Four ways to move the same home, compared side by side on price, on who does the work, and on the terms. Every figure checked and dated, and our own column marked by the same rules as the rest, including where we lose.
From about £50 to £80 for a Luton van for the day. It wins on cash when the load is small, the access is easy and you can drive and carry. Read the excess row first: £1,000 to £2,000 of any damage is yours, and your contents are not covered.
A booked removals crew does the carrying, the driving and the placing. Our worked total for a 2-bed London move is £340 to £510, in the same range as the published platform average, with the total agreed in writing with the firm that actually moves you.
An instant online price in minutes, and no deposit at the largest platform. In exchange, the platform chooses the team, and its average for a 2-bed move roughly doubles if you add packing.
For most London moves the choice is not really about the van. It is about who carries, who carries the risk, and whether the total is agreed before the day. DIY is cheapest in cash (from £50 to £80 for the van), self-loading is cheapest per hour (£43 at the largest service, and you carry everything), platforms give an instant average (£523 for a 2-bed), and a direct-booked crew gives a written total for your actual move: ours is £340 to £510 for a 2-bed.
✓ Included in the standard offer. ✗ Not included in that way of moving. ◐ Partial or add-on: available at extra cost, at a higher tier, or varying by provider, and always explained in words.
| Point of comparison | Vano Removals | Self-loading man and van | Large booking platforms | DIY van hire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price basis | Published hourly card | Published hourly rate | Instant online price | Published day rate |
| Who carries | The crew, at every tier | You do | The assigned crew | You do |
| Who you book with | The firm that moves you | The driver you hire | The platform, not the firm | The hire firm (van only) |
| Deposit to book | None | Varies | None at the largest platform | £150 to £300 held on your card |
| The price | ||||
| Typical total for a 2-bed London move | £340 to £510¹ | £172 to £258² | £523 average³ | £50 to £80 for the van⁴ |
| Minimum you can book | 2 hours (from £140) | 2 hours typical | The whole job, priced at once | 1 day |
| Price confirmed before the day | ✓Written quote with the total | ◐Rate is published; the total depends on your time estimate | ✓Instant price online | ◐Van price yes; the total cost of the move is yours to add up |
| Deposit to book | None | ◐Varies: some take a deposit | None at the largest platform | £150 to £300 held on a card |
| The work | ||||
| Crew loads and carries for you | ✓Included at every tier | ✗You carry; the driver drives | ✓The assigned crew carries | ✗You carry |
| Furniture protection (blankets, straps) | ✓Included | ◐Varies; ask what is on the van | ✓Included | ✗You source your own |
| Furniture placed in the right rooms | ✓Included | ✗Placement is your carrying | ✓Included | ✗You carry |
| Packing available in the same booking | ✓Bookable: crew time plus materials at card prices | ◐Rare at this end; usually your job | ✓Priced add-on (roughly doubles a 2-bed total) | ✗Your job |
| Dismantling and reassembly | ✓Included where booked | ◐Varies | ◐Varies by team | ✗Your tools, your time |
| The terms | ||||
| Free cancellation | ✓Up to 24 hours before | ◐Varies; 48 hours at the largest service | ◐48 hours at the largest platform | ◐Varies by hire firm |
| Fixed price for the whole job | ✗Hourly, from a published card | ◐Some offer fixed blocks | ✓The instant price is the price | ✓The day rate is fixed (extras are not) |
| Who turns up on the day | The firm you booked and spoke to | The driver you booked | A vetted team the platform assigns | You |
| Payment due | At the time of service | Varies | Varies by platform | Van paid to the hire firm; fuel as you go |
| Extras and risks | ||||
| Stairs | £5 per floor, published before booking | ◐Some include them, some charge | ◐Priced inside the quote | You carry, every floor |
| Congestion Charge | Confirmed in your written quote | ✗Excluded at the largest service (you pay it) | ◐Check the quote | You pay it if you drive in the zone |
| Storage if your dates gap | ◐Transport to your own unit; no facility of ours | ✗Not part of the model | ✓Their container storage, published weekly rates | ◐Your own unit, your own transport |
| Taking items away for disposal | ✗Not a licensed waste carrier | ◐Some offer it; check their licence | ✗Not part of the standard offer | ◐Your own waste, in the van, to a civic site (van restrictions apply) |
| If something is damaged | Insurance is as stated in your written quote: ask us to confirm in writing | ◐Cover varies; check the terms before booking | £50,000 fire and theft cover at the largest platform | Hire excess £1,000 to £2,000 is yours; your contents are not covered by the hire firm |
Across the 13 rows that carry marks, the count of ✓ Included is: Vano Removals 7, large booking platforms 7, self-loading man and van 0, DIY van hire 1. Counts are not the verdict. The price and terms rows are where the options really separate.
Basis: Vano Removals figures are our published card and worked totals, checked October 2026. Other columns describe the typical published offers for each way of moving, from the published prices and terms of London man and van services, booking platforms and van hire firms, checked October 2026. ¹ Our 2 Men crew at £85 per hour over the 4 to 6 hours a 2-bed move typically takes; packing extra. ² Computed from the largest published self-loading rate (£43 per hour) over the same 4 to 6 hours; you do all the carrying. ³ The largest platform’s published London average for a 2-bed move without packing (sample of 97,000 moves, updated April 2026); with packing the same average is £1,001. ⁴ Published day-rate range for a large or Luton van from UK van hire price guides, checked October 2026; fuel, materials and your own time are on top. Prices and terms change: check each provider’s current terms before you book.
