Door-to-door removals from the UK to Italy, run by road from our Lower Dicker and Croydon depots. Shared loads from £125 per m³, dedicated vehicles from £4,150, typically 8–12 days — with the ZTL access restrictions in historic centres planned for, not discovered on the day.
Removals to Italy from the UK divide neatly in two. Northern Italy — Milan, Turin, the Veneto — is work: finance, fashion, design, engineering, and postings that come with a start date. Tuscany, Umbria, Le Marche and Puglia are the other kind entirely: restoration projects, second homes turned permanent, and retirements. The logistics differ as much as the motivations, and the one thing both share is that the historic centre you are moving into was built centuries before anyone imagined a pantechnicon.
Almost every Italian town of any age has a zona a traffico limitato — a restricted-traffic zone covering the historic centre, enforced by camera, with fines issued automatically and retrospectively to the vehicle owner. They are the single most common cause of an unexpected bill on an Italian move, and the reason a remover who has never worked in Italy will quote you cheerfully and then discover the problem on delivery day.
Access generally requires a permit obtained in advance from the comune, valid for specific hours on a specific date. Where a permit is not obtainable or the streets are simply too narrow, we shuttle from a legal parking point in a smaller vehicle. Either way it is established at survey and priced into the quote, because the alternative is a lorry sitting outside a camera-enforced zone it cannot legally enter.
Rome, Florence, Siena, Bologna and Milan all operate them, and the rules vary by comune. This is exactly the kind of local detail that separates a route we run from a route someone subcontracts.
Milan and the north are our most frequent Italian destinations and the most straightforward: modern apartment stock, decent access outside the centro storico, and moves that usually come with an employer behind them. Turin and the Veneto are similar.
Tuscany, Umbria and Le Marche are the restoration belt. Rural properties down long unmade tracks, farmhouses with no turning circle for a lorry, and delivery addresses that a satnav places approximately. We ask for photographs of the final approach at survey; it is not fussiness, it is the difference between a delivery and a shuttle.
Rome combines both problems — a large ZTL and apartment buildings with lifts built for two people. Puglia and the south add a long road leg to everything, which is what puts them at the top of the transit range rather than any difficulty at the far end.
Italy is in the EU and the UK is not, so this is a formal import. Used household effects can normally be imported free of duty and import VAT when you are transferring your normal residence, subject to the usual conditions on prior residence outside the EU, ownership and use of the goods for a qualifying period, and importing within the window after establishing residence.
Italian clearance is documentation-heavy and rewards preparation. You will need a detailed itemised inventory with values, your codice fiscale, evidence of your Italian address and proof you are genuinely relocating rather than furnishing a holiday home — second-home owners do not qualify for the relief, and it is far better to know that before the lorry loads than after. Alcohol, tobacco and vehicles sit outside the standard relief. We prepare the file with you before departure.
We are a family-run Sussex firm, established in 2017, working from depots at Lower Dicker and Croydon. Our own crews pad-wrap every piece in your home using our white-glove method, build ISPM-15 crates for marble, art, mirrors and antiques — which Italian restoration moves generate more of than any other route — and compile the valued inventory the customs entry depends on.
We are a member of the British Association of Removers Overseas Group and work to the BS 8564 standard, with every consignment fully insured. Read our reviews, size the load with our free volume calculator, or call 01323 848 008.
These are the rates we quote from, not a teaser figure with the extras stripped out. A shared load to Italy starts at £125 per cubic metre with a 4 m³ minimum, and a dedicated vehicle — yours alone, no transhipment — starts at £4,150. Typical transit is 8–12 days.
| Your home | Typical volume | From |
|---|---|---|
| Studio or single room | 10 m³ | £1,250 |
| One-bedroom flat | 18 m³ | £2,250 |
| Two-bedroom house | 30 m³ | £3,750 |
| Three-bedroom house | 45 m³ | £5,625 |
| Four-bedroom house | 62 m³ | £7,750 |
| Five-bedroom house or larger | 85 m³ | £10,625 |
These are the prices you pay. International removals are zero-rated for UK VAT, so unlike a domestic house move there is nothing to add on top. Import duty or VAT levied by the destination country, where your goods do not qualify for transfer-of-residence relief, is separate and is payable there rather than to us.
Above roughly 55 m³ a dedicated vehicle usually beats the shared-load rate. We will tell you when that crossover applies to your move rather than let you overpay for groupage. Volumes above are typical rather than measured; the survey sets the real figure and the quote is then fixed in writing. Our free volume calculator gives you a cubic-feet number in a couple of minutes without needing to speak to anyone.
Included as standard
Priced separately
| Service | Price from | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Full export packing | £38 per m³ | All materials included. Typically £1,100–£1,400 for a three-bed house. |
| Fragile-only packing | £22 per m³ | China, glass, pictures and electronics. You do the rest. |
| Unpacking at destination | £18 per m³ | Boxes emptied, contents placed, cartons removed. |
| Transit insurance | 2.5% of value | £75 minimum. All-risks cover on a valued inventory. |
| Storage in transit | £4.50 per m³ per week | £25 weekly minimum. Individual steel rooms, 24-hour CCTV. |
| Upright piano | £395 | Skid trolley, crating and specialist straps. |
| Grand piano | £695 | Legs removed, side-crated and blanket-boxed. |
| Custom timber crating | £185 per crate | Art, marble, mirrors and antiques. ISPM-15 compliant timber. |
| Shuttle vehicle | £280 | Where the lorry cannot reach the door — common in Italian ZTL zones and Swiss old towns. |
| Long carry over 20 m | £95 | Per property, per move. |
| Second delivery address | £180 | Within 25 km of the primary address. |
| Vehicle shipping | On application | Cars, motorcycles and trailers via our specialist partner. |
For the full eight-route comparison across France, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and the Benelux, see our European removals rate card.
Shared loads start at £125 per cubic metre with a 4 m³ minimum. A one-bedroom flat of about 18 m³ is roughly £2,250 and a three-bedroom house of about 45 m³ roughly £5,625. A dedicated vehicle — yours alone, no transhipment — starts at £4,150. There is no UK VAT to add; international removals are zero-rated.
A zona a traffico limitato is a restricted-traffic zone covering the historic centre of almost every older Italian town, enforced by camera with fines issued automatically to the vehicle owner. If your address is inside one — common in Rome, Florence, Siena, Bologna and Milan — access needs a permit obtained in advance from the comune for specific hours, or we shuttle in from a legal parking point. We establish it at survey and price it in; it is the most common cause of an unexpected bill on an Italian move.
Typically 8–12 days door to door. Northern Italy sits at the shorter end; Puglia and the south add a long road leg, which is what stretches the range rather than any difficulty at the far end. A dedicated vehicle travels direct and is quicker than a shared load waiting for a scheduled departure.
Yes, and it is a good share of our Italian work. Rural properties down long unmade tracks, farmhouses with no turning circle and addresses a satnav places only approximately are all routine — but we ask for photographs of the final approach at survey. That is what tells us whether the lorry can reach the door or whether we shuttle the last stretch in a smaller vehicle.
No. The relief covers people transferring their normal residence to Italy, not furnishing a holiday home, and Italian clearance is documentation-heavy enough that this gets checked. It is much better to know before the lorry loads than after. If you are a second-home owner we will tell you honestly and structure the move accordingly.
Call us for a free, no-obligation quote, or use our online form. Whether it is a shared part-load or a whole house, we have handled the route before and we will handle yours with care.