Flats & conversions
Flat removals in SE15
Most flats here are houses that were cut into pieces a century after they were built. That produces a particular set of problems, all of which are solvable and none of which should be discovered on moving morning.
Three kinds of Peckham flat
Conversions. Victorian and Edwardian houses split into two, three or four. A communal stair built for one family, a turn on the half landing, and a front door that frequently opens against the stairs. These are the slowest and the most common.
Above the shops. Rye Lane and the roads leading off it. Access is often through a side door and up a straight, steep flight, and the loading question is entirely about the traffic outside.
Blocks. Ex-council maisonettes with deck access, and the newer buildings near Queens Road and the Old Kent Road end. A lift, a loading bay, and usually a booking to make. Predictable, provided the booking exists.
What we check before quoting
- The floor
- Which one, and whether there is a lift. Third-floor-no-lift is ordinary here and it changes the crew rather than the answer.
- The communal stair
- Width, and whether there is a turn on the half landing. In a Victorian conversion that turn decides what comes apart.
- The front door
- Whether it opens against the staircase, which is the single most common surprise in this postcode.
- The street
- Where a vehicle can legally stand, for how long, and how far the carry is from there.
- The far end
- All of it again. Half the problems on a flat move live at the destination rather than the origin.
When a sofa will not go
It happens, and more often in SE15 than in most postcodes. A three-seater that came in before the stairs were boxed in, a corner unit assembled in the room, a wardrobe wider than the half landing.
There are three answers: dismantle it, take it out through a window where the building and the street allow, or accept that this particular piece is staying. We tell you which at survey — it is a much better conversation to have a fortnight early than at nine on the day.
Loading on a busy street
Rye Lane is busy from early until late, and the terraces behind it are parked solid. Depending on the street the answer is a suspended bay arranged in advance, an early start before the parking fills, or a longer carry from wherever the vehicle can legally stand.
All three are ordinary. What does not work is turning up and hoping.
Between tenancies
Very few flat moves here run out of one place and into the next on the same day. Storage covers the gap, and arranged in advance it is a line on the quote rather than a scramble.
Moving a single room rather than a whole flat? That is a share move, priced differently and planned differently.
Worth knowing
Flat moves in SE15, before you book
What do you need to know about the building?
Which floor, whether there is a lift and whether it needs booking, how wide the communal stair is, whether there is a turn on the half landing, and where a vehicle can legally stand. Those five answers shape the entire day.
Will a sofa go up the stairs?
Sometimes not, and in a Victorian conversion that is a common finding rather than a disaster. The options are dismantling, a window hoist where the building allows it, or accepting that a particular piece is not going to make it. We say which at survey rather than on the morning.
Is there a lift booking to arrange?
In the newer blocks near Queens Road and the Old Kent Road end, usually yes, and the building will only speak to a resident. Tell us the booked window and we plan the day around it.
What about ex-council maisonettes?
Ordinary work — often external stairs and a deck access, which is easier than a Victorian conversion in almost every respect except the weather. Tell us which level and we will bring the right crew.
Can you move a studio on your own?
A studio is a man-and-van job. Two people still come, because one person and a mattress on a communal staircase is how walls get marked.
Send us the floor and a photo of the stairs.
Between those two we can usually tell you what the day looks like before anybody visits.