Flats & apartments
Flat removals in Nottingham, where the building decides
A house move is between you and us. A flat move has a third party in it — whoever controls the lift, the lobby and the loading bay. In the Lace Market that third party usually sets the whole timetable.
The Lace Market problem
The converted warehouses off Stoney Street, Broadway and Plumptre Street are among the best places to live in the city and among the slowest to move out of. They were built to hoist bales of lace up the outside of the building, not to get a three-seater down the inside of it.
What that means in practice: one goods lift shared by every flat in the building, a loading window you have to book, original timber floors in the communal areas that mark if you look at them wrongly, and cobbled setts outside that a loaded sack truck genuinely fights. Several still have the old hoist beam projecting over the street, which is a lovely detail and entirely decorative.
None of that is a problem if it is planned. All of it is a problem if it is discovered at nine on a Saturday morning.
What we establish before the date is confirmed
- Who manages the building
- Not the landlord — the managing agent. They are the ones who release the loading bay and who want our insurance certificate on file before we start.
- What the goods lift measures
- Inside, in actual centimetres. The notice on the wall is frequently optimistic, and a retrofitted lift in a warehouse stairwell is usually the wrong shape for a sofa.
- Whether there is a loading window
- Most city-centre buildings run slots. Some restrict moves to particular hours in the lease. Neither can be arranged on the morning.
- What the street allows
- Pedestrian zone hours, loading restrictions, tram-route setbacks and cobbled setts, all of which decide where the van can genuinely stand.
- Whether a method statement is wanted
- Several Nottingham blocks ask for one. It takes us ten minutes to produce and holds up a move entirely if nobody asked in advance.
- Who holds the fob
- The service door, the bin store, the lift override. Usually the concierge, sometimes a neighbour, occasionally nobody anyone can name.
The other kinds of Nottingham flat
Modern city-centre blocks
Around the station, Canal Street and the Island Quarter side. These are generally the easiest — a proper goods lift, a bin store you can reverse past, a bay with a barrier. The barrier is the thing to check, because it has a height limit and turning up in something too tall wastes an afternoon.
Period conversions in The Park
Large Victorian villas split into two or three flats. High ceilings, generous rooms and no lift at all, so everything comes down a staircase that was built for one household rather than three. Add the estate's own access arrangements and these need arranging rather than simply booking.
Flats above shops
Hockley, Sneinton, the Mansfield Road and Derby Road. A shared street door, a narrow stair straight up from the pavement, and loading restrictions outside at exactly the hours you would like to be working. Timing matters here more than vehicle size.
Getting large furniture down a stairwell
Half-landings are the enemy. A conversion staircase turns through ninety degrees twice on the way down and the diagonal a long sofa needs simply is not there. Most upholstery makes it with the feet off and the back removed if it is that kind of frame. Some genuinely will not.
Where it will not, you hear that at survey with options, rather than discovering it with the piece wedged on a landing. Sometimes the answer is a window and a hoist. Sometimes the honest answer is that it does not come out in one and you need to decide whether taking it apart is worth it.
Communal areas
Floor runners in the lobby and on every landing, corner and frame protection along the route out, and the lift car lined where the building permits it. In a managed block, damage to communal areas finds its way onto the service charge — usually the account of whoever just moved out.
Smaller flats and single rooms
A studio, a one-bed with not much in it, or one room out of a share is often better and cheaper as man and van. If you are a student, student moves is the same job built around term dates and summer storage. Describe the load and we will tell you honestly which you need.
Good to know
Flats, lifts and managing agents
What is different about a city-centre flat move?
The building has as much say as you do. Whoever controls the goods lift, the lobby and the loading bay controls the day. Get that wrong and a good crew stands on the pavement because nobody told the concierge and the service door is on a fob you do not have.
Do you deal with the managing agent?
Yes, and we would rather do it than leave it with you. Most Nottingham blocks want a copy of our goods-in-transit and public liability cover before we start, several want a method statement, and nearly all want the goods lift booked into a slot.
What are Lace Market conversions like to move out of?
Characterful and slow. Original warehouse floors, one goods lift for the whole building, and cobbled setts outside that a loaded sack truck genuinely struggles with. Several have the old hoist beam still in place above the street, which is lovely and entirely decorative. We plan the lift slot first and everything else around it.
What if the lift will not take the sofa?
Then the sofa goes down the stairs and the boxes go in the lift, and we crew it so neither takes all morning. We measure the lift car at survey rather than trusting the notice on the wall, which is frequently optimistic.
Do you protect the communal areas?
Always. Floor runners in the lobby and on every landing, corner and frame protection along the route out, and the lift car lined where the building allows it. Damage in a managed block finds its way onto the service charge, usually the account of whoever just moved out.
Can you move one room out of a shared flat?
Yes, though that is usually better as a man-and-van booking. If you are a student it is worth looking at the student moves page instead — same job, but built around term dates and summer storage.
Tell us the building and we'll do the talking.
Send the address and we will find out who manages it, what the lift takes and what the agent needs from us. Then we quote.