Route · Putney to France
Removals from Putney to France
If you are leaving a Putney conversion for a Paris apartment, you already understand the central problem of this route. A Haussmann building has a courtyard, a stone stair and a lift installed as an afterthought, which is a description of half of SW15 with better windows.
Our commonest France job from here is a family relocating to the Île-de-France and discovering the flat is a floor higher than they pictured.
Who takes this route from Putney
- Families relocating to Paris and the Île-de-France for work, generally into a flat on a floor they have not yet measured.
- Households leaving a Putney conversion for a whole house in Normandy, Brittany or the Charente — the first time in years they have had ground-floor access.
- Second-home owners moving part-loads out to the west and occasionally bringing them back.
Getting out of SW15
Out of SW15 to the South Circular and the A3, round the M25 to the M20, then the Eurotunnel shuttle at Folkestone or the ferry from Dover. For a loaded removals vehicle the shuttle is usually right: 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 file
France sits outside the UK customs union, so a household move counts as an export and an import even though 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 survey and checked at loading. This is the document customs reads, so it names contents rather than counting boxes. |
| Proof the Putney 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 you have registered. |
| Passport and residence status | You | Copies for the file. Your status decides whether the relief is available 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 stall a load when they are left late — begin those first. Rows marked Us are prepared here and lodged against the inventory taken at your flat.
The same question, in French
Measure the destination staircase at the viewing. That is the whole of our advice on this route, and it is the piece of advice people most often skip. A Paris building typically has a stone spiral with a fixed turn and a lift car that will not take a wardrobe, which is exactly the constraint you have been living with in SW15 — except that discovering it here costs a measurement and discovering it there costs a piece of furniture.
Where the answer is that something will not go up, Paris has a solution Putney does not: an exterior lift on the street, which is routine there and requires a permit from the mairie. We establish whether your building needs one before quoting, because it changes the job materially.
The other direction is more cheerful. Households leaving a conversion for a whole house in Normandy or the Charente frequently find they can take everything for the first time in years — and then discover the arch into the courtyard is narrower than the front door was.
Putney to France
Questions on this route
01 How do I measure a French staircase before I have keys?
Ask at the viewing, or ask the agent for the width of the stair and the clear space at the turn. Send us those and the length of your longest rigid piece and we can usually answer straight away.
02 What is an exterior lift and will we need one?
A platform hoist set up on the street to reach a window or balcony. In Paris it is routine for upper floors, it needs a permit from the mairie, and it changes both the plan and the quote — so we establish it in advance.
03 Can you do a part-load?
Yes, and for a second home it is normally right. A part-load shares a vehicle with other consignments on the route: lower cost, and it departs when the route fills rather than when you choose.
04 Do we pay duty on our own furniture?
Not where you qualify for transfer of residence relief and the file is correct. It is conditional on your residence status and on an accurate inventory.
05 We are going from a flat to a house. Should we take more?
Probably, and it is worth reconsidering things you got rid of mentally years ago because they would not fit a conversion. Just measure the way in at the far end first — courtyard arches are the French equivalent of a stair turn.
06 Can you hold our things here first?
Frequently. Goods are collected, listed and held, and the export file is built against that same inventory once the French date is real.
Moving from Putney to France?
Both addresses, the floor at each end, and whether the far end has a date yet. We will come back with the route, the documents to begin, and a written quote.