Removals from the UK to France

France is the shortest of the four and the one most people are moving to for the first time. Collection is the easy part: we pick up anywhere in the UK, consolidate where it makes sense, and run to the Kent crossings. What takes the planning is the far end, because a French address is rarely as straightforward as its postcode suggests.

The route

collected anywhere in the country, then south to the M20 or M2 and the Kent crossings After the crossing it is Calais or Coquelles and the A16 or A26 south, then whichever way the destination takes you: the A28 and A13 for Normandy, the A11 for Brittany and the Loire, the A10 through Poitiers for the Charente and Dordogne, and the A7 down the Rhône for Provence.

Where deliveries go

• Normandy and the north — Rouen, Caen, Calvados, the Cotentin
• Brittany and the Loire — Rennes, Vannes, Nantes and the coast
• Charente, Dordogne and the Lot — stone houses down long lanes
• Occitanie and the south-west — Toulouse, the Tarn, the Aude
• Provence and the Riviera — Aix, the Var, the Alpes-Maritimes
• Paris and the Île-de-France — apartment deliveries with their own access rules

The house you have bought is probably older than the lorry

A large share of British moves to France are into stone village property, a longère down a track, or an apartment in a town centre that was built well before anyone imagined a delivery vehicle. The questions we ask are the same ones we would ask about a British cottage: how wide is the approach, how low are the branches, will the drive take a loaded vehicle, and is there anywhere to turn. Photographs answer all four in about a minute.

Customs

A household move to France is a formal customs entry. It needs a detailed inventory in the form French customs expect, evidence you are transferring your normal residence, and the supporting documents for relief on personal effects — the French address, the previous UK address and the timing. We build the inventory at survey and prepare the declaration from it, and tell you at the start which documents have to come from you.

Dedicated vehicle or shared space

A dedicated vehicle means your dates and the fewest handlings. Shared space means a lower cost, a delivery window rather than a named day, and more handlings along the way. On a household with pieces you would mind losing, the handling count is a real argument for a dedicated vehicle, and we will make that argument rather than quietly selling the cheaper option.

Starting the move

Both addresses, rough dates, a sense of the volume, and whether shared space is an option for you. We will survey and quote in writing. See European removals for how the four compare.