Household shipping

A house move that is planned in cubic metres, not in hope.

We ship used household and personal effects into Great Britain, out of Great Britain, and between UK addresses when a port or a storage unit sits in the middle. The product is a surveyed volume, a packing list, and a booked lane — not a blank lorry and a promise.

Two movers loading a wrapped mattress into a white box van on a British street

What travels as household effects

Furniture, kitchenware, clothing, books, bicycles, ordinary electronics, garden tools and the contents of a family home that have been owned and used. That is the cargo UK customs expects to see on a Transfer of Residence packing list, and it is the cargo we quote.

We do not pretend a brand-new sofa bought the week before departure is “used”. If an item is under six months old it is declared as such, and it may attract import VAT even when the rest of the consignment qualifies for relief. Honesty on the list is cheaper than a physical examination at the port.

Lanes we book

Road groupage and exclusive-use across the EU and the UK, including Ireland where the routing makes sense. Shared and exclusive sea containers from the Gulf, South Asia, East Asia, Southern Africa, North America and Australasia into UK ports. Air freight for a first-need consignment — beds, winter clothes, work equipment — while the rest of the house follows by sea.

Northern Ireland is not treated as a copy of a Great Britain delivery. Goods moving between GB and NI, or arriving from outside the UK into NI, follow a different customs picture. We flag that at survey rather than discovering it on the dock.

Volume guide

Property	Typical m³
Studio / one room	10–14 m³
1-bedroom flat	16–22 m³
2-bedroom home	28–38 m³
3-bedroom home	42–55 m³
4-bedroom home	60–80 m³

Lofts, garages and “we’ll decide at the door” add volume. A survey is the only honest number.

What we will not load

Prohibited and licensable goods

Weapons, ammunition, offensive weapons, most animal products, plants and soil, ivory, and anything that needs a UK import licence we have not already arranged.

Food, drink and tobacco

Opened food, perishable food, and commercial quantities of alcohol or tobacco. A few sealed bottles of wine are a conversation, not a given, and they sit outside ToR relief.

Hazards and cash

Paints, solvents, gas bottles, lithium battery hoards, cash, jewellery of high undeclared value, and vehicles unless they are booked as a separate consignment.

Freight terminal at blue hour with a lorry and box van at a loading bay

Timing you can plan around

Road moves on EU–GB lanes typically run two to four weeks from collection once space is booked. Deep-sea household groupage is usually five to nine weeks port to port, plus origin packing and UK last-mile. Air first-need consignments are days, not weeks, but the rate is priced by chargeable weight.

Keys, tenancy starts and visa stamps rarely match a vessel window. That is what storage is for — we would rather hold a consignment in the North West for a fortnight than dump it on a pavement because the keys slipped.

Estimate your lane