Flats and apartments are often the most difficult properties to move from because stairs, restricted lift access and narrow communal walkways can make moving furniture and boxes more time-consuming.
Smaller houses can also present challenges when large furniture needs to pass through tight doorways, hallways or staircases. Flat-pack furniture may need to be dismantled before it can be removed, adding extra time to the move.
Larger houses create different challenges. While access may be easier, the greater volume of belongings can take longer to move, particularly when there is lots of garden furniture, plant pots and other outdoor items.
Ultimately, the difficulty of a house move isn’t determined by property size alone. Access, the amount and type of furniture, dismantling requirements and the overall volume of belongings all affect how straightforward moving day will be.
Some properties naturally make moving day more challenging than others. In our experience at MPG Transport, flats and apartments can be among the most difficult properties to move from, particularly where there are several flights of stairs, restricted lift access or narrow communal walkways.
But the size of the property doesn’t always tell you how difficult a home removal will be.
A smaller house can become challenging when large furniture has to negotiate tight spaces, while a much larger property can take additional time simply because of the amount of furniture and outdoor belongings that need moving.
Ultimately, it’s the combination of access, furniture and the volume of belongings that can make the biggest difference.
Learn more about which items are the most difficult to move from our blog post.
Flats and apartments can present some of the biggest practical challenges because everything needs to travel from the property to the removal vehicle.
If you’re several floors up, that can mean repeatedly carrying furniture and boxes along corridors and down flights of stairs.
Even where a building has a lift, access may still be restricted. Smaller walkways and the practical difficulties of moving larger belongings through apartment buildings are common considerations we need to make when carrying out a home removal in a block of flats.
A sofa that is straightforward to move out of a ground-floor house can be a very different proposition when it needs to travel through a narrow hallway and down several floors.
This doesn’t mean an apartment move has to be problematic. It simply means access needs to be considered when planning the move.
MPG offers free site assessments as standard and tailors its removal packages to individual requirements, helping the team understand what will be involved before moving day.
Smaller houses bring a different problem: large furniture in restricted spaces.
A large sofa, wardrobe or other bulky item might physically fit inside the property, but getting it through smaller doorways and tighter spaces can be more difficult.
As I explained in our discussion about challenging household items, it’s also worth knowing how furniture originally entered the property.
Some pieces may have been assembled inside the room rather than carried in fully built. In those cases, getting them out again may involve dismantling them first.
MPG provides furniture removal services that include help with dismantling, packing, moving and assembly. Our home removal packages can also include disassembly and reassembly where required.
Tick anything that applies to your property.
This checklist is a simple guide. Let MPG Transport know about any access issues, large furniture or dismantling requirements before moving day so the team can plan ahead.
Flat-pack furniture is particularly relevant in flats and smaller properties.
People may choose flat-pack furniture precisely because getting a large, fully assembled piece into the property wasn’t practical in the first place.
That solves the problem when you’re furnishing the home, but it can create another consideration when it’s time to leave.
If a large piece was assembled inside the property, it may need to be taken apart again before it can be removed. That takes additional time compared with simply lifting an item and carrying it to the vehicle.
MPG’s Silver package includes an assembly service for belongings requiring disassembly and reassembly, while the Gold Complete Removal Service includes packing, unpacking and furniture assembly.
A larger house isn’t necessarily difficult because of restricted access. Instead, the sheer volume of belongings can increase the time required.
One area that can sometimes be a bit difficult is the garden.
A property with a substantial amount of garden furniture and lots of plant pots can involve considerably more work than homeowners initially expect.
Individually, a chair or plant pot may not seem particularly significant. But when there are many of them spread across a garden, they add to the overall number of items that need to be handled and moved.
That additional volume needs to be allowed for when planning the job.
It’s tempting to judge the difficulty of a house move entirely by property size.
A four-bedroom detached house sounds like it should automatically be more difficult than a one-bedroom flat, for example.
In practice, the smaller property may have several flights of stairs, narrow communal areas and furniture that needs dismantling. The larger house might have easier access but considerably more furniture and outdoor belongings.
That’s why MPG provides bespoke, customisable removal packages and free site assessments rather than treating every move in the same way. The company handles everything from smaller local moves around Worcestershire to larger nationwide relocations and tailors the service to the customer’s individual requirements.
When working out how easy a property will be to move from, another consideration is how much furniture can simply be carried out and how much needs to be taken apart first.
A flat containing several large pieces of flat-pack furniture can require additional dismantling before those items ever leave the room.
The same can apply in a smaller house where large furniture can’t easily negotiate the available access.
That’s why telling your removals company about these items beforehand is useful. What looks like a single wardrobe or sofa on a list of belongings could involve considerably more work if it needs to be dismantled before it can leave the property.
MPG’s services are designed to accommodate this, with furniture assembly and packing support available alongside its home removals service.
There isn’t one type of house that’s automatically difficult to move from. Different properties create different challenges.
At MPG Transport, our main considerations during a house removal are:
Understanding those details beforehand means the move can be planned around the property rather than discovering unexpected problems on the day.
MPG Transport offers free site assessments as standard and provides a range of home removal packages that can be customised around the individual move.
Depending on the package selected, that support can range from a basic lift-and-go service through to professional packing, furniture disassembly and reassembly, unpacking and arranging belongings in the new property.
The team is experienced in handling large furniture and uses specialist covers and wrapping to protect belongings during the move, including additional procedures for TVs, glass cabinets and other precious items. Mattress protectors are also used as standard across MPG’s removal packages.
That flexibility matters because a top-floor apartment and a large detached house don’t necessarily need the same approach.
The important thing is to give your removals company a clear picture of the property and its contents beforehand.
If you’re moving from a flat, access and stairs may be particularly important. If you have a smaller property, flag any large furniture or items that were assembled inside. If you’re leaving a larger home, don’t overlook the volume of belongings outside the house.
At MPG Transport, we’ve carried out an increasing number of home removals throughout the country since the business was established by Marcus Bentley and Gary Smith in 2018.
Our approach is to tailor the move to the customer and the property, with the aim of making the whole process as smooth, efficient and hassle-free as possible.
Ultimately, large items aren’t necessarily a problem if we know about them and can plan accordingly.
The biggest challenges tend to arise when a large piece needs dismantling unexpectedly, an appliance doesn’t fit through the doorway as expected or changes to the property mean the original access route is no longer available.
Before moving day, it helps to think about your biggest pieces of furniture and appliances and ask a few simple questions:
If there’s anything unusual, let us know.
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