How Much Does It Cost to Move a 3-Bedroom House in 2026?

The lowest was a 12-mile move done in a single day with no packing; the highest took six days, with full packing and storage. Our price guide for a local three-bedroom removal is £900 to £1,350 plus VAT (£1,080 to £1,620 including it). Volume, distance, access, packing and unpacking set the real figure.

Below are the seven moves, what each one involved, and how they compare with our price guide and with national averages online. Those averages run from roughly £792 to £1,300, and four of the six we checked do not say whether VAT is included. Every total is stated including VAT, with the figure before VAT where the move story gives one.

What decides the cost of a three-bedroom move?

Five things set it: volume, distance, access, packing and unpacking. The number of bedrooms is only a rough guide to volume, and volume is what we measure.

Three-bedroom homes are common: they are the largest group in the South East, at 37.5% of households in the 2021 Census. But two three-bedroom houses can hold very different amounts. Our removals calculator puts a typical three-bedroom house at 1,000 to 1,500 cubic feet. The six moves below with a published volume ran from 1,070 to 2,285 cubic feet, and three of them (Angmering, Midhurst and Petworth) were larger than a typical three-bed. The Horsham move’s volume was not published; it used three lorries.

What did seven real Sussex house removals cost?

From £1,440 to £5,676 including VAT. Each figure is the price of a job we completed, and each move links to its full story.

One larger job shows where the figures go above three bedrooms. Our four-day move from Ashington to Storrington was 3,200 cubic feet, fully packed, with everything dismantled and rebuilt: £4,150 plus VAT, or £4,980 including it. For a figure for your own home, ask us for a survey and written quote.

How much is a one-day move with no packing?

£1,440 and £1,686 including VAT, on our two one-day moves without packing. The Angmering to Shoreham move was 1,600 cubic feet over 12 miles in one day, with the furniture dismantled and rebuilt: £1,200 plus VAT. It used two vehicles because a completion-day afternoon is short, not because the load would not fit in one.

The Bracknell to Thakeham move was beyond the 25 miles our local guide covers. It was 1,350 cubic feet over 49 miles, packed by the owners and done in a single day with one lorry. The removal was £1,325 plus VAT, and an £80 key-wait waiver for completion day brought it to £1,405 plus VAT, or £1,686 including it.

How much does packing add to a three-bedroom removal?

On one of our moves, packing was a little over a third of the bill. From Chichester to Martin, near Salisbury, the removal was £795 plus VAT and full house packing was £450 plus VAT. That came to £1,494 including VAT for 1,070 cubic feet over 61 miles and two days.

Packing and unpacking together turn a move into a longer job. From Framfield, near Uckfield, to Turners Hill, a crew of five packed 1,400 cubic feet, moved it 18.4 miles and unpacked it again over three days. It cost £2,895 plus VAT, or £3,474 including it. Packing is priced for each home after the survey; see our full packing service and full unpacking service.

What does a long-distance three-bedroom move cost?

Our 220-mile move from Midhurst to Cheshire cost £4,140 including VAT. It was 1,735 cubic feet, with fragile items packed, an overnight stop and two days of unloading: £3,450 plus VAT. It needed three vehicles because a single large lorry could not get down the narrow lane at the Midhurst end. Distance adds most when the crew cannot finish and get home in one day.

How does storage change the cost?

It can split the bill in two. Packing 2,285 cubic feet in Petworth and taking it into containerised storage came to £2,430 including VAT. The storage itself was charged separately, by the container, and delivering it later, 321 miles north to Weardale, was a separate £5,340 including VAT.

The Horsham to Itchingfield move was only 3 miles but took six days: £5,676 including VAT. It had full packing and three lorries, and part of the load was held in storage so the new barn could take its furniture first. See our storage service if your dates do not line up.

How do our three-bedroom removal costs compare with our guide and national averages?

Our guide for a local three-bedroom move is £900 to £1,350 plus VAT, or £1,080 to £1,620 including VAT. It covers moves of up to about 25 miles and does not include packing. Of the seven moves, Angmering at £1,200 plus VAT (£1,440 including VAT) fits that description and sits inside the guide. The others were longer, larger or included packing, unpacking or storage, so the guide does not cover them. Five of them cost more than the guide; the Chichester move, at 1,070 cubic feet, came to £1,245 plus VAT even with packing.

National cost guides online, checked in October 2026, put the average three-bedroom move at roughly £792 to £1,300, and four of the six we checked do not say whether VAT is included. Several are modelled or illustrative rather than real jobs, many give a single average figure, and the £1,300 figure includes packing. Compare on the same basis: including VAT, for the same volume, distance and service. Our £1,440 Angmering move sits above those averages; it was two vehicles and a crew for the day, with the furniture dismantled at one end and rebuilt at the other. Our questions to ask a removal firm help you check what each quote covers, and our removal pricing page explains how a quote is built.

Do you pay VAT on a house removal?

Yes, from a VAT-registered firm. HMRC’s VAT Notice 744B treats a vehicle and crew carrying goods as freight transport, and says freight transport within the UK is standard-rated, which is 20%. A house removal is a vehicle and crew carrying your goods. A firm with taxable turnover under £90,000 does not have to register, so some quotes carry no VAT. Check whether each quote you compare is before or after VAT; it makes a 20% difference.

How can you keep the cost down?

Pack some or all of it yourself, clear out before the survey and avoid the busiest dates. The quote is built on the volume we measure, so anything you clear out first is volume you do not pay to move.

Which day is cheapest to move house?

A date away from Fridays and month-ends. GOV.UK’s guide to buying a home says “Fridays and the first and last days of the month are often very busy, so you may get better rates and availability if you try to avoid these times”. In 2025, 46.7% of home purchases in England and Wales completed on a Friday. Book your removal as early as you can, and firm up the date once contracts are exchanged.

How do you get an accurate quote for a three-bedroom move?

With a survey of your own home, in person or by video call. We then send an itemised, fixed written quote for our house removals service, so you can see what each part costs.

Wolves Removals is a family-run firm based at Ashington, moving households across West Sussex, East Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Kent since 2016, including in Horsham, Chichester and Petworth. We are a licensed HGV operator and a LAPADA Approved Service Provider for antiques and fine art. All seven moves above started or ended in Sussex; if you are moving in Surrey, see our Surrey removals page and ask for a survey-based quote. To arrange a survey, ask us for a quote or call 01903 893731.

About this guide. Written by Jack Wolfe, Director of Wolves Removals, using the final figures from our own completed moves. Every figure was checked against its source in October 2026, then checked a second time.