The drive is the easy part
It genuinely is. The M1 is predictable, the run is well within a working day, and the variable is what time it is being driven rather than what the route is.
Everything difficult about a southbound move happens in the last part of it.
The parking is a formal process
Most of inner and much of outer London operates controlled parking, which means the kerb outside your new door is not available to a removals van simply because you are moving in. A bay suspension has to be applied for in advance from the relevant borough.
It cannot be arranged on the morning, and without one the vehicle stands wherever it legally can — which may be a considerable distance from your door, and everything you own gets carried that distance.
Somebody may have to let you in
If you are moving into a block, expect the managing agent to want some or all of the following before anybody is allowed in with furniture:
- A copy of the remover’s public liability insurance.
- A copy of the goods-in-transit cover.
- A booked lift slot, sometimes with a porter present.
- Agreement on the route through communal areas and protection for it.
It will be smaller
Not always, but usually, and often by more than people expect. What the same money buys in the South East is a different proposition from a Nottinghamshire house, and the storage in particular disappears — lofts, garages and garden sheds are the things that do not come with a flat.
Measure the new place, or have us measure it, before you decide what is coming. It is far cheaper to make that decision here.
Plan the day backwards from the arrival
A southbound move should be planned from the unload, not the load. When can the vehicle be at the new address, where will it stand, who has to be there, and what time do we need to leave Nottinghamshire to make that work.
Planned that way round it is a straightforward day. Planned the other way round it frequently is not.