Moving house in Islington
Islington is on the far side of central London from our base in SW6, so a move here is planned a little differently. We set the start time with the traffic in mind and keep the same crew from loading to unloading, whether you are moving within N1 or across town to the south-west.
The oldest streets are Georgian. Barnsbury, Canonbury and the roads off Upper Street and Colebrooke Row are lined with flat-fronted brick terraces and garden squares, many of them listed. The houses are tall and narrow, often with a basement, and the stairs tighten towards the top. Plenty have been split into flats, so a top-floor move can mean several flights and no lift.
Further north, in Highbury, Holloway and up towards Archway, the streets are mostly Victorian terraces, with large council estates in between. An estate block brings its own questions: is there a lift, will a sofa fit in it, and where can a van stop inside the estate. We ask them on the survey.
Getting the van to the door takes some thought. Islington has put traffic filters on residential streets in areas such as St Peter's, Canonbury and Highbury, some of them enforced by cameras. Your street can still be reached, but the way in may be roundabout, so we plan the approach before the day.
Parking, on the other hand, is simpler than in most of London. Islington lets a branded removal van park outside your home for free while it loads, on a single yellow line or in a resident bay, as long as loading is continuous and no other loading restriction applies.
