How much do house removals cost in the UK?

With house removals, the first thought that comes to mind is often related to the costs. This isn’t too surprising, as it’s important to understand what can be afforded. After all, an overstretched budget and an under-decorated house don’t sound great! Thus, it’s imperative to know how much house removals cost in the UK. Fortunately, this comprehensive article is here to guide movers through the daunting and mildly mystifying world of relocation costs.

Breakdown of the average price for house removals

The average cost of removals for a three-bed house is between £1,800-£2,550 – perhaps not as bad as expected? That figure also includes additional services and presumes that clients are moving about 300 miles. Here’s an idea of where these figures come from in the first place.

Naturally, a large chunk of the costs come from the house removal firms’ costs, which shouldn’t be too surprising as that’s where the majority of the work lies! It takes quite a lot of logistics, man and van power to get any belongings from point A to point B unless the move is to the neighbouring house.

Distance

One of the three main factors that play into house removal costs is distance. The further one moves, the more expensive it’ll be to do so – although the smaller the distance, the less difference you’ll see as there are some base service costs that will be charged by house removal companies no matter what, so it’s not going to be free to move down the street!

Below is a list some house removal costs for different distances. Readers might notice that there’s a range, and this is because the figures are based on the average cost of removals for a three-bedroom house. However, movers find that the ideal average is hard to arrive at, so these estimates should be taken with a pinch of salt. Nonetheless, these figures should give a rough idea of what to expect and help with budgeting effectively.

     House removal company costs

• 100 miles £1,100 – £1,250
• 300 miles £1,300 – £1,450
• 500 miles £1,500 – £1,750

The volume of the move

It comes as no surprise that the volume of a move will affect the house removal costs.

Removal vans can only hold so many cubic feet of household belongings. Because of this, for people who happen to be hoarders on a shoestring budget, now might be the time to seek professional help and throw away that stack of newspapers from 2002!

House removal companies

The final main factor that will drive house removal costs up or down is which of the plethora of house removal companies one ends up choosing. Be they small, local house removal firms or large, national house removal companies, the prices they set and the services offered will be a major determiner in house removal costs.

Thus, with so many companies to choose from, the smartest thing to do is to compare house removals prices offered by removal companies. If comparing house removal companies, removal quotes, and reading up on some handy house removal guides for packing and moving is of interest, movers can always read more about this here.

Additional services

At this point, the question might arise: why the house removal costs quoted near the beginning don’t mirror the values in the distance sectional? Well, that has quite a bit to do with some additional services and purchases that might be necessary to make before and during the house removal. These additional costs are entirely related to house removals, but not mandatory.

However, they often simplify the moving process by taking certain tasks and placing them in the hands of professionals. Why should anyone spend time cleaning their house when there is an abundance of minutia pertaining to life and work to organise? It’s recommended to leave the tasks of packing to the house removal companies in order to reduce the disturbance to routine.

Naturally, these services aren’t free and come at a cost. There’s a list of the main services usually provided below, but it’s not entirely exhaustive.

      Service costs

• Packing £200-£300
• Packing materials £75-£150
• (Dis)assembly £100-£150
• Professional cleaning £40-£120
• Insurance £150-£250
• Storage (six months) £600-£800

It’s worth highlighting the caveat of using storage when moving: the reason there’s a mention of six months is due to the fact that this is often the most common length of time that people leave items in storage during a house removal.

Of course, every move is unique, and many might never need to use storage. However, should house storage be necessary, it’s better to budget for the most frequent length of storage usage. Better to set aside more money than needed, rather than have items held in storage jail!

Tips for reducing house removal costs

Most people will not want to spend so much on moving – who wants to spend so much money on dull things? Therefore, to help reduce house removal costs so there’s a bit more to spend on shiny new wall ornaments or extra soft blankets, here are some money-saving tips for house removals:

Book a skip

One doesn’t have to really book a skip – except hoarders who have far too much junk around the house. The point is to spend some time thoughtfully going over items and decide if there really is space from them in the new house. Movers might find that there are items they no longer use that are currently occupying space in the bowels of the wardrobe or the dark corners of the house.

This can also be applied to goods that are close to ruin so it’s possible to take this as an opportunity to upgrade household items. The less that’s moved, the cheaper the move will be, so it’s worth only aiming to bring items that are truly valued and needed.

Off-peak is wallet chic

Never to be outdone in helping to reduce house removal costs, choosing an off-peak time will save a bit of money. If one compares house removals that happen over the week versus the weekend, it’s often clear that during the week it’s cheaper. Naturally, this is due to needing to take the day off to oversee the move, which people are less inclined to do. It may not be the nicest thing to use vacation days to move, but a Wednesday removal is cheaper than a Saturday.

Furthermore, the moving industry has seasonal dips and increases. House removal companies are often most busy during the summer holidays. This tracks with kids being off school and being positioned between school years since it’s easier to move at the end of a school term than in the middle of one. Those who happen to not have children can revel in the cheaper house removals costs of almost any other time of year.

Put the use in reuse

The important thing in any house removal is that items are well-protected. However, that doesn’t require brand-new boxes: any sturdy box will do. Hence, it’s easy to save money on house removal costs by searching for second-hand boxes from someone who just moved, online, or even those lovely boxes used in shops.

As for packing materials, any paper or fabric will do, there just needs to be enough. It can work well to use old newspapers if they’re lying around or the extraordinary amount of paper used to pack deliveries these days. Additionally, it’s easy to use linens at home (apart from the fine linens) or even clothing to wrap items. Talk about killing two birds with one stone: crockery and linens in one box instead of two, saving time and space.

The most relevant house removal costs to encounter are covered. However, there might be more costs when buying or selling a house. Naturally, these costs will arise around the same time as home removals, but this falls a little outside the scope of this article.

One last thing: it’s important to inform HMRC and the old and new local councils about a change of address for tax reasons. Also, it’d be remiss not to mention the DVLA, since failure to update an address can carry a fine.

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