How Much Do Removals Cost in the UK? (2026 Price Guide)

After 185 years of moving Hampshire families, we can tell you what a move really costs without reaching for a calculator. A typical full house move with Bradbeers runs between £1,450 and £1,750 for a three-bedroom home, and the figure moves with your property size, distance and how much packing you hand over.

This guide gives you our own 2026 prices, drawn from the over 1,500 moves we handle each year, and checks them against independent national data so you can see how Hampshire compares. No guesswork, no inflated averages.

How much do removals cost in the UK on average?

Across our own moves in 2026, a full-service relocation ranges from about £650 for a one-bedroom flat to £3,200 for a large five-bedroom house, with most family moves landing in the middle. These are the prices we actually quote in Hampshire, not a national estimate.

For context, independent figures put the UK average paid at £709 in 2025 (Property Industry Eye, 2025). That number is lower than our typical full-service move for a simple reason: it blends small man-and-van jobs in with complete household relocations. A full house move, properly packed and insured, costs more than the headline average suggests.

Our take: Treat the “£709 average” as a floor, not a forecast. It mixes a student shifting a few boxes with a family emptying a four-bedroom house. Your move is priced on what you’re actually moving.

Here’s what our customers pay by property size.

For practical pointers on top of the prices, see our top tips to make moving house easier.

How much does it cost to move a 3-bedroom house?

A full-service three-bedroom move with Bradbeers costs £1,450–£1,750 in 2026, covering packing, loading, transport and unloading. The three-bed is the most common move we handle, so it’s the clearest benchmark we can give you.

That sits a little above the national average for a basic move. Zoopla puts a typical 3-bedroom relocation at around £1,300 (Zoopla, 2025), and the difference comes down largely to packing. Strip out a full packing service and do it yourself and you’ll save a few hundred pounds; add a long distance or tricky access and you’ll add it straight back.

For most Hampshire families moving within the county, our full-service figure is the realistic budget line, not the £709 national average.

Wondering whether to hire professionals at all? Our guide on choosing a removal company over a man with a van weighs it up.

What does a real Hampshire move cost? A worked example

Here’s a recent, representative three-bedroom move we handled from Romsey to Winchester (around 12 miles, comfortably within the local band). Every figure comes straight from the job, so you can see exactly where the money goes rather than staring at a single quoted total.

This was a full-service move: a family home, a normal amount of furniture, partial packing for the fragile items, and standard access at both ends.

Component	Cost	Notes
Core removal (3-bed, local)	£1,450	Loading, transport, unloading
Partial packing (fragiles)	£200	Glassware, china, pictures
Furniture dismantling (×3 items)	£165	Beds and wardrobes
Access/parking surcharge	£0	Standard access at both ends
Total	£1,815	Fixed price from survey

The headline takeaway: a real local three-bed move came to £1,815 once packing and dismantling were included. That’s not the £709 national average, and it isn’t the bare core-removal figure either. That gap is precisely why a quick online estimate so often undershoots the bill that actually arrives. Our survey-based quote, by contrast, came in within 5% of the final invoice.

What do removal companies charge per hour?

Some firms charge by the hour for small, local jobs like a part-load, a single room, or a short studio move. For a full house, though, we quote a fixed price after a free survey rather than running the clock.

Why? An hourly rate exposes you to delays you can’t control: traffic, parking, a lift that’s out of service. A fixed quote based on a proper survey puts that risk on us, not on you. Around around 70% of our moves are local, and almost all of them are priced this way.

From our surveyors: When a customer asks for an hourly rate on a full house, we almost always recommend a fixed survey-based quote instead. It’s the difference between knowing your bill and hoping for it.

What’s included in a full removals price?

A full-service quote bundles labour, vehicles, transit insurance and, if you choose, packing, dismantling and storage into one price. The single biggest add-on is packing: a full packing service adds around £450 to a three-bedroom move, with unpacking roughly £200 more.

That tracks with the national picture. The HomeOwners Alliance puts full packing for a three-bed at £400–£500, with unpacking about £200 more (HomeOwners Alliance, 2026). What you’re really paying for with an established remover, though, is accountability: membership of the British Association of Removers (BAR), full insurance, and an independent dispute-resolution scheme if anything goes wrong. That’s the part the cheapest quote leaves out.

The chart below shows how the main add-ons stack up on a typical three-bedroom move.

You can choose how much to hand over. We offer full, partial and DIY-materials packing. See our guide on how to pack your belongings correctly.

How much does a packing service cost?

Full packing for a three-bedroom home costs around £450 with Bradbeers in 2026, with furniture dismantling at £55 per item. The HomeOwners Alliance puts full packing nationally at £400–£500, so our pricing sits right in line with the wider market (HomeOwners Alliance, 2026).

Packing is about more than saving yourself a weekend. Professionally packed boxes are properly protected, and they’re covered by our insurance, which self-packed boxes often aren’t. For fragile, antique or high-value items, that protection is the whole point.

You can also choose partial packing: we handle the fragile and awkward items, you do the books and clothes. It’s a popular middle ground.

How does distance affect removals cost?

Distance is a major lever. A three-bedroom move that costs around £1,500 locally can rise to £2,800 for a long-distance relocation, mostly down to time, fuel and crew. The good news for most movers is that distances are short.

