House removals in London, priced before we start.

Alpha Movers is a house removals company based at 779 Eastern Avenue in Ilford, working across all 32 London boroughs. We move studio flats, family houses and everything between — typically five to eight jobs a day, most of them within an hour's drive of east London. This page sets out exactly how a house removal with us works: what it costs, what is included, how long it takes, and what you need to do before the van arrives.

What a house removal with Alpha Movers includes

A house removal is more than a van turning up. Every job we quote includes the vehicle, the crew, the protective equipment and the time to use it properly. Specifically:

• A van sized to your home — small Transit, medium Luton or a pair of vans for larger houses, chosen on the call rather than guessed at on the day.
• A trained crew — a driver on their own for light loads, or a driver plus one or two movers where there are stairs, heavy furniture or a tight schedule.
• Full protection — furniture blankets, shrink wrap, corner protection for doorways, ratchet straps in the van and floor runners where carpets are new.
• Loading and unloading — boxes and furniture carried out, loaded, driven, unloaded and placed in the room you tell us, not stacked in the hallway.
• Insurance — goods in transit cover and public liability on every job, with certificates available before you book.
• Fuel, ULEZ and mileage — absorbed into the price for any journey inside Greater London.

What sits outside the standard rate is labour that genuinely takes extra time: packing your belongings into boxes, supplying those boxes, and dismantling or reassembling furniture. All three are available, all three are quoted separately, and all three are confirmed before moving day so nothing appears on the invoice that you have not agreed.

House removal prices in London

Our rate card is published rather than quoted case by case, because three inputs decide almost every price: the size of the van, the number of people, and how many hours the job runs.

Every booking carries a two-hour minimum. After that we bill in thirty-minute increments, so a job finishing at two hours and twenty minutes is charged as two and a half hours, not rounded up to three. There is no charge for stairs, no surcharge for a Saturday or a bank holiday, and no separate fee for evening slots.

If you would rather have certainty than an hourly meter, ask for a fixed price. We quote fixed on request for completion days, chain moves with a tight window, and any job where a building gives you a fixed loading slot. The figure is agreed before the day and holds as long as the load matches what you described.

What a typical London move ends up costing

As a guide: a one-bedroom flat moving within the same borough, ground floor to first floor, is usually a three to four hour job with a van and one helper — £175 to £240. A two-bedroom flat across two or three boroughs, with a lift at one end, tends to run four to five hours with a Luton and two movers — £300 to £375. A three-bedroom house moving across London is generally a five to seven hour day, £375 to £525. A four or five-bedroom house is a full-day job, often with two vans, and we quote it properly rather than guessing.

Those ranges assume you have finished packing before we arrive. If you have not, add an hour — it is the single most common reason a move overruns its estimate.

Why the bigger crew is usually the cheaper option

People often book the smallest crew they can afford and end up paying more. A second-floor one-bedroom flat with a single helper is roughly a four-hour job. The same flat with two helpers is closer to two and a half. At our rates that is £240 against £187.50, and you finish before the afternoon traffic rather than in it. The rule we give customers on the phone: if there are stairs at either end, or more than about fifteen boxes, the extra pair of hands pays for itself.

Choosing the right van

Van size is the decision that most affects your bill, because an undersized van means a second trip and a second trip means two more hours. We size it on the call using the number of bedrooms, the number of boxes and the two or three awkward items every home has.

A tail lift matters more than people expect. Washing machines, American fridge-freezers, treadmills and solid oak sideboards all load safely on a lift and awkwardly without one. If you have any of those, mention it and we will send a Luton.

How moving day actually runs

Our crews work to the same sequence on every domestic job, which is why the estimates hold up. A typical three-bedroom move looks like this:

• 8:00 — arrival and walk-through. The crew lead walks every room with you, confirms what is going and what is staying, and flags anything fragile or awkward. Five minutes here saves half an hour later.
• 8:15 — protection down. Floor runners on carpets, corner protectors on the doorframes, blankets out ready.
• 8:30 — boxes first. Boxes load before furniture so the heavy items can be strapped against the van walls afterwards.
• 10:00 — furniture and dismantling. Beds and wardrobes come apart if booked, get wrapped, and go in last so they come out first at the other end.
• 11:30 — drive. One trip where possible. Across London we plan around the congestion zone and school-run traffic.
• 12:15 — unload by room. Every box is labelled by room and goes into that room. Furniture is placed where you point, not left in the hall.
• 14:00 — reassembly and final check. Beds rebuilt, wardrobes back together, a last walk-through of the old address and the van.

If you are moving on a completion day, the sequence shifts: we load in the morning, hold the load in the van while the solicitors do their part, and unload as soon as keys are released. We allow for that waiting time in the quote rather than surprising you with it.

London property types and what changes

The building matters as much as the contents. These are the situations we plan around most often.

