UK to France removals
Removals to France: the short crossing, done properly
People expect the Channel to be the hard part. It rarely is. A move from the UK to France is won or lost on two things: the customs paperwork household goods have needed since Brexit, and whether a lorry can physically reach your new front door. We plan for both, whether you are leaving a London flat or a house anywhere else in Great Britain.
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Door to door, in the order it happens
A one-bedroom flat bound for Lyon and a farmhouse's worth of furniture for the Dordogne go through the same five stages.
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At your UK door
We pack and wrap for export, and every box goes onto a numbered inventory as it is sealed. That list is the document French customs will see, so it is written in plain item descriptions, not "kitchen stuff".
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Leaving Great Britain
We lodge the export declaration before the vehicle reaches the port. Without it, the load cannot leave, so this is one job we never leave to the day.
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The Channel crossing
Most loads cross by ferry or the tunnel from Kent. For western France, a western Channel ferry can save a long drive on the far side. We choose based on where you are going, not habit.
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Arriving in France
Your Transfer of Residence claim is presented with the inventory and your documents. Once the goods are cleared, the vehicle heads to your new address.
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At your French door
Unloaded, furniture placed room by room, beds and wardrobes rebuilt, packaging taken away if you want it gone.
Do I need customs paperwork to move furniture to France?
Before Brexit, a removal lorry from the UK to France drove off the ferry and carried on. Now the load crosses a customs border, with paperwork on each side: it is exported from Great Britain and imported into France. For a genuine change of home, French customs does not normally charge duty or VAT on your belongings, under the EU relief for people transferring their residence. What it does ask for is evidence. That means an itemised inventory of the load, your passport, and proof that France is now where you live, typically your visa or residence permit and an address there. The belongings should be things you have owned and used for a qualifying period, not new purchases bought for the move. A load is held at the border for one reason more than any other: a missing document. So the inventory gets written box by box while the packing is going on, the export entry is lodged on the British side before the vehicle sets off, and you get a written list of what French customs will ask you for.
For the official picture on residence, healthcare and driving, read the GOV.UK guide to living in France.
What if a lorry cannot reach the house?
A lot of British buyers in France choose exactly the kind of property a removal lorry finds hardest. These are the situations we plan for at survey.
Long lanes and farm tracks
Plenty of French country houses sit at the end of an unmade track that a full-size removal lorry should not attempt, especially after rain. Where we see that at survey, we plan a transfer to a smaller vehicle at the end of the lane, so the big lorry stays on the tarmac.
Stone farmhouses and barn conversions
Thick walls mean narrow doorways, low beams and stairs that turn tightly. We measure the large pieces against the openings in advance, and dismantle anything that will not go through whole.
Village squares and market days
In small towns the only place to park may be the square, and on market day it is full. If parking needs permission from the mairie, we tell you early so it can be requested in good time.
Paris and city apartments
Older Paris buildings often have a tiny lift or none at all. A monte-meubles, the external furniture lift you see on Paris streets, takes large items up through a window. We arrange it when the survey shows it is needed.
The regions British movers head for
We cover the whole of mainland France. The list below is simply where our French deliveries cluster, which says more about where British buyers look than about where we will go.
- Brittany and Normandy
- Rennes, Vannes, Dinan, Caen, Bayeux
- Paris and the Île-de-France
- Paris, Versailles, Fontainebleau
- The Loire and Poitou-Charentes
- Tours, Saumur, Angoulême, Cognac, La Rochelle
- The Dordogne and the south west
- Bergerac, Sarlat, Périgueux, Bordeaux
- Occitanie
- Toulouse, Montpellier, Carcassonne, Béziers
- Provence and the Côte d'Azur
- Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Nice, Antibes
- The Alps and the Rhône
- Lyon, Annecy, Chambéry, Grenoble
What does a France quote cover?
We do not publish a price list for France. Read across each row instead: what is always in the estimate at that stage, and what can make it go up or down.
| Stage | Always included | What changes the estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Survey | A video call or a visit to your UK home, followed by a written estimate. | How much is going. Volume is the biggest single factor. |
| Packing | Export wrapping for furniture, plus boxes and materials for whatever we pack. | Whether you hand over all the packing, some of it, or none. |
| Paperwork | The itemised customs inventory and the UK export declaration. | Nothing, normally. The paperwork is the same for a flat or a farmhouse. |
| The crossing | Collection, the Channel crossing and the drive to your French address. | Full load or part load, and which crossing suits your region. |
| Delivery | Unloading, furniture placed room by room, beds and wardrobes rebuilt. | A smaller vehicle for a lane or hill village, or a monte-meubles for an upper floor. |
| Cover | Goods-in-transit cover, at the level stated on your quote. | The level of cover you choose. |
Heading further south-east? The Alpine drive continues into Italy, covered on the removals to Italy page. The international removals overview compares full and part loads on all four routes.
Moving to France: questions we get asked
Not if this is a genuine change of main home. France applies EU customs relief to personal belongings brought in by someone transferring their residence. The goods must be yours and already in use, and French customs will want an itemised inventory, your passport and evidence of your French residence, such as a visa or residence permit and proof of address. New items still in their packaging, alcohol and tobacco can be charged. You go through the inventory with us at packing, and a written document list reaches you before collection.
Often not the full-size one, and we would rather say so than find out on the day. If the survey shows a narrow lane, a weak bridge, a steep drive or an unmade track, we plan a shuttle: the main vehicle parks on a proper road and a smaller van runs the goods up to the house. It adds some handling, which is reflected in the quote, but it avoids a stuck lorry and a damaged verge. Photos or a video of the approach help us plan.
For a holiday home or a small flat, often. The lorry carries several households bound for different French addresses, and your share of the bill follows the floor space your things occupy. What you give up is a fixed delivery date: the driver works through the drops in route order, so you are given a window instead. People handing over keys on a set morning, or moving a whole family house, tend to find a lorry of their own simpler.
Yes. Most of our French moves start in London, where we are based, but a house in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham or Bristol is collected in the same way. The vehicle is routed south once, without doubling back, and for Brittany, Normandy or the Loire a western Channel ferry can cut a long drive on the French side. The quote lays out collection, crossing and delivery as a single plan.
Your right to live in France comes first, because customs relief depends on residence. Since Brexit, most UK nationals moving to France need a long-stay visa before they go. After that, gather proof of your French address, your passport and a list of anything valuable or unusual. Tell us about access at the French end: parking, the approach and the stairs. GOV.UK keeps an up-to-date guide to living in France covering visas, healthcare and driving.
Moving to France?
Send us both addresses and a rough idea of what is going. If you have photos of the lane or the stairs at the French end, mention it in the notes and we will ask for them.