Direct answer
houseclearance.co doesn't operate man-and-van vehicles or set a fixed company-wide rate - we're a marketplace that matches your job with licensed carriers who quote individually. What follows are typical, independently published 2026 figures: Checkatrade's UK-wide price guide puts one mover with a van at roughly £35–£93 an hour (average around £64), two movers at around £78 an hour, and three movers at around £94 an hour, with London-specific job prices typically running £104–£229, averaging near £153. Most bookings carry a two to three hour minimum, and the hourly clock usually covers loading, travel and waiting together rather than billing them as separate items. These are market-rate ranges to budget against, not a houseclearance.co price - your actual cost comes from a carrier's quote once you describe the real job.
Contents
Typical man-and-van rates in London, 2026
Indicative figures from independent UK price guides, not houseclearance.co's own pricing.
Man-and-van hire doesn't have one published national rate card, but independent UK trade-pricing guides track enough completed and quoted jobs to give a reasonably reliable typical range. Checkatrade's 2026 cost guide puts a single mover with a van at roughly £35 to £93 an hour across the UK, with an average around £64 an hour; a second mover added to the same van typically brings the rate to around £78 an hour, and a three-person crew with one van to around £94 an hour. Their London-specific figures are higher and move per job rather than strictly per hour: a typical London job runs roughly £104 to £229, averaging near £153, reflecting a mix of job sizes rather than a single hourly figure.
Treat these as a budgeting range, not a quote. They're pulled from a published third-party industry price guide, and real prices move with van size, crew size, distance, time of year and how far in advance you book - a last-minute weekend job in central London will usually sit at the upper end of any range like this, while an off-peak weekday job with easy access tends to sit lower. The number that actually matters is the one a specific provider quotes against your specific job, which is why posting the real details gets you a more useful answer than any published average.
Hourly vs fixed quotes
Two different ways of pricing the same job, with different risk.
Most man-and-van bookings in London are priced by the hour: you pay for the crew and vehicle for however long the job actually takes, usually billed from arrival in a minimum block and then in shorter increments after that. This suits jobs where the scope is roughly known but not exact - a flat move where the final box count isn't fixed until the day, for example - because you're not paying for time you don't use, but you are exposed if the job runs long because of traffic, access problems or simply underestimating how much there is to move.
A fixed-price quote works the other way around: the provider prices the whole job upfront, usually after being told (or seeing) the volume, access details and distance involved, and that price doesn't change if the job takes longer than expected - provided what they find on the day matches what you described. This shifts the risk of overrunning onto the provider rather than you, which is useful for a job with a fixed budget, but it also means you need to describe the job accurately, since a fixed quote based on incomplete information is the most common reason for a price changing on the day after all.
Neither approach is universally cheaper - a small, well-defined job with easy access often works out similar either way, while a job with real uncertainty (an unclear volume, a flat with no lift, a property you haven't fully walked through yet) is usually safer as a fixed quote once a provider has enough detail to price it properly, simply because an hourly job with unknowns is the one most likely to run over.
Crew size and minimum bookings
More people moves a job faster, but it also raises the hourly rate.
Adding a second or third mover to a job increases the hourly rate - roughly £64 for one, £78 for two and £94 for three on the UK-wide averages above - but it isn't simply extra cost for its own sake. A second pair of hands can cut the total job time meaningfully, particularly for heavier items, multiple flights of stairs, or a job with a genuinely tight loading window, so the per-hour increase doesn't always translate into a higher total bill once the job finishes faster.
Almost every provider also applies a minimum booking - commonly two hours in London, sometimes rising to three hours for jobs starting outside central London or needing a larger van - and that minimum applies however short the actual job turns out to be. A single wardrobe moved across town will usually still cost close to the minimum block, which is worth knowing before you assume a tiny job will be priced proportionally low. If your job is genuinely that small, it's worth asking directly whether a provider has a lower-tier rate for quick single-item jobs rather than assuming the standard minimum always applies.
Loaded travel, waiting time and access
The three things that push an hourly job over the minimum.
On an hourly booking, the clock typically runs continuously from arrival to the end of the job, which means loading at the first address, driving to the second address, unloading, and any waiting in between are usually all charged within the same running total rather than as separate line items. That's a useful thing to understand before booking: a short drive across London during heavy traffic, or a wait for a lift or a locked storage unit to be opened, adds to the bill in exactly the same way as active loading time does.
Access is the other major factor, and it's the one people most often under-describe when getting a quote. Stairs instead of a lift, a third-floor flat, a long carry from the parking spot to the front door, or a narrow doorway that needs an item dismantled first all add real time to a job without changing how much is actually being moved - which is exactly why two moves with a similar number of items can cost noticeably different amounts. Describing access honestly when you book - number of flights, whether there's a lift, how far the van can park from the door - is the single most reliable way to stop a quote moving on the day.