Victorian and Edwardian terraces

Narrow hallways, a tight turn at the bottom of the stairs and doorframes that were never designed for a modern corner sofa. We measure the turn before lifting and, where the sofa genuinely will not go, hoist it through a window instead. Bay windows on the first floor make good hoist openings.

Purpose-built blocks and ex-council flats

The lift is the constraint. Most blocks want the lift booked with the concierge or building manager, some insist on protective panels being fitted, and a few restrict moves to weekday hours. Tell us the building name when you call and we will tell you what is usually required there.

New-build apartments

Loading bays are often time-limited and managed by a building app or a concierge desk. Service lifts frequently need booking a week ahead. Balconies, on the other hand, make hoisting straightforward when the internal route is too narrow.

Period conversions

Half-landings, no lift, and a communal stairwell shared with neighbours who will notice any scuff. We run protection on the communal route as standard and photograph it before and after.

Suburban semis and detached houses

Usually the easiest access, but the largest volume: lofts, garages, sheds and gardens. If the loft is coming too, say so when booking, because loft contents routinely add an hour and occasionally a second van.

Packing: full, part or self

You can pack everything yourself, have us pack the whole house, or split the difference. The split is what most customers choose: our crew packs the kitchen, glassware, electronics and artwork, and you handle clothes, books and soft furnishings in the weeks beforehand.

A full pack of a two-bedroom home typically takes two packers most of a day, so it is normally done the day before the move rather than on the morning. Materials — double-walled boxes, wardrobe boxes with hanging rails, bubble wrap, paper and tape — can be delivered in advance. Plastic crate hire is worth considering for office moves and for anyone moving twice within a few months.

If you are self-packing, three things make the biggest difference: keep boxes under about 15kg so they can be carried safely on stairs, label the room rather than the contents, and put anything you need on the first night in a clearly marked box that travels last and comes off first.

Dismantling and reassembly

Bed frames, wardrobes, corner sofas, dining tables, desks and flat-pack units are all dismantled and rebuilt by the crew when booked in advance. Fixings go in labelled bags taped to the piece they came from, so nothing is hunting for a bolt at ten at night.

Two caveats worth knowing. Flat-pack furniture that has already been taken apart several times does not always survive another round trip; we will tell you honestly if we think a wardrobe is at the end of its life. And built-in units, anything plumbed or wired, and gas appliances need a qualified trade rather than a removals crew.

Parking, permits, ULEZ and the congestion charge

Parking is the most underestimated part of a London move. If your street is in a controlled parking zone, the van needs a suspended bay or a dispensation, and boroughs differ widely: some process a request in two working days, others want ten, and costs run from around £25 to well over £100 per bay per day. We arrange suspensions where the borough allows a removals firm to apply, but the earlier it is raised the better.

Where a suspension is not possible, the practical fallback is a long carry, and a long carry costs time. Sixty metres from door to van, repeated eighty times, adds close to an hour to a three-bedroom move. It is worth asking a neighbour to hold a space.

ULEZ is absorbed by us and never appears on your bill. The congestion charge applies only when a move crosses the central zone during charging hours, and we tell you on the call whether yours does.

Insurance and what happens if something goes wrong

Every job carries goods in transit cover and public liability insurance as standard, and certificates can be sent before you book — useful when a building manager or concierge asks for proof before releasing a loading bay or service lift.

Damage is rare but it is not impossible, and the process matters. Tell the crew lead on the day if you can, photograph the item, and contact the office. We do not ask customers to chase. High-value items, antiques and anything irreplaceable should be declared when booking so we can either add specific cover or recommend a specialist.

Storage between completion dates

Chains slip. When your completion dates do not line up, we can move your belongings into clean, dry storage, keep an inventory of what went in, and redeliver when the new place is ready. Storage is charged by the week or the month, and the redelivery is quoted at the same rates as the original move. For a gap of a few days it is usually cheaper than a hotel and far less stressful than living around boxes.

How to prepare for moving day

• Finish packing the night before. Everything else on this list matters less than this one.
• Empty and defrost the fridge-freezer at least 24 hours ahead, and drain the washing machine.
• Book the lift or loading bay at both addresses, and confirm the booking the day before.
• Sort parking — suspension, dispensation, or a neighbour holding a space.
• Keep documents, keys, chargers, medication and valuables in a bag that travels with you.
• Take meter readings and photograph them before you leave.
• Label boxes by destination room, and write on the side rather than the top.
• Make sure someone with the authority to make decisions is present at both ends.

Where we cover

All 32 London boroughs, with no travel surcharge inside Greater London. East London is our home patch — Ilford, Redbridge, Newham, Barking and Dagenham, Waltham Forest and Hackney are covered daily — and we work regularly across Islington, Camden, Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Lambeth, Croydon, Enfield, Haringey, Brent, Ealing, Hounslow, Harrow, Richmond and Wandsworth. Towns just beyond the M25 are covered by arrangement, and we take long-distance jobs out of London most weeks.

For local detail, see our area page for removals in Ilford, or every area we cover.