In 2025, the median UK home move was just 10 miles (Property Industry Eye, 2025). Most people aren’t crossing the country. They’re moving across town or to the next county, which is exactly the kind of move that keeps costs in the lower band.

What else affects the cost of your move?

Beyond size and distance, the big swing factors are access, timing and specialist items. Stairs, a long carry from the door, or no parking near the property all add labour and time, and we reflect that in the quote. Difficult access is one of the most common reasons two similar homes get different prices.

Timing matters too. Moving on a weekend, at the end of the month, or in the summer peak usually carries a premium, simply because demand is highest then. Shift your date midweek and mid-month and you can often shave the bill. Specialist items like a piano, antiques or a large safe need dedicated handling and are priced separately.

What our surveyor actually checks: the width of your doorways and stairs, where the van can park, which items need dismantling, and anything fragile or high-value. Two identical-looking three-bed houses can quote differently purely on access, which is exactly why an online estimator can’t price your move accurately.

For the cheapest slot, see our guide to choosing the best day of the week to move.

How much does removals and storage cost together?

Storage adds to your total, and the cost depends on how much you’re storing and for how long. It’s a common addition when your sale and purchase don’t complete on the same day, or when you’re downsizing and need breathing room before everything fits.

Containerised storage, where your goods are loaded into a sealed container, inventoried and stored in a secure warehouse, is usually the best value for longer periods and the safest for furniture. Our own facility in Romsey offers exactly this, with round-the-clock CCTV and short or long-term packages.

Because storage is priced by volume and length of stay rather than a single flat fee, a few boxes between completions cost far less than a full household put away for months. For moves with a completion gap, containerised warehouse storage is typically the most secure and cost-effective option.

Read more in our guide to the benefits of storage during a move.

How much does an office or commercial move cost?

Office moves are a different beast. A commercial removal with Bradbeers typically runs from £3,000 to £12,000 depending on size, access and how much we handle, and every commercial job is priced from a survey rather than a rate card.

The reason commercial moves cost more isn’t just volume. It’s everything around the lift and shift: IT and server relocation, out-of-hours working to avoid downtime, and the dilapidation and fit-out costs of the old and new premises. For most businesses, the biggest cost is downtime, not the van.

The way to control it is planning: a phased schedule, clear labelling, and a move run outside trading hours. We build commercial moves around keeping you operational, with secure storage, archive handling and out-of-hours crews included where needed.

How to get an accurate removals quote

The only reliable price comes from a free home survey. Online estimators consistently miss volume, access and fragile items, which are the very things that move the number. Our surveyor sees what a form can’t, and turns guesswork into a fixed figure, typically within 5% of the final invoice.

A survey takes under an hour. Have a think beforehand about what’s coming with you and what you’ll clear out, because decluttering first genuinely lowers the cost when you’re paying to move volume. It’s also worth getting two or three quotes from BAR-accredited firms so you’re comparing like with like, not a fully insured service against an uninsured van.

Put removals in perspective, too. The total cost of moving home in England was £17,831 in 2025 once stamp duty, agent and legal fees are counted (Property Industry Eye, 2025). Removals is a small slice of that, and it’s the part that decides whether your belongings arrive safely.

Get an accurate, fixed price. Bradbeers offers a free, no-obligation home survey across Hampshire. Our surveyor assesses exactly what you’re moving and gives you a clear written quotation, with no clock-watching and no surprises.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do removals cost in the UK?

With Bradbeers, full-service moves run from £550 for a one-bedroom property to £4,000+ for a large five-bed, based on our own job records. The national average paid was £709 in 2025 (Property Industry Eye, 2025), though that blends small jobs with full house moves.

How much does it cost to move a 3-bedroom house?

A full-service three-bedroom move with Bradbeers costs £1,450–£1,750 in 2026, including packing, transport and unloading. Zoopla reports a national average nearer £1,300 for a basic move (Zoopla, 2025), with distance and access pushing the figure higher.

Is a removal company cheaper than a man with a van?

A man and van is cheaper for small, local moves, but a full-service remover includes labour, transit insurance and protection that a basic van hire doesn’t. For a full house, the difference in peace of mind is usually worth it. See our removal company vs man with a van comparison.

How much does a packing service cost?

Full packing for a three-bedroom home costs around £450 with Bradbeers, with furniture dismantling at £55 per item. That sits in line with the national £400–£500 range (HomeOwners Alliance, 2026). Professionally packed goods are also covered by our insurance.

When is the cheapest time to move house?

Midweek, mid-month and outside the summer peak are cheapest, because demand and pricing are lowest then. Avoiding Fridays and month-end can noticeably reduce your bill. See our guide to the best day of the week to move.

How much does it cost to move an office?

A commercial office removal with Bradbeers typically costs £3,000–£12,000 in 2026, priced from a survey. The bigger cost for most businesses is downtime, so out-of-hours scheduling and a phased plan usually matter more than the headline removal price.

The bottom line on UK removals costs

Here’s what to hold onto:

• Budget by your property size, not the national average: our moves run £550 to £4,000+.
• A 3-bed move with Bradbeers costs £1,450–£1,750, in line with national data once packing is counted.
• Distance, packing, access and timing are the four levers you can plan around.
• A free survey turns a wide range into a single fixed price, typically within 5% of the final bill.

The smartest move is to stop guessing. With 185 years of moving Hampshire families behind us, we can give you a number you can plan around.