Business & specialist
Furniture delivery in London, carried in rather than left at the kerb
Most furniture delivery in London ends at the front door, and a fair amount of it ends at the kerb. That is fine until the thing weighs sixty kilos, you live on the second floor, and the driver is contracted to hand it over and leave.
Best for
One item, or a few
Two people
Whenever it needs them
We cover
Every London postcode
What it costs
What furniture delivery actually costs in London
It is a short job priced by time, so the same three things decide it every time: what it weighs, how many stairs there are, and whether anybody at the collection end is going to help get it into the van.
What it is, and what it weighs
A flat-pack wardrobe in three boxes and an assembled oak sideboard are the same delivery on paper and completely different jobs. Send a link or a photograph and the quote will be right.
The stairs at the delivery end
Ground floor with the van outside is one price. Third floor, no lift, with a turn on the landing is a different one, and it should be in the quote rather than discovered on the doorstep.
Where we can stop at both ends
Retail parks and warehouses have loading rules and collection windows. Residential streets have permits and red routes. Both ends need checking, not just yours.
Whether anybody will help load it
Some sellers put it in the van for you. Private sellers on a marketplace usually do not, and a sofa out of a first-floor flat with nobody helping is a two-person job before it has moved a metre.
The collection window you are given
A shop that says between nine and one is asking you to buy four hours. Where the collection time is fixed and narrow, the job is shorter and cheaper.
Whether it needs assembling after
Delivery puts it in the room. Building it is furniture assembly and it is priced as its own job — worth asking for both numbers at once if it arrives flat-packed.
So what would yours cost?
Ten minutes on a video call and you will have it in writing. No obligation, and no number invented over the phone.
Before the day
Kerbside delivery is where most furniture problems start
A national carrier hands the box over at the boundary of the property and drives off. What happens next is your problem: the stairs, the turn on the landing, the doorway that turns out to be four centimetres too narrow, and a very heavy object now sitting in the communal hall.
We take it in and put it in the room it belongs in. If it will not go, we find that out with you rather than leaving you with it, and there is a person in front of you to talk to about what happens next.
It is a small difference in the description and the entire difference on the day.
On the day
How a furniture delivery runs
Three things that happen on every job, before and after the lifting.
- 01
You send the item and both addresses
A link, a listing or a photograph is usually enough. We will tell you if it needs two people, and that answer is in the price rather than added on the day.
- 02
We collect within the seller's window
Shop, warehouse or a private address. If the seller needs an order number, a name or a collection reference, tell us at the booking rather than by text on the day.
- 03
It goes in the room, not the hallway
Carried in, unwrapped if you want it unwrapped, and set down where it is going to live.
The quote
What the price covers, and what it does not
Both lists go on the written quote, so there is nothing to discover afterwards.
Included
- Collection from a shop, a warehouse or a private seller
- Two people where the item needs two people, agreed before the day
- Blankets, straps and a trolley, so it arrives in the condition it left in
- Carried inside and placed in the room you want it in
Not included
- Assembling it — that is furniture assembly, and it is priced separately
- Taking the packaging away afterwards
- Plumbing or electrical connection of any appliance
- Waiting more than the agreed time at a collection point that is running late
From our Google profile
What people said about their move
Left on our Google profile. Every card links back to it, so you can read the rest — including any we would rather you did not.
Good experience with Metro City Moves. 4 bedroom house seemed bit difficult to move from London to Liverpool, but they planned well and successfully executed. Thank you.
Saqib AwanRead on Google, opens in a new tab
Before you book
Questions people actually ask
Can you collect something I bought on a marketplace?
Yes, and it is one of the most common jobs we do. Tell us the collection address, whether anybody there will help load it, and whether there are stairs at either end. Those three answers are the whole quote.
What if it will not fit through the door?
We will try the sensible options — on its end, doors off their hinges, feet removed — and if it genuinely will not go, we tell you rather than force it. Measuring the tightest point beforehand is what avoids the conversation entirely.
Do you take the packaging away?
No. Carrying waste away is a separate, licensed activity rather than part of a delivery, so the cardboard stays with you.
Can you do it today?
Sometimes. Ring rather than fill the form in if it is urgent — same day depends entirely on where the van is at that moment, and it is a thirty-second answer on the phone.
Do I need to be in?
Somebody does, at the delivery end, to let us in and say where it goes. At the collection end we need whoever holds the item to be expecting us.
Will you assemble it?
Not as part of a delivery, but we do it as its own job. Ask for both prices when you enquire and you can decide with the numbers in front of you.
Related reading
The things that catch people out
Parking, vans and packing — the rules read from the source, dated when checked.
- Guide
London parking suspensions for moving house: what every borough charges
The same one-day parking suspension costs £66.66 in Camden and £360 in Haringey. Fees, notice periods and removals concessions for six boroughs, compared.
Read it - Guide
Parking suspension vs dispensation: which one a house move needs
A suspension reserves the parking bay; a dispensation only stops the ticket. That difference decides what a house move needs, and what each borough charges.
Read it - Guide
Red route dispensations: moving house where the council cannot help
TfL sells no parking suspensions on red routes at any price. A dispensation costs £48 a day, needs 6 working days, and red lines take no late applications.
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ULEZ, removals vans and the Congestion Charge on moving day
ULEZ charges a non-compliant removals van £12.50 a day, everywhere in London, and the Congestion Charge is £18 in the centre. What applies on moving day.
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Get it priced properly
A survey first, then the number in writing. Answered at any hour.