Europe is where most of our international work goes, by a distance. It is also the part of the map that changed most in the last few years, because a move from Britain to an EU country stopped being a domestic-style removal with a longer drive and became a customs transaction.
This page covers how an international move actually works: how the goods travel, what the paperwork now requires, what moves the price, and what is different once you leave Europe behind. The money side is on our currency exchange page, which matters more than most people expect.
Europe travels by road
Almost everything we send into Europe goes by road, not by sea. That single fact explains most of what is different about a European move compared with one to Australia or the United States.
Road means two options, and choosing between them is usually the biggest decision you will make.
A dedicated load is your household on its own vehicle. It leaves when you say and arrives when it arrives, with no waiting on anybody else. It costs more because you are paying for the whole vehicle whether you fill it or not.
A shared load, or groupage, puts your goods on a vehicle with other households going the same way. It is considerably cheaper and it runs to a schedule rather than to your diary. If there is not enough volume heading to your region this week, it goes next week. For a move where the dates have some give in them, groupage is usually the sensible answer and the saving is real.
Ask two questions before choosing. How often does that route actually run, and what happens if your completion date slips. A shared load to Spain or France may depart weekly. A shared load to a less travelled corner of Europe may not.
Roughly how long
Dedicated vehicles to northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands are commonly two to four days door to door. Spain, Portugal, Italy and southern France run more like five to ten. Further east, longer again. Shared loads add whatever the waiting time is at the departure end, which is the part people forget when comparing a groupage price against a dedicated one.
What Brexit changed, and it is not small
Before 2021 a van load of furniture crossed to France with no more formality than a ferry ticket. It now requires a customs declaration on the way out of the UK and an import declaration on the way into the destination country. Every EU member state requires both.
The good news is that your belongings should not attract duty or VAT. The relief exists, it is well established, and it applies across the EU. The bad news is that it is not automatic, and the conditions are specific.
The relief, and its conditions
Every EU member state operates transfer of residence relief under the same European regulation, Council Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009. It grants relief from import duty to a person moving their normal residence into the EU from outside it, which is what a British mover now is.
Four conditions matter, and each of them catches somebody:
You must have lived outside the EU for at least twelve continuous months immediately before the move. For most British movers this is automatic. For someone who has been living in Spain, came back to Britain for eight months, and is now returning, it is not.
You must have owned and used the goods for at least six months before they are shipped. Not owned. Owned and used. New furniture bought for the new house is not covered, and the receipt proves the case against you.
The goods must arrive within twelve months of you establishing residence. If you are moving in stages, which many people do, the second shipment needs to be inside that window.
You cannot dispose of the goods for twelve months after import without telling customs. Selling a relieved item inside that period can bring the duty back into play.
Commercial stock, anything intended for resale, and vehicles not registered to you fall outside the relief entirely.
The inventory is the document that matters
Every European move now needs a detailed inventory, usually with approximate values, and it is the thing customs at the far end will read. A vague list is the most common cause of a shipment sitting at a border.
Two practical points. Write it properly, because "box of kitchen items" is not an inventory entry and "12 assorted plates, used, £40" is. And keep your own copy, because if a question arises at the destination you will be answering it from the UK.
Relief also has to be applied for before the goods reach the border rather than after. Each member state runs the same European rule through its own forms and its own timings, so the process in Portugal is not the process in Germany. Whoever is doing your move should know which applies.
The comparison worth knowing
If you are weighing Europe against somewhere further afield, the rules are not the same and the difference can decide what is worth shipping. The EU asks for six months of ownership and use. The United States asks for a full year of use, and applies duty to anything newer. So a sofa bought eight months before you leave travels into France free of duty and into Florida with a bill attached. Our page on American moves sets out that side.
What actually moves the price
Distance matters less than people assume. Four things matter more.
Volume. Everything is priced on the space you take up, in cubic feet or cubic metres. This is why a proper survey is worth twenty minutes: a guess at your volume is a guess at your price.
