Moving home - Am I mad to consider hiring a van?

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

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I've been in contact with about 10 removal companies to try and get a quote for moving home.

Half didn't bother to respond. 1 responded with a bunch of questions that I'd already answered, 3 gave quotes for at £1300-1600 (move only, no packing/dismantling, and it's only a 2 min drive from my current house), and the last gave a quote I'd be happy with (£900), but now isn't responding :-/

I didn't realise I could drive a Luton van on a standard license. I priced it up and I could hire a van, a sack trolley and hire some boxes for 3 days for between a third and a quarter of the price of the quotes I'm getting.

There's no way I could fit my whole house in a Luton van, but my in-laws live nearby so I was thinking the day before completing I could move half my gear into theirs, then on the day of the move I could put all the big stuff in the van, and I can unload at 'leisure' as the van wouldn't be due back until the day after.

I realise it'll be hard graft, but I'm reasonably fit and we don't have much stuff. I'm confident between me and the missus we could carry everything we own no problem apart from the big American fridge freezer, but I could rope my brother in to help with that.

Am I mad for considering this?
 
BTDTGTTS. Yes, you are mad. Get some mates to help you. You really don’t want to be shifting things like beds or fridges on your own.

Beyond that, double-check your licence:

www.gov.uk

Driving licence categories

Driving licence categories - entitlements on your licence and what vehicles you can drive - cars, motorcycles, mopeds, medium and large lorries, minibuses and buses.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk


It sounds like you’ll only need 2-3 trips - indeed with the properties so close together you might want to prefer speed of loading and unloading over minimising the number of trips. Who really cares if it takes you an extra trip or three? And you don’t need to impose upon the in-laws.
 
NotAGolf said:
I've been in contact with about 10 removal companies to try and get a quote for moving home.

Half didn't bother to respond. 1 responded with a bunch of questions that I'd already answered, 3 gave quotes for at £1300-1600 (move only, no packing/dismantling, and it's only a 2 min drive from my current house), and the last gave a quote I'd be happy with (£900), but now isn't responding :-/

I didn't realise I could drive a Luton van on a standard license. I priced it up and I could hire a van, a sack trolley and hire some boxes for 3 days for between a third and a quarter of the price of the quotes I'm getting.

There's no way I could fit my whole house in a Luton van, but my in-laws live nearby so I was thinking the day before completing I could move half my gear into theirs, then on the day of the move I could put all the big stuff in the van, and I can unload at 'leisure' as the van wouldn't be due back until the day after.

I realise it'll be hard graft, but I'm reasonably fit and we don't have much stuff. I'm confident between me and the missus we could carry everything we own no problem apart from the big American fridge freezer, but I could rope my brother in to help with that.

Am I mad for considering this?
Click to expand...
No. Not mad. I moved house in a Ford S-Max and a van that wasn't even a long wheel base one.
 
Not mad I don't think.

We moved nearly 3 years ago. Hired a van for 2 days, just the wife and I and we did it in a few trips. Was bloody hard work, some help would have been handy, but we managed just fine.
 
I moved my girlfriend from her flat into the house I was buying as well as some of my stuff from my old house that was at her flat.

So roughly

Two beds and mattresses
Two sofas
Small dining table and a few chairs
Large cupboard
A couple of dressing tables
About 4 fairly large and heavy cabinets
Plants
Washing machine
Large TV
5.1 speaker system with floor standers
Then the general house stuff like clothes, kitchen utensils etc etc etc
Two large dog crates and a small one


So not really a huge amount and there is certainly stuff im missing. But it took me and my mate about 5-6 runs in a Mercedes sprinter, and the house was about 8 minutes away from the flat. It probably also took around 10 hours in total including breaks
(there is definitely things ive missed) and we were absolutely ****** afterwards. We are also bodybuilders, so not completely unfit, but certainly not the best for endurance work. The current house is on a main road and the drive isn't big enough to get a large van on, so that made it more difficult. Also the front and back door has about 5-6 steps to get into the house, which also makes things harder.

I am going to be moving in the next month or so, all being well and we have a lot more stuff. I am debating whether to get a Luton this time from said mate who now runs a van hire business, and get a few more friends to help. I'm taking at least 4-5 of us. Any less would be madness. Otherwise, I'll be having to just pay a moving company. Luckily it's only about 15 mins to the new house.
 
I used anyvan before, cost me not far off renting a van! I wasn't moving far, couple of miles but they done everything.

I wouldn't trust them to move anything you didn't want damaged. But they did a good enough job for me.
 
Quartz said:
speed of loading and unloading over minimising the number of trips.
Click to expand...

This.

Rope some mates / family in.

When my mate moved we did it room by room (even if the van was half empty) just to make the logistics easier. When theres half a dozen of you emptying a room with everything pre-packed in boxes, it can be done in minutes.
 
