Route · UK to France
Removals from the UK to France
The shortest European route and the busiest. For a firm collecting across the whole country the interesting part is not the Channel — it is the domestic leg, because a load from Yorkshire has already done a day's driving before it reaches the coast.
How your load reaches the crossing matters more, on this route, than which crossing it uses.
Who takes this route
- Households relocating for work to Paris and the Île-de-France, generally into considerably less space than they are leaving.
- Buyers of rural property in Normandy, Brittany and the Charente, frequently moving a whole house into somewhere with no fitted storage at all.
- Second-home owners moving part-loads in both directions.
The road out
Whatever the origin, the load converges on the M20 and either the Eurotunnel shuttle at Folkestone or the Dover ferry. For a loaded removals vehicle the shuttle is usually preferred: a short crossing, the vehicle sealed, and the driver staying with it.
From Calais the A16 runs west along the coast and the A26 drops south-east towards Reims. For the south-west it is the A16 then the A28 through Rouen and Le Mans; for the Mediterranean, the A26 to the A6 and the long run down the Rhône on the A7.
Where we deliver
Customs, and the order to do it in
France sits outside the UK customs union, so a household move is an export and an import even where everything in it is used. Transfer of residence relief keeps it duty-free for somebody genuinely moving, and it depends on the inventory describing the actual contents.
Who obtains what
| Document | Obtained by | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Detailed inventory (valued) | Us | Written at the survey and checked at loading. Customs reads this, so it names contents rather than counting boxes. |
| Proof the UK address has ended | You | Closing council tax bill, an ending tenancy, or completion paperwork. |
| Proof of the French address | You | Deeds, a lease, or an attestation from the mairie once registered. |
| Passport and residence status | You | Copies for the file. Your status decides whether the relief applies at all. |
| Export declaration | Us | Raised on the UK side against the inventory before the vehicle reaches the terminal. |
| Import entry and relief claim | Us | Lodged with French customs through our agent against the same inventory. |
Rows marked You are the ones that hold a load up when they are left late, so start those the day the move becomes real. Rows marked Us are built here from the inventory taken at the property.
Getting to the crossing
From the south-east this is barely a question. From Yorkshire, the north-west, Devon or Scotland it is most of the planning: the load has a full day of domestic driving before it reaches Kent, and that has to be built into the schedule rather than bolted on.
In practice it means one of two things. Either the vehicle runs the whole way with your goods alone and departs a day earlier than you might expect, or your load joins a European vehicle already routed south — which costs less and waits for the route. We set out both when the origin is a long way from the coast.
The second national point is that French rural property frequently cannot take a full-size vehicle, and from four hundred miles away that is not something to discover on arrival. We establish it before the load is built, and we shuttle where we must.
the UK to France
Questions on this route
01 We are in the north. Does that change anything?
It changes the domestic leg, which on this route is the larger variable. Either the vehicle departs earlier and runs the whole way, or your load joins one already heading south. We will set out both with the trade-offs.
02 Can you do a part-load?
Yes, and for a second home it is usually right. A part-load shares a vehicle with other consignments going the same way: cheaper, departing when the route fills rather than when you choose.
03 Tunnel or ferry?
Usually the shuttle for a loaded vehicle — short crossing, vehicle sealed, driver stays with it. The decision is ours to make and it does not change your price.
04 Will our furniture fit a French house?
Measure the stairs, the door heads and any courtyard arch at the viewing and send us the numbers. French rural houses and British suburban ones are furnished on quite different assumptions.
05 Do we pay duty on our own furniture?
Not where you qualify for transfer of residence relief and the file is right. It is conditional on your residence status and on an accurate inventory.
06 Can you hold goods in the UK first?
Frequently, and on a long domestic leg it is often the neater sequence. Goods are collected, listed and held, and the export file is built from that list.
Moving from the UK to France?
Where in Britain it is leaving from, where it is going, and roughly what size of house. We will come back with the route, the document list and a written quote.