Price scenarios at a glance
Illustrative scenarios built from the ranges above, not fixed houseclearance.co prices or records of a completed job.
| Option or job scenario | What it includes | Main restriction | What to confirm before booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single large item, short distance (e.g. one sofa or wardrobe across the same borough) | One mover and a small-to-medium van, usually billed at the provider's minimum booking | Minimum booking charge applies even though the job itself may take under an hour | Whether a lower-tier single-item rate is available instead of the standard minimum |
| Small flat move, ground floor or lift access | One or two movers, a medium van, and a job typically within the two to three hour minimum block | Straightforward access keeps the job near the minimum, but extra boxes beyond what was described can extend it | Rough item count and whether it's priced hourly or as a fixed quote |
| Flat move, stairs only, no lift | Same volume as a lift-access move, but with longer loading time built in | Stairs add crew time that an hourly rate bills for directly, even though nothing extra is being moved | Number of flights, and whether the provider's quote already accounts for stairs or treats it as an on-the-day addition |
| House move, multiple rooms of furniture and boxes | Two or three movers and a larger van, usually priced as a fixed quote once volume is known | An hourly rate on a job this size carries real risk of running well over an initial estimate | Whether the provider will give a fixed price after seeing photos or an inventory, rather than an open-ended hourly estimate |
| Job with unclear or unconfirmed access (new let, hasn't been viewed) | Provisional quote only, pending confirmation of stairs, parking and loading distance | Any quote given before access is confirmed is likely to change once the provider sees the real site | Ask the provider to revisit the price, not just the time, once access is confirmed |
Congestion Charge, ULEZ and other extras
Charges that sit outside the hourly or fixed rate, and need confirming separately.
Some London quotes already fold in any Congestion Charge or ULEZ charge the vehicle and route might attract; others list it as a separate pass-through cost added to the bill. Because charging zones, operating hours and daily rates are set and changed by Transport for London rather than by any removals provider, this page doesn't quote a specific daily figure - that's genuinely TfL's information to state, not a fixed number worth repeating here and risking it going stale. The practical step is simple: ask the provider directly whether their quote already includes any applicable charge for your route and vehicle, rather than assuming either way.
Other extras worth asking about up front include weekend or out-of-hours surcharges, charges for dismantling and reassembling furniture such as beds or flat-pack wardrobes, and whether packing materials - boxes, tape, bubble wrap - are included or charged separately. None of these are hidden by default on a transparent quote, but they're the details that most commonly differ between providers, so it's worth getting them confirmed in writing before the day rather than assuming they match what a generic guide like this one describes.
When this isn't the job you need
Man-and-van pricing covers transport of items you're keeping - a different job to clearance or disposal.
Everything on this page is about moving possessions you want kept - to a new home, into storage, or across London for some other reason. If instead you're trying to get rid of items you no longer want, that's a different service with different pricing: our house clearance cost guide covers whole-property clearance pricing, and if it's specific bulky furniture or appliances you want removed and disposed of rather than transported, see furniture & bulky item removal and its own cost guide instead. Pricing for disposal work is structured differently from man-and-van transport, since it includes the cost of responsibly disposing of items rather than just delivering them somewhere.
If you're planning a full move rather than pricing a single job, our downsizing and house clearance planning guide covers the broader timeline - sorting what's being kept, donated or cleared before you book anyone - and our house clearance checklist is useful if part of the job is clearance rather than transport. Both are a better starting point than this page if your job involves getting rid of things, not just moving them.
Frequently asked questions
The questions that come up most often when budgeting for a man and van in London.
How much does a man and van cost per hour in London?
Published industry price guides put a single mover with a van at roughly £35 to £93 an hour in the UK, averaging around £64, with two movers typically closer to £78 an hour and three movers around £94. Checkatrade's own London-specific figures show a wider per-job range of about £104 to £229, averaging near £153 - the exact number for your job depends on crew size, van size, duration and how far you're travelling, so treat these as typical ranges rather than a fixed price.
Is a man and van charged by the hour or a fixed price?
Both exist. Most man-and-van bookings in London are hourly, with the clock usually starting on arrival and running in a minimum block - commonly two to three hours - then continuing in shorter increments after that. Some providers offer a fixed price for a clearly defined job instead, usually once they know the volume, access and distance in advance; a fixed quote shifts the risk of a job overrunning onto the provider rather than you.
What's the minimum booking for a man and van in London?
Most providers work to a minimum booking of around two hours, sometimes rising to three hours for jobs that start outside central London or need a larger crew and van. That minimum applies even if the actual job - say, moving one wardrobe - takes less time than that, so a very small job can still cost roughly the same as the minimum block.
Does waiting time or traffic get charged separately?
Usually not as a separate line item - on an hourly booking, waiting time, loading, travel between addresses and unloading are typically all charged within the same running clock, which is exactly why traffic, lift queues or a locked storage unit can push an hourly job higher than expected. A fixed-price quote avoids this by pricing the whole job upfront, provided the access and volume described match what the crew actually finds.
Do I need to pay the Congestion Charge or ULEZ on top of the quote?
It depends on the provider, so this is worth confirming before you book rather than assuming either way. Some hourly or fixed quotes already include any Congestion Charge or ULEZ charge for the vehicle and route involved; others list it as a separate pass-through cost. Given how often charging zones and daily rates change, always ask the provider to confirm what their quote covers rather than relying on a figure from a guide.
Is a man and van cheaper than a full removal company?
Generally yes for a smaller job - a man and van suits a single room, a few large items, or a flat move where you're doing most of the packing yourself, and the smaller crew and van keep the hourly rate down. A full removal company usually makes more sense for a multi-bedroom house move with a lot of volume, since the per-hour saving from a smaller crew can be outweighed by the job simply taking far longer to complete.
Clearing items instead of moving them?
Post your job for licensed carriers to quote on, with pricing based on your actual property and access rather than a published average.
Request clearance quotes