depends where you’re going to/from I guess.
We moved from Boro to Stockton area.

Removals as others say is just a lot easier, but be wary of the cheapest bid, there’s a fair few removals companies that are poor, so check them out to see if they are well recommended, estate agents, etc might be able to give some tips, friends and family, facebook local groups, etc as well.

Always worth checking what you get as well, so will they break down and rebuild things like beds and any furniture that may need partial dismantling to get out the old house and into the new one. How will they package garage stuff (chemicals and so on), etc, etc.

Yes definitely get loads of quotes. Found that Anyvan were the cheapest but and the most expensive were over twice as much. Went with a local firm that were second cheapest and they were great.

@stox thanks 🙏

People all frequently overload lutons

Have to say I agree. When we moved to Sheffield we got our whole flat into a Luton and the Jazz. Overloading didn’t even cross my mind until I started braking for the chesterfield exit of the M1… Too many other things on my mind so it slipped through the cracks. The brakes were still shite empty though so maybe I’m wrong!

We’ve moved ourselves about 20 miles up the road, and also had removals do it 150 miles.

I would never move myself again, that took a whole day 9am to 9pm and three trips. Removals guys showed up at 7am, were away by 10, at the new place by 3 and unloaded by 5. Worth every penny.

Contrary to the recommendations for several quotes, I went with a smaller local firm who had a multitude of great recommendations from people in the area. Didn’t bother looking elsewhere. They were the best money I spent in the whole house buying process.

Pay a removal firm!!!!

If your buy/selling a house its prob the only way you’ll be able to do it within the time.constraints anyway (or one of those removal pods if you’ve space at both properties). When we bought our first house the sellers used a Luton – were moving 5miles down the road, had a small 2bed, moved half the stuff over the week before, only lived there 5yrs and still took until 5pm to move out, leaving w car loads to collect the next day.

Even if your renting it takes so much hassle and pain out of the process & after 20yrs you’ll have a lot of unexpected stuff.

After helping mates move in a Luton I’ve told the wife we will only ever use removal men.

Just to repeat the insurance position, our insurance when we last moved said we would only be covered between the two houses if it was both a professional company, and that they packed and unpacked everything.

Was well worth the money

I’m just starting to think about removal firms for a 120 mile move. My first move in over 20 years, does anyone have thoughts as to whether I should lean towards a company local to where I am now or one where I have a credible personal recommendation which is pretty local to my destination?

People all frequently overload lutons – something like a LWB sprinter can legally carry about 1.2 – 1.5t. But although its bigger (or really because its bigger) a luton can usually only carry about 700kg (which is about the same payload, weight wise – as a berlingo – its quite difficult to not overload them in a house move scenario (driver and passengers will count towards that weight) where you’re wanting to use as much of the space as possible

Listen to this man. The fines for being overweight cost me more than the removals service would have done.

After helping mates move in a Luton I’ve told the wife we will only ever use removal men.

A pal asked me to help them move.

I reminded him that I paid someone to pack/move/unpack us each time we moved.

He took the hint.

I’m just starting to think about removal firms for a 120 mile move. My first move in over 20 years, does anyone have thoughts as to whether I should lean towards a company local to where I am now or one where I have a credible personal recommendation which is pretty local to my destination?

Get quotes from all, itemised if possible with any additional services, location of the removal company means nothing, when i used to move regular a few years back my company would use Fox or White Removals, and they’d just be sent from one of the hubs to do the job, the last couple moves which i’ve had to pay myself i’ve used the same local company, but they will just cost the transport element and time on job, including from their start point.

Only move i’ve done with a “professional moving company” it took them 3 hours to turn up at the new place (took us 45 minutes to drive) and we eventually went for a walk round to see if they’d got lost and found them parked up at the local park with a slab of beer, quite obviously drunk.

Check the reviews, don’t book the cheapest.

(I didn’t book that one, my step mother did.)

All the other moves i’ve done since i’ve done on my own in a van following near apocalyptic house cleaning. The last big move i took more stuff to the tip, donated to friends and charity shops than i actually put in the van…

Looking at the current place, i’m never moving again.

I have a large van and a trailer.

I would still pay someone to move.

When we had to move rentals every year due to 40-50% price hikes… We used to move with 2 Berlingos. It was manageable but a pain in arse none the less.

Now we own our own place there’s significantly more stuff to move that you don’t have with a rental.

When my parents moved to France they went with 2 trips in a large van and a box trailer (14*8)…… 15 years of crap and most of the furniture went up for sale or in the skip prior to leaving.

We’ve just paid a removals company for our move at the end of this month (fingers still crossed). There was no way I was considering doing it myself. We’re packing ourselves, but everything else is being done by them, including dismantling a few things like beds.

We moved a few hundred yards and still got Pickfords on the job. They turned up the day before the move and packed up the entire house – didn’t have to lift a finger – came back next day and dropped everything at the new house. Some of the best money we have ever spent and would only ever use Pickfords as well as would all my work colleagues.

The guys worked a solid 14 hours packing up and a good 10 hours the next day and didn’t once mutter or grumble. No way on gods earther I’d even do the packing myself…

Well a brief update…

The quotes we had were c£4k – which I though was really high! I have to confess that we left it a bit late though to shop around. Given the cost and the fact that we had a few days in which to move, we did it ourselves (with the help of one of my son’s friends).

4 days it took in a high top LWB Transit; 4 170 mile round trips and three car loads, and £700 to hire the van, fuel it and pay my son’s pal. It was physically and mentally much harder than we expected and I ached for 3 days!

At 59, I’m NEVER doing that again!