The far end is the job
The distance is the reliable part
On a local move both ends are familiar. On a long one you have seen the end you are leaving and possibly not the one you are arriving at — and that is where nearly all of the difficulty lives. We survey both, and where we cannot get to the far end in person we establish it properly rather than assuming.
Six things, before anybody loads anything
- 1
Where can the vehicle actually stand?
Not the road — the address. A controlled parking zone, a clearway, a bus lane, a private estate or a lane too narrow to turn in all change the job, and all of them are at the end you have not seen.
- 2
Does anybody have to give permission?
A council for a bay suspension, a managing agent for a lift, a concierge for a route through communal areas. These run on other people’s timescales and they cannot be arranged on the morning.
- 3
Is the property smaller?
Going south it almost always is. What fits comfortably in a Nottinghamshire house frequently does not fit in what the same money buys elsewhere, and finding that out on the pavement is expensive.
- 4
What is the last part of the route like?
Going east and into Wales, this is the whole question. A route planner will confidently send a large vehicle down something it should not go down, and we would rather know before than find out.
- 5
Who is there to receive it?
On a long move the crew arrives having already done the distance. An empty house and an unanswered phone at that point is a genuinely bad situation, and it is entirely preventable.
- 6
Is there a gap between the two ends?
Long moves produce gaps more often than local ones, because two chains in two different markets rarely line up neatly. Storage across it is normal rather than a failure.
If you have not seen it
Somebody should have
Buying or renting at a distance is completely normal now, and plenty of people move into a property they have seen once or only in photographs. That is fine. It simply means nobody has answered the access question yet.
Ask the agent for pictures of the street and the frontage rather than only the rooms. Ask what the parking arrangement actually is. Ask whether a large vehicle has ever delivered there. None of those is an unreasonable question and all of them are cheaper asked now.
Where we can get to the far end in person, we do. Where we cannot, we establish it properly rather than assuming it works like the end you can see.
What that gets you
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Both ends established, not just one
Access, parking, permissions and the final approach at the receiving address. Surveyed in person where we can and properly established where we cannot.
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Permissions handled for you
Bay suspensions explained in time to arrange one, and managing agents dealt with directly rather than left with you.
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The route chosen for the destination
Not a default road. Which way, and what time we leave, planned around where you are actually going.
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Part-loads quoted as part-loads
A shared load on a long run costs less than a dedicated vehicle and is the sensible answer for a great many of these moves.
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Storage across a gap
Two chains in two markets rarely line up. Sealed once, listed, and delivered when there are keys.
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Halls, stairs and frames protected
At both ends, on every job. It matters more at the far end, where nobody knows you.
It looks different in each direction
- South — London and the South East Assuming the far end works like this one. It does not, and almost every difficult southbound move is a move where somebody assumed it would.
- North — Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland Thinking of Scotland as further England. The property process differs, and that changes how your dates behave rather than how the van drives.
- West — the Midlands, the North West and Wales Underestimating the traffic because the distance is small. This is the direction where a move most often overruns for reasons that have nothing to do with the house.
- East — Lincolnshire, the coast and East Anglia The last stretch of lane. It is the single most common surprise on this direction and it is entirely checkable in advance.
Get a quote
Tell us where you are going
Both addresses, and roughly when. On a long move the second address is the one that shapes the day, so the more you can tell us about it the better the quote will be.