Press Resources · Updated May 2026

UK Moving Cost Data 2026

Free, citation-ready pricing data covering removals and man-and-van services across the 35 most-quoted UK markets. Built for journalists, researchers, bloggers, and policymakers — no sign-up, no paywall.

Headline figures

Average 2-bed full removals

£615

Local move, top 35 cities

Cheapest city

£465

Hull

Most expensive city

£880

Central London

Man & van average

£51/hr

National midpoint

Cost by city

Indicative cost of a 2-bed full removals service, local move. Top 35 cities.

Cost by region

Average 2-bed full removals, grouped by UK region.

Cost by property size

National low/high range for full removals, averaged across the top 35 cities.

Why prices vary across the UK

Removal costs are not a flat national rate. Three forces — labour, access, and demand density — push prices up or down by as much as 80% between markets. Here's what drives the spread.

Central London commands the UK's highest rates

A 2-bed local move in Central London runs close to £880 — nearly double the cheapest catchments. The premium reflects parking-suspension fees, the Congestion Charge, ULEZ compliance, narrow access windows, and a labour pool that won't accept regional wage rates. West London tracks slightly lower; East and South London discount further but still sit well above the national midpoint.

Commuter-belt and university cities run hot

Oxford, Cambridge, St Albans, Brighton, Reading and Bristol consistently price 15–25% above national average. The driver is demand density rather than cost-to-serve: tight seasonal peaks (academic moves, City of London commuter churn), constrained operator capacity, and homes that skew larger than the urban average all combine to lift quotes.

Northern industrial cities and South Wales sit cheapest

Hull, Wolverhampton, Swansea, Sheffield and Derby anchor the bottom of the table at £450–£510 for a comparable 2-bed move. Lower fuel and labour overheads, easier vehicle access on post-war street layouts, and a more competitive supply of independent firms keep prices grounded. Quality is not the variable — capacity is.

Scotland splits two ways

Edinburgh trades closer to English flagship pricing thanks to its tenement-flat access challenges and tourist-driven van congestion. Glasgow runs noticeably cheaper despite similar population scale, reflecting a denser pool of competing operators.

What does not move the price

Distance under ~20 miles barely registers — workload (property size, item count, access) dominates the bill. This is why MAZE quotes a 1-bed flat in the same postcode at a similar rate whether the destination is 2 miles away or 18.

Cost by city (top 35)

Indicative midpoints. Click any column header to sort.

CSV
CityRegion2-bed removals (£)Man & van (£/hr)
HullYorkshire£465£38
SwanseaWales£488£40
WolverhamptonWest Midlands£500£42
DerbyEast Midlands£518£42
SheffieldYorkshire£523£42
NewcastleNorth East£528£42
LiverpoolNorth West£535£45
GlasgowScotland£540£45
NorthamptonEast Midlands£545£45
CoventryWest Midlands£545£45
LeicesterEast Midlands£553£45
NottinghamEast Midlands£558£45
CardiffWales£563£45
LeedsYorkshire£578£48
LutonEast of England£578£48
YorkYorkshire£585£48
BirminghamWest Midlands£590£50
PortsmouthSouth East£590£50
ManchesterNorth West£600£50
Milton KeynesSouth East£600£50
SouthamptonSouth East£613£52
EdinburghScotland£625£52
SloughSouth East£648£55
WatfordEast of England£653£55
BristolSouth West£660£55
ReadingSouth East£670£58
CambridgeEast of England£683£58
St AlbansEast of England£688£58
OxfordSouth East£693£60
BrightonSouth East£705£60
East LondonLondon£728£60
South LondonLondon£740£62
North LondonLondon£765£65
West LondonLondon£808£68
Central LondonLondon£880£75

Methodology

Figures are derived from MAZE's quote engine — a workload-led pricing model that weighs property size and service type as the dominant factors, with distance, extras, and access acting as secondary modifiers. Distances are normalised to a representative 10-mile local move, isolating the regional cost signal.

City coverage reflects the 35 highest-volume catchments on MAZE in the 12 months to May 2026. Cities are grouped into demand bands ("flagship" vs "easier-win"), calibrated against partner pricing variance observed across the network. Hourly man-and-van rates are stated as a national midpoint, with city-level variation of roughly ±15%.

All values are indicative midpoints in GBP, inclusive of fuel, and exclude packing materials, storage, and access surcharges. Real quotes returned by MAZE partners may fall outside the published range for unusual access conditions, same-day moves, or peak-season demand (mid-July to early-September).

Citation

"MAZE Removals UK Moving Cost Data, 2026. mazeremovals.co.uk/press"

Data is released under CC BY 4.0 — free for editorial and commercial reuse with attribution.

Press kit

Everything journalists, researchers, and content teams need to cite MAZE data. Free to use under CC BY 4.0 with attribution to "MAZE (mazeremovals.co.uk)".

Quick facts

  • • Coverage: 35 UK cities, all UK postcode prefixes
  • • Dataset updated: May 2026
  • • Operator: Fortigo Logistics Ltd (UK)
  • • Model: Comparison platform — not a mover
  • • Pricing inputs: property size, service type, access, distance
  • • Licence: CC BY 4.0 — attribute "MAZE (mazeremovals.co.uk)"

Press contact

For interviews, custom city cuts, or commentary on UK moving trends:

info@mazeremovals.co.uk

Typical response within one working day.

About MAZE

MAZE is a UK comparison platform for vetted removal companies, operated by Fortigo Logistics Ltd. We do not move customers — we match households with verified local movers and aggregate the resulting quote data.

How MAZE works →