2026-05-18 · 9 min read · Cost & pricing
Most removal companies refuse to put numbers on their website. We do it differently. After 40+ years of moving Sussex households we have a clear idea of what each kind of move actually costs in 2026 — including conveyancing, removal services, packing, storage and the smaller line items that catch most movers out. This guide is the same numbers we quote against every day. No "from £150" tricks. No vague ranges. Real costs you can budget around.
The honest answer for 2026: a typical 3-bedroom move within Sussex costs £820 to £1,280 for the removal company itself. That figure includes a uniformed crew of three, the lorry, all materials (pad-wrap, boxes, tape, bubble), full goods-in-transit insurance, and a fixed-price quote with no hidden extras. The range exists because moves aren’t identical: a 3-bed terrace in central Brighton with a parking permit and a fourth-floor flat costs more than a same-size house in Goring-by-Sea with off-street parking. We always survey first — no quote should land in your inbox without a real human walking through the property.
Beyond the removal, you should budget for these in 2026: conveyancing £900–£1,800 (fixed quote from your solicitor), survey £400–£900 depending on level (Level 2 most common), stamp duty (highly dependent on price and circumstances — use the HMRC calculator), change-of-address admin £30–£80 (DVLA, TV licence, Royal Mail redirection at £33.99 for 3 months), and first-night essentials £80–£150 (cleaning supplies, takeaway, basic groceries).
For moves within roughly 30 miles of our Lower Dicker depot. All prices below include materials, crew, insurance and a fixed quote:
What moves you within the range: access (a third-floor walk-up adds 20% vs a ground-floor townhouse), antiques and fragile content, and time of year. The last week of any month is busiest; school-summer-holiday weeks have a small surcharge. Tuesday-Wednesday mid-month is the cheapest window.
Once you’re moving more than 30 miles from Eastbourne, mileage and overnight crew costs come into play. Indicative one-way prices for a 3-bed home in 2026:
For very long-distance UK moves we usually need two days — load day plus delivery day with the crew staying overnight near the destination. That overnight cost is in the figures above.
Packing is the biggest determinant of whether things arrive intact. Three options in 2026:
Some moves require specialist handling and the price moves accordingly:
Our Lower Dicker depot has individual steel strong rooms with 24-hour CCTV. Full storage page. Indicative 2026 weekly rates:
Always included: pad-wrap protection of all furniture, all wrapping materials, BAR-trained uniformed crew, full goods-in-transit insurance to £40/kg, fuel, mileage within the agreed route, congestion charges where the route requires them, and any parking suspensions in Sussex permit zones (we arrange these with the council).
Always quoted separately so you can decide: packing of contents, unpacking on arrival, custom crating, all-risks transit insurance at declared value, overnight storage between collection and delivery, dismantling/reassembly of bespoke furniture, and hoist or crane work.
Never charged on the day: no “the move took longer than expected” surcharges, no “you had more stuff than the survey said” charges. The price you’re quoted is the price you pay.
Five practical ways to bring the cost down without trading away the things that protect your possessions:
If you compared a quote today with the same move ten years ago, you would see an increase well above headline inflation. The reasons are not mysterious — they are the same three or four cost lines, all moving in the same direction.
Diesel and lorry duty. Operating a 7.5-tonne removal lorry now costs roughly 70–80 pence per mile in fuel alone, before insurance, tachograph services and tyres. The 2023–2024 freeze on fuel duty has unwound; the 2026 budget added another small increase. For a 200-mile move (Eastbourne to Devon, say) the diesel line on a job sheet has roughly doubled since 2018.
Driver and crew pay. HGV-licensed drivers became scarce after Brexit and the pandemic. A trained, BAR-standard removals crew is now paid a properly competitive day rate — and rightly so, since they handle six-figure inventories. We don’t use agency labour because it shows up in damage rates, and the cost of a permanent, trained crew is reflected in the quote. It is also the single biggest reason quality firms cost more than budget operators.
Insurance. Goods-in-transit insurance, public liability, and yard insurance have all risen sharply since 2022. A typical established firm now pays close to five figures a year on insurances before a single van leaves the depot. That cost is amortised across every job.
Compliance and overheads. Tachograph services, driver CPC training, operator licence audits, BAR membership, Trading Standards inspections, ICO data registration, electronic vehicle records, paint and signwriting on a regulated fleet — none of these are optional, and all are more expensive than they were five years ago.
Property values. Even on the cost side this matters: a depot in East Sussex with the access and yard space needed for an HGV fleet is expensive ground. Many cheaper national operators get round this by parking lorries on lay-bys overnight — not something a BAR-compliant local firm can or should do.
None of this changes the fundamentals of moving house. But it does explain why a credible 2026 Sussex quote for a 3-bed local move sits in the £850–£1,150 range rather than the £500 figure you might have seen on a forum from 2017. Anyone quoting much below this range in 2026 is either skipping a major cost line — usually insurance, materials or trained crew — or planning to invoice the difference in surcharges on move day.
The honest way to read the numbers is to treat the headline price as one variable among several. The contract terms, the insurance schedule, the survey quality and the crew’s training all carry weight, and a slightly higher quote that includes pad-wrap, fragile packing and BAR-protected deposits is almost always cheaper than the alternative once damage, hire-cost overruns and unplanned overtime are factored in.
For local moves we typically take 25% on confirmation with the balance on move day. For international and country-house moves we agree a staged payment schedule. All deposits are protected under the BAR Advance Payment Guarantee.
Yes. Once we’ve done a survey and issued a written quote, the price is locked. The only thing that changes is if you add work that wasn’t in the original scope (e.g. “can you also move the loft contents?”) — we quote that addition there and then.
No. All surveys are free and no-obligation. For small moves (single rooms, student moves) we can quote from photos and a phone call.
Some operators use casual day labour, sub-standard materials, and don’t carry the insurance we do. The cheapest quote is rarely the cheapest move once damage and surcharges land.
Yes — all major cards over the phone or by secure link. Bank transfer is also fine. We don’t accept cash for moves above £500.
Email office@markratcliffemoving.co.uk or call 01323 848 008. Family-run since 1982 · BAR member · 4.9/5 from 120+ reviews.