Removal costs...WTF?

[MoHunter]

Yes we have a lot of shit to move, but quotes for our 35 mile move in the Midlands from our 3 bed house have come in at £3.2-3.5K including packing service. There is a large collection of items connected with my husband's hobby (80 banana boxes - these are already packed), and some furniture to dismantle, but nothing that unusual - seriously? Is this normal now?

Yes, that sounds about right. We moved just before Christmas and paid £3k including a full packing service.

Sounds right. Labour costs and fuel.

Would you consider packing yourselves?

We paid £600-700 for moving a 4 bed house 2 years ago. Also in the midlands, and a similar distance - but we packed everything ourselves.

Its the packing service that adds the cost on, we moved a 5 bed house in September packed ourselves £600

We were quoted £2.5k for moving 10 mins down the road in the same town. We scoffed at the price and thought we could do it ourselves. In hindsight, I'd pay the price. I never want to move again. My body felt broken heaving all those boxes around. We did save £2.5K though!

Pack it yourself saves a lot of money.

Clear a room on each floor and then put the well labelled boxes in as you pack them. The label should show which room at the destination (kitchen or bed 1 etc). We used numbers for the bedrooms and when we got to the new house put a number on an A4 sheet on the door of the relevant rooms.

The removal guys loved it as it made life very easy for them.

I was quoted about that by a few firms about 6 years ago - and more by others - so it's been normal for some time. Sorry OP!

It’s not the distance, it’s the people time, packing materials, piece of mind, your time and insurance of your belongings. Depending on how many banana boxes you have, that will take up space in the van meaning you light have more than one van.

A reputable company will make your life easier and more relaxed at a stressful time. You just supervise.

Pack the kettle, mugs and biscuits last and unpack first.

Its worth it if you decide to do it, but do what suits you and your budget :)

It is a miniscule % of the house you are buying and is in my opinion money well spent.

We moved about 8 years ago and I don't think it was far off this amount for a full packing service. I had two little kids at the time so it was worth every penny to me. But obviously only if you've got the money to spend. If you haven't then packing yourself will make a big difference as PP have said.

Thanks - we decided to go with it, even though it stung a bit, but there is no way we will have the time to get it all packed especially with 2 young ish children around. At least they seem a very professional company and have been recommended to us, they will also disassemble and reassemble furniture for us so I guess will be worth it...

We don't intend to move again for 10+ years.

How many quotes have you had?
We moved (a shorter distance) in the summer. 1400, including full packing.
I would get another quote. Ours varied from 800 to 4k.

Moved 80 miles 3 months ago £3600 including full packing and reassembling beds etc on 4 bed house - 3 men and were with us 2 full days plus one half day

We have had 3 quotes but two of them were last summer before inflation went super crazy - they were still 2.8k and 3.2k so not far off what we're paying now. However neither of those two companies are available on the day we need to move so only had one option left.

That sounds like a lot to me! We just moved and packing and removals for a 3 bed flat was about 1600! it was only about 5 miles down the road but I wouldn't expect that to double the price?!

I moved last year and hired a van with a tail lift, it was hard work even though I had family packing one house and unpacking at the new house, I'd pay if I ever moved again

We had the shock of our lives 11k to move us! Not even all of furniture too!

We paid a lot less than that but the last time we moved was 13 years ago from a 1 bed flat to a 3 bed house so didn’t have much to move and it was one mile away! Think it cost us just under a grand, money so well spent as it meant I wasn’t trying to pack up our flat and store boxes in the small space we had available to us with 2 small children also with me. We would pay again next time we move. In a heartbeat.

We paid £1500 including full packing last month. East mids. Brilliant service and done very quickly

Meant to say large 3bed, moved 45 mins away

Didnt pay a penny. I have DS & DD who are very strong. Between Me, my partner and my kids we moved a 3 bedroom house and mega full garage to a 4 bedroom house about 5 miles away in a day.

Boxed everything up a few weeks before. Emptied loft and made sure everything was ready to go. It took an entire day and we were soo tired at the end but we did it and it was nice to see us all working as a team.

Thinking about it, there arent that many occassions in family life where you do get the chance to work so hard together and all be able to be part of it. No regrets.

We have just had three quotes to move our small 2 bedroom house 200 miles with packing. They ranged from £2.7k to £4.5k. You're not moving as far but seem to have a lot more stuff, so £3.2-3.5k seems about right.

We paid about £2.5k two years ago to move an hour away including packing. It was well worth it. We went out the day, the house was packed up and we didnt have to lift a finger. If you can afford it, book it.

We were also 3 bedrooms. And whilst its a big outlay, you dont need to buy any removal boxes or bubble wrap etc either

We paid £4.5k (admittedly moving 200 miles though) fifteen years ago....and that was without the packing service.

More recently - but pre pandemic etc price hikes - we paid £3.5k to move a shorter distance. Again no packing service.

We've also moved ourselves but never again as it took seven journeys.