Access at both ends. How close the vehicle can get, how many stairs, whether there is a lift, and whether a large vehicle can physically reach the address. A narrow village street in Italy or a fourth floor Paris apartment with no lift changes the crew and the time, and both are charged. Access at the destination is the one people cannot check themselves and the one that causes most of the surprises.
Dedicated against shared. Often a difference of a third or more.
Timing. The end of a month, and the summer, are busy everywhere in Europe. A midweek date in February is a different market from the last Friday in July.
Beyond Europe
Once the destination is across an ocean, the method changes and so does the arithmetic.
Sea freight is how almost everything travels. A full container gives you a box to yourself, either twenty or forty feet. A shared container, sometimes called LCL, gives you space in one alongside other shipments, which is cheaper and slower because the container waits until it is full and is unpacked at a depot at the far end.
As a rough guide, the United States east coast runs three to five weeks port to port and the west coast longer. Australia and New Zealand are commonly eight to twelve. The Caribbean varies widely by island, because the smaller ones are served less frequently. Add time at both ends for collection, consolidation, clearance and delivery, and a realistic door to door figure is usually several weeks more than the sailing time.
Air freight is for what you need immediately rather than for a household. It is priced by weight rather than volume, which makes it expensive for furniture and reasonable for a few boxes of clothes and documents to keep you going while the container crosses. A common arrangement is a small air shipment alongside a sea shipment, and it is worth asking about.
Climate is the other thing that changes outside Europe. A container crossing the tropics heats and cools daily, and moisture that went in on a damp British loading day condenses on the steel and comes back down on the load. Nothing goes in damp, books need desiccant, and leather wants breathable covering rather than plastic. On a European road move, none of that arises.
What we do
- Surveys and quotes, in person or by video call, so the price reflects your volume rather than an estimate
- Packing, all of it, part of it, or materials supplied for you to do it yourself
- Export wrapping for anything going into a container or onto a plane
- Dismantling and reassembly of furniture at both ends
- Customs documentation, including the inventory and the relief application
- Storage at either end, for the gap between dates that rarely line up
- Shared and dedicated loads by road, and full or shared containers by sea
- Fragile and high value items, including pianos, art and anything needing its own crate
- Goods in transit cover, with the per item limit stated in writing before the day
Common questions
Will I pay duty on my belongings in Europe?
Generally no, under transfer of residence relief, provided you have lived outside the EU for twelve months, have owned and used the goods for at least six months, and the shipment arrives within twelve months of you taking up residence. The relief has to be applied for before the goods reach the border.
Do I still need customs paperwork for a move to France?
Yes. Since 2021 every move from Britain to an EU country needs an export declaration leaving the UK and an import declaration arriving in the destination country, along with a detailed inventory.
Is a shared load worth it?
Usually, if your dates have any flexibility. The saving against a dedicated vehicle is substantial. The trade is that the load waits for enough volume heading your way, so ask how frequently the route runs before you decide.
How long does a move to Spain take?
A dedicated vehicle is commonly five to ten days door to door. A shared load adds the waiting time at the departure end, which varies with how busy the route is.
Can I pack myself?
Yes, though it affects insurance. Items packed by the owner are generally covered differently from items packed by the crew, because nobody can verify how something was wrapped. Ask how your cover treats it before deciding, rather than after.
What is the most common cause of delay?
Paperwork, not transport. A vague inventory or a relief application made too late will hold a shipment at a border for longer than any ferry or port ever will.
Do you handle the currency as well?
We introduce you to a currency firm rather than handling money ourselves. On a move that involves buying property, the exchange rate usually costs more than the removal does, which is why it has a page of its own.
Next steps
Start with the survey, because volume and access decide both the price and the method. The customs position follows from where you are going, and the inventory is built from the survey anyway.
Get a moving quote, or if you are buying at the other end, look at the currency side first. On a European purchase that is usually where the larger number is.