London to Paris: moving a flat into an old French building
Most of our moves from London to France end in a Paris apartment, and the hard part is rarely the drive. It is the last few metres: a gardien to brief, a lift too small for a chest of drawers, a window the furniture may have to come through, and a parking space booked through the town hall. We plan all of it before loading in London.
Why is a Paris flat harder to move into than a London one?
A London mansion block and a Paris apartment building look like cousins, but they work differently on a moving day. Much of central Paris was rebuilt in the Haussmann style, with a grand staircase, a courtyard behind a heavy carriage door and a lift that was squeezed into the stairwell decades after the building went up. That lift is often too narrow for anything larger than a dining chair. The staircase winds, and the upper floors under the zinc roof, once servants' rooms, have the tightest turns of all. Then there is the gardien, the resident caretaker who controls access and knows what the building allows. Get the gardien on side and the day goes well. Arrive unannounced with a lorry and you may not get through the gate. None of that is unusual. It just has to be known before the vehicle leaves London.
Who reserves the street space outside the building?
In France, kerbside space for a removal is reserved through the local authority, which in practice means the mairie for the address, or in Paris the city's own process for the arrondissement. The request names the street, the stretch needed and the day, and the signs go up in advance so cars are cleared. If a monte-meubles is coming, the space has to cover both the vehicle and the lift truck, and sometimes the pavement as well. This is the French equivalent of a London parking suspension, and it causes the same trouble when it is forgotten. We tell you what to apply for, or apply on your behalf where the authority allows it, and we time the delivery to the authorisation. If the flat is rented, the agent or landlord can often confirm which office handles requests for that street, which saves a round of emails.
What about a second home in Brittany or the Dordogne?
The other kind of France move we run from London is quieter. A stone house near Dinan or Quimper, a barn outside Bergerac or Sarlat, furnished bit by bit while the family keeps living in London. The access questions change completely. There is no gardien and no lift, but there may be a lane with grass up the middle, a gateway built for a cart and a bridge with a weight limit. The furniture is different too: often pieces from storage, a dresser from a parent's house, garden things. Most of these moves go on a shared load, because they rarely fill a vehicle. For Brittany we often use a western Channel ferry so the vehicle lands close to the address. Customs is the point to check early, because a second home is not a change of residence and the usual relief does not simply follow.
Before you book a France move
- Give us the gardien's or agent's contact for a city flat
- Measure the lift door and the tightest stair turn
- Tell us whether this becomes your main home or a second home
- Send photos of the lane or gateway for a rural house
- Keep proof of your French address ready for the customs claim
What paperwork does France ask for?
For a main-home move, the French customs claim rests on three things: a detailed inventory, evidence that you have lived outside the EU for a qualifying period, and evidence that you are now living in France, such as a lease, a deed of purchase or a utility contract in your name. We prepare the inventory and lodge the UK export declaration; you supply the identity and address documents. Your own residence status, whether a visa or a residence permit, is a separate matter from the removal, and the official guidance for UK nationals is the best starting point.
FAQ
Moving to France from London: your questions
Will a London removal lorry be allowed into central Paris?
Paris runs its own low-emission rules for vehicles, and the requirements for foreign-registered lorries are checked before each move rather than assumed. The bigger limit is physical rather than legal: plenty of streets in the older arrondissements are too narrow for a large truck to stop on. For those we transfer the load to a smaller vehicle on the edge of the city and finish the job with that, which we plan from the survey rather than discover on the day.
Do we need to tell the gardien we are moving in?
Yes, and as early as you can. The gardien, or the building manager in newer blocks, knows the rules on when moves may happen, whether the lift may be used for furniture and where the vehicle can stand. Some buildings ask for the lift to be padded or for the move to avoid certain hours. If you give us the gardien's contact we will agree the details with them in French, which tends to go more smoothly than a note left by a tenant who has not yet arrived.
We are buying in Brittany but keeping our London flat. Is that a removal or a delivery?
For us it is a removal, usually on a shared load because a second home rarely fills a vehicle. For customs it matters more. Because you are not moving your main residence, transfer-of-residence relief does not apply in the usual way. A separate relief for furnishing a secondary home exists under EU rules but comes with its own conditions, so check your position before you choose what to send. We will build the inventory either way.
Which Channel crossing do you use for a move to France?
It depends on the destination. For Paris and the north-east we normally cross from Kent, by ferry from Dover or the tunnel at Folkestone, then take the autoroute south. For Brittany, Normandy and the western half of the country a ferry from Portsmouth can cut out a long drive on the French side. We choose when we know your address and dates, and the route is written on the quote.
Get started
Moving to Paris, or furnishing a house in France?
Send us your London address, the French address and anything you know about the building or lane. We will reply with a written quote and a list of what to arrange.