Hmm, some of you are suggesting to do multiple trips. How does that work if you're in a chain? I thought at X o'clock you get a call that basically says get out of your house and into your new one. I.e. No time to shuttle back and forth as your buyer will move in the moment you move out? (Hence why I was thinking I needed to do a single trip on completion day).

Sorry if it's a dumb question. Last time I was a FTB so never sold a house before.
 
If you are moving out and new owners moving in on the same day, and presuming this is true for your new house too, your plan will be fine.
Just make sure you book the van well in advance as van bookings soar at weekends (people typically move on a Friday).

And then have a back up plan as some companies cancel at the last minute.

No idea what a 'man with a van' would cost but I suspect it won't take long so even £100 p/h would possibly be okay (more likely less than half that).
 
I've moved family home 3 times and never used a moving company, do it for the experience if nothing else.

Ratchet straps are a must, the inside of the Luton will have mounting points but you might need to ask for leasing company for the straps.
 
NotAGolf said:
Hmm, some of you are suggesting to do multiple trips. How does that work if you're in a chain? I thought at X o'clock you get a call that basically says get out of your house and into your new one. I.e. No time to shuttle back and forth as your buyer will move in the moment you move out? (Hence why I was thinking I needed to do a single trip on completion day).

Sorry if it's a dumb question. Last time I was a FTB so never sold a house before.
Click to expand...

You'd have to stagger your times, so you're not picking up up your new keys at the same time as having to drop off your old ones. But yes it's possible that your "moving" window may be quite short - which would then mean either having to get more friends/family to help out - loading up their cars. The best solution would be if you have a family/friend/neighbour with a garage, that way you can store boxed stuff in there and focus just on the big items on the day.
 
I've never driven a Luton van before, but I've helped with a couple of moves. The key is to let those capable (usually men) move the heavy stuff to and from the van and let everybody else sort the stuff out. I experienced one move where people tried to get the heavy movers to do all the leg work, like carrying small bits upstairs while they stood bickering over silly stuff like which wall the sofa will go on - but that didn't last long and they soon got the message as the bedroom stuff built up in the living room. ;)

Sofas can be very deceiving in size. Don't assume they will just disassemble and glide out the old house and into the new one. One recent move I helped a family member in, saw a great struggle with a sofa and a chunky uPVC door frame, but we managed somehow.

Something that catches some people out is plumbing, like dishwashers and washing machines. They're usually fairly simple, but it's a good idea to know what you're doing first. It's usually a case of disconnecting the power first, get a towel and bowl to help remove the waste pipe, then turn off the water supply and disconnect the supply pipe (usually just the one these days). The weight of some washing machines can be surprising, so try and make sure it's one of the first things to load in the van as well as the fridge - that way you won't be too tired to move it later.

The last thing I do, which I would think most people do these days now, is take your final meter readings and take photos of the said readings. There's nothing worse than a surprising final bill which has been estimated. On the same note, it's also the first thing you should do when moving into the new house - that way you won't be charged for somebody else's usage.

Good luck!
 
I've used a van to move myself before with several mates to help, but that was when i was starting out and didn't have a lot of stuff.

I'd say it's fine to do in your early 20's but it is proper hard work, absolutely no way i'd entertain it no matter the coast saving nowadays.

Finally be really really careful with Luton vans, even though a lot are plated at 3.5t so you can drive them with a regular license they weigh almost that much empty if they've got a tail lift on them, so if you do get pulled over you'll have to deal with a hefty fine for being overweight.

We had one come to collect some IT equipment from our workplace and put them on the scales on the way out and they had to unload almost everything to be under the 3.5t limit, think they ended up leaving with just 2 printers in the back as their van weighed something like 3.2 tones empty with the 2 lads in it.
 
I've always done my own, including packing the van up and driving all our stuff down to Spain. It's not really a difficult task and the last time i pretty much loaded/unloaded it all up myself. Although we were fortunate that we weren't moving beds/sofas.

All you really need is 1 mate for the bulkier items i would say.

Hard to say exactly without seeing all your stuff on number of trips etc, but if you can do one load the day before to your in laws, i'd be surprised if you can't then fit everything else into the Luton. Unless you have absolute masses of stuff. Don't forget to utilise any cars etc too for space.
 
I can't stress this enough - make sure you've enough space in whatever transportation you hire or contract for all your stuff! It can be quite deceiving how much crap you accumulate in the garage, loft and shed etc.

I was amazed that it caught me out - on moving day the mover's massive truck wasn't enough (their poor packing :D ?) and I had to call on a Romanian poker buddy of mine with a van at extremely short notice to bail me out. Total star he was, don't know what I would have done if he wasn't available.
 
NotAGolf said:
I didn't realise I could drive a Luton van on a standard license. I priced it up and I could hire a van, a sack trolley and hire some boxes for 3 days for between a third and a quarter of the price of the quotes I'm getting.
Click to expand...
Hire a man with a van on facebook, and say you will help with the loading /unloading

should be really cheap still but you'll get a helping hand.
 
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