Do you cover the whole of London?

Every borough, inner and outer, plus out of London across the UK and abroad by road, sea and air. What varies across the city is not whether we work there but who tends to be paying.

Which part of London generates the most difficult jobs?

The inner rental belt, and it is the commercial relationship rather than the buildings. A high turnover of tenancies produces most of the situations where the payer and the householder want different things.

Do you handle parking suspensions?

We apply for them wherever the borough requires one. What we need is the date early enough for the borough's own notice period, which differs across London more than people expect.

Do you work with building management?

Routinely — goods lifts, loading windows and access procedures in purpose-built blocks. Permission to move in or out generally has to come from the resident or the landlord rather than from us.

Do you go outside London?

Across the UK for long runs, and abroad by road, sea and air. The international pages cover the second.

Every borough

London, by who is paying

A list of thirty-two boroughs tells you nothing useful. What does is which kind of arrangement dominates where, because that is what shapes the booking before anybody has looked at a staircase.

Landlords, agents, insurers, employers, councils and housing associations appear here as categories. None is named and no relationship is claimed.

The same city, six commercial patterns

Employers around the City and the Wharf. Landlords and agents across the inner rental belt. Private households and estates in the prime west and the outer suburbs. Housing providers wherever major works are running. And insurers wherever a pipe has gone.

The City and Canary Wharf fringe EC · E14 · E1 Employers, mostly Corporate tenancies, serviced apartments and relocation packages. Here the booking usually arrives with a purchase order attached and the person whose belongings we are moving has never spoken to us. We insist on speaking to them anyway.

The inner rental belt N · E · SE inner Landlords and agents Conversions and purpose-built blocks with a high turnover of tenancies. Most of our landlord and agent work is here, along with most of the situations where the payer and the householder want different things.

The prime residential west SW · W Private, and estates Long-held family houses, mansion blocks and a steady volume of probate work. Slower, more careful, and more likely than anywhere else to involve several people who each believe they are instructing us.

The outer suburbs Outer boroughs, all compass points Mostly private Owner-occupied houses with drives and, usually, straightforward access. The commercial relationship here is the simple one — you instruct, you pay — and the complications are practical rather than contractual.

Estates under major works London-wide Housing providers Decants during refurbishment or rebuilding, arranged through a council or housing association. Scheduled in blocks, with adapted-property requirements and residents who did not choose to move.

Properties under repair after a claim London-wide Insurers Escape of water is far and away the commonest cause. Goods out to storage, a household into temporary accommodation, and back when the drying and the making good are finished — with authorisation arriving in stages.

The City and the Wharf: employers

Corporate tenancies, serviced apartments and relocation packages. Here a booking usually arrives with a purchase order attached and the person whose belongings we are moving has never spoken to us.

We insist on speaking to them anyway, which is how we find out about the item that must not be dismantled and the fact that the family is travelling on a different date from the one the company gave us.

The inner rental belt: landlords and agents

Conversions and purpose-built blocks with a high turnover of tenancies, mostly north and east. This is where most of our landlord and agent work sits, and most of the situations where the payer and the householder want different things.

It is also where the firmest line on this site applies: we will move a former tenant's goods into storage in their name or return them to an address they give, and we will not dispose of them.

The prime west and the outer suburbs: private, and estates

Long-held family houses, mansion blocks and a steady volume of probate work in the west; owner-occupied houses with drives further out. The commercial relationship is usually the simple one, and the complications are practical rather than contractual.

The exception is estate work, which is more likely here than anywhere and more likely to involve several people who each believe they are instructing us.

Works and claims: providers and insurers

Decants run wherever a council or housing association has major works under way, scheduled in blocks and involving residents who did not choose to move. Insurance work follows escapes of water, which in converted London flats are the commonest claim there is.

Both are London-wide rather than concentrated anywhere, and both involve authorisation arriving from somebody who is not in the building.

Coverage

Questions about where we work

01
Do you cover the whole of London?

Every borough, inner and outer, plus out of London across the UK and abroad by road, sea and air. What varies across the city is not whether we work there but who tends to be paying.
02
Which part of London generates the most difficult jobs?

The inner rental belt, and it is the commercial relationship rather than the buildings. A high turnover of tenancies produces most of the situations where the payer and the householder want different things.
03
Do you handle parking suspensions?

We apply for them wherever the borough requires one. What we need is the date early enough for the borough's own notice period, which differs across London more than people expect.
04
Do you work with building management?

Routinely — goods lifts, loading windows and access procedures in purpose-built blocks. Permission to move in or out generally has to come from the resident or the landlord rather than from us.
05
Do you go outside London?

Across the UK for long runs, and abroad by road, sea and air. The <a href="/moving-abroad/">international pages</a> cover the second.

Who is paying for yours?

Both addresses, roughly what is going, and — the useful part — who is paying and who will be instructing us on the day. That last question saves more trouble than any other on the form.

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