Worked example, with the arithmetic shown. A 2-bed move with a self-loading van at £43 per hour looks unbeatable until the carrying is counted: two people carrying everything themselves rarely load as fast as a crew that does it daily, so 6 hours of van time is a fair planning figure, which is £258, with every box carried by you and the van still to return. The same move crewed at £85 per hour over 4 to 6 hours is £340 to £510, and you carry nothing. A fit mover with strong helpers may still come out ahead in cash on the self-loading route, and that is a legitimate choice. It is just not the same product at a lower price; it is a lower price for doing the work yourself.
Whatever you choose, ask every provider the same six questions, and compare the answers rather than the headlines. Is VAT in that figure? Who carries? What is the minimum booking? What happens on stairs? What is the cancellation window? What excess or risk do I carry if something is damaged? The move cost calculator prices your own inventory on our card, and our parking suspension guide covers the one London cost no column includes.
One more honesty line, because the table above is ours: we marked our own column by the same rules. We do not offer a fixed price, we do not run a storage facility, and we do not take waste away. Where a platform beats us, on an instant price and on built-in storage, the table says so.
The matrix settles most questions. When your decision comes down to one pair of options, these guides take that pair apart properly.
Plenty of sensible moves are hybrids: a crew for the furniture, the white goods and the stairs, and your own car trips for the boxes and clothes. A local crew at the London end of a long move, with the line-haul handled another way. Storage in your own unit between two crews booked weeks apart. The columns above are buying models, not tribes.
Two rules make a hybrid work. First, fix in writing who is responsible for what, and in what order the parts run, so nobody is waiting on a doorstep for the other half of the move. Second, settle the price model of each part separately: the fixed price vs hourly question matters more, not less, when two providers touch one move.
The questions this page gets asked, cost first. If yours is not here, call us. We are happy to help.
Published rates, a written quote, and no deposit. Tell us the move and we will say plainly if another option suits it better.
07459 180023In cash, DIY van hire: £50 to £80 for a large van for a day at published UK guide rates, plus fuel, plus your time, with a £1,000 to £2,000 hire excess at risk if anything goes wrong. Next is self-loading man and van by the hour, where you do the carrying. After that, cheapest depends on whether your time and your carrying are free: a crewed move costs more in cash and nothing in days of your life.
With us, £340 to £510: our 2 Men crew at £85 per hour over the 4 to 6 hours a 2-bed move typically takes. Self-loading van time, computed from the largest published self-loading rate of £43 per hour over the same hours, is £172 to £258, and you carry everything. The largest booking platform’s published London average for a 2-bed move is £523 without packing and £1,001 with it. A hire van is £50 to £80 for the day before fuel, materials and your time.
Per hour, often it is. Per move, the question is who carries and how long it takes. The largest self-loading service charges £43 per hour and its own crewed service £86 per hour. Our card is £70 to £100 per hour with the crew carrying at every tier. A cheaper hour that takes twice as long because one person is carrying is not a cheaper move.
Not with us, and not at the largest booking platform. Practice across the market varies: some firms take a deposit, and one published set of terms gives a full refund only with 7 days’ notice. Ask the question before you book, whichever option you choose, and get the answer in writing.
With a direct-booked removals firm and with a platform’s assigned team, the crew loads and carries. With self-loading man and van, the driver drives and you carry: that is what the cheaper hour buys. With DIY hire, everything is you: driving, carrying, protecting and placing.
Count the hire, the fuel, the packing materials, the excess you are risking, a possible second day if the load does not fit, and a day or two of your own time. For a small, easy move with help available, yes, it is genuinely the cheapest way to move. For a 2-bed home with stairs, count honestly before deciding.
The hire excess, typically £1,000 to £2,000 per incident, is yours. The hire firm’s arrangements cover its van, not your contents: furniture damaged in a hire van is your loss unless you have arranged cover of your own.
Yes, and hybrids are often the sensible middle: a crew for the heavy furniture and white goods, your own car or a small hire for the boxes and clothes. Fix in writing who is responsible for what, and in what order the two parts run, so neither side is waiting on the other.
A booked crew with a written quote, because the day is planned around keys, access and the chain. Platforms are second: an assigned team and an instant price, but less control over who arrives. DIY carries the whole day alone, including every delay the chain produces.
Insurance is as stated in your written quote: ask us to confirm in writing. Tell us about high-value or fragile items when you enquire, whichever option you are comparing us against.
Every figure was checked in October 2026 against the published sources named in the basis notes under the table, and the page is rechecked quarterly. Prices and terms change, so check each provider’s current terms before you book.
Send the addresses and the inventory, and the quote comes back with the crew, the time window and the total. No deposit, and free cancellation up to 24 hours before the move.
Content updated October 2026. Figures on this page were checked in October 2026 against the published sources named in the basis notes, and are rechecked quarterly.
Request a written quote and let us take the stress out of your move.
Customer Reviews
Real, unedited reviews from customers we’ve moved across London.
“Best house removal company around. The team at Vano Removals was punctual, hard-working, and handled our furniture with great care. If you need reliable, stress-free local movers or packing services, I highly recommend them.”
Muhammad Saad
Google review · October 2026
These are unedited reviews from our Google Business Profile. Moved with us recently? Your honest review helps other Londoners choose with confidence.
