Into Europe
A European move begins exactly like a move to Nunhead: a survey, an inventory, a plan. What changes is a customs file that takes considerably longer to assemble than the packing does.
Out through the south-east, onto the M25, round to Kent, and across from the tunnel at Folkestone or the port at Dover. On a full household the vehicle is usually loaded the day before it travels, so the crossing booking sets the departure rather than your street does.
That is the easy half, and it is worth saying plainly: from SE15 the driving is not the hard part of a European move.
The shortest of the four. Work moves to Paris, houses in the south-west, and people who decided the rent here could buy something there.
Île-de-France · Normandy · Brittany · the Loire · Nouvelle-Aquitaine · Provence
The route and the paperwork →The busiest British destination in Europe, and the one where the documents rather than the distance set the date.
Madrid · Catalonia · Valencia · Costa Blanca · Andalucía · the Balearics
The route and the paperwork →Fewer moves, more moving parts — Alpine tunnels or the coast road, and restricted city zones at the far end.
Lombardy · Piedmont · the Lakes · Tuscany · Umbria · Lazio
The route and the paperwork →The longest drive, and increasingly a full relocation rather than a second home being furnished.
Lisbon · Cascais · Porto · the Silver Coast · the Algarve
The route and the paperwork →An inventory, itemised and valued line by line — not "box of kitchen". Transit paperwork, raised before the vehicle leaves. And evidence of transfer of residence, which is what allows used household effects to enter without import duty.
We prepare and lodge the export side. The parts only you can obtain — a residency application, address proof at the far end — take the longest, so start those before you think about boxes.
The distinction governs duty. Relief applies where the destination becomes your primary residence. If you stay UK-resident and are furnishing a flat abroad, the goods are a conventional import assessed on declared value.
Plenty of people do not know which they are on the first call. That is fine; it only has to be settled before the inventory is valued.
Households leaving the country are rarely all in one flat. A storage unit, a parent's house, a room at a friend's. London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Bristol are all ordinary collection points, consolidated with the Peckham load before the crossing.
Dedicated carries your household alone and leaves when you are ready. Shared consolidates with other moves going the same way — cheaper, with a delivery window rather than a date. Neither comes with a day count from us; your quote states the expected window for your route.
Common on every route. The tenancy ends before the destination is ready, so the load waits in store here and exports when you say.
Worth knowing
Out through south-east London to the M25, round to Kent, and across from the tunnel at Folkestone or the port at Dover. On a full household the vehicle is usually loaded the day before it travels so the crossing booking sets the departure.
An itemised, valued inventory; transit paperwork raised before the vehicle leaves; and evidence of transfer of residence, which is what allows used household effects to enter without import duty. We prepare and lodge the export side.
Then the relief does not apply and the goods are a conventional import assessed on declared value. It has to be settled before the inventory is valued, because the declaration carries your name.
Dedicated carries your household alone and leaves when you are ready. Shared consolidates with other households going the same way, costs less, and delivers within a window rather than on a date.
Yes — a storage unit, a parent's house, a flat somebody has been using. London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Bristol are all ordinary collection points, consolidated before the crossing.
Very common. The UK tenancy or sale ends before the destination is habitable, so the load waits in store here and exports when you say.
The documents have the longest lead time on any European move. Tell us the country and roughly when.