What a Smooth House Move in Sussex Really Takes
Moving house in West Sussex, East Sussex or Brighton & Hove means getting three local jobs right: parking the lorry where the rules change from council to council, getting furniture into older homes and flats, and clearing out through tips with their own booking and van rules.
The quick answer
Parking
Book:a bay suspension 5 to 10 working days ahead, depending on the council
Every fee and notice period below links to its source, checked October 2026.
Which council you’re moving to, and its council tax
Moving to Sussex? Start with where. Our area guides cover West Sussex’s most desirable areas, Brighton, Chichester, Horsham, Steyning, Billingshurst and Bognor Regis. This guide covers the move itself, starting with who runs parking where you’re going.
Who handles parking for a move
West Sussex
Apply to your district, acting for the county
Brighton & Hove
The city council handles its own
East Sussex
The county council handles all but Wealden
Sources: West Sussex County Council, East Sussex County Council and its Wealden page.
Still choosing a town? Compare council tax. For 2026/27 every Sussex area’s average Band D bill is above England’s £2,392, and every West Sussex area is cheaper than every East Sussex one.
Average Band D council tax by area, 2026/27
Area average including parish precepts, GOV.UK council tax levels 2026 to 2027 (table 10). Your bill depends on your band and parish.
Parking suspensions for the removal lorry, council by council
A removal lorry needs to stop near the door for hours. On a street of permit or pay-and-display bays, that usually means a bay suspension: the council puts up signs and keeps the bays clear for the day. On our Hove flat move, the hard parts were the parking and the stairs. You apply to the council for the parking suspension yourself. At the survey we tell you whether either address needs one, how many metres of bay our lorry takes and how much notice each council asks for.
Adur & Worthing
Notice:at least 5 working days
Fee:£45 per 10 m bay; inside Worthing’s parking zone, plus £10 a day for each pay-and-display bay
Arun
Notice:at least 10 working days
Fee:£45, plus £10 a day for pay-and-display and permit bays in Bognor Regis
Chichester
Notice:at least 6 working days
Fee:£45, plus £10 a day for each pay-and-display or permit bay
Crawley
Notice:at least 5 working days
Fee:£45, plus £10 a day for each charged bay; the total is worked out when you apply
Horsham
Notice:at least 5 working days, booked online
Fee:£45, plus £10 a day for a permit, pay-and-display or shared-use bay
Mid Sussex
Notice:no period published, so ask early
Fee:£45, plus £10 a day for each pay-and-display or permit bay
Brighton & Hove
Notice:7 full working days, applied for by 2pm
Fee:£19 if you live in the city, including new residents moving in (otherwise £38), plus £51 a day for each 5.5 m bay
Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, Rother
Notice:no period published, so ask early
Fee:£16 set-up plus £2.25 a day for each 5.5 m bay
Wealden
Rules:the police, not the council, enforce on-street parking
Next step:ask East Sussex County Council early
West Sussex fees from the county’s on-street charges, effective 1 October 2026; other figures from each council’s page, as listed in October 2026.
On the day: keep the bays clear
1 The lorry needs the bays. 2 Any car left in them can be ticketed. Arun is the exception: see below.
Five rules that catch people out
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Move your own car out. Arun, East Sussex and Chichester all warn that a vehicle left in a suspended bay can be ticketed; in Chichester, even the householder who arranged it.
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Arun is stricter. Once a bay is suspended, “no vehicle is permitted to park in the bay. This includes removal vehicles.” Ask the council how loading will work. Arun also lets a signwritten removal vehicle park where some restrictions apply, but not a self-drive hire van.
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Brighton & Hove checks early. Only registrations on your application may park, and there are no suspensions on bank holidays.
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Yellow lines can’t be suspended in Arun or Brighton & Hove. In East Sussex you can load on yellow lines where there’s no loading ban, but it must be continuous; a waiver costs £6.50 per 6 m a day in Eastbourne, Lewes and Rother.
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Rye, in Rother, is different. “Due to the narrow roads in Rye, waivers are not available.”
Sources: Arun dispensations, Brighton & Hove suspended bays, East Sussex loading and waivers.
Older homes, flats and narrow stairs
Old houses cluster in Brighton & Hove and Hastings: about two in five homes in Brighton & Hove and in Hastings were built before 1919, against one in five across England. West Sussex is much newer overall, at about one in eight.
Homes built before 1919
Properties at 31 March 2025, Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax stock of properties.
Brighton & Hove is also a city of flats. At the 2021 Census, half its households lived in one, against 22% in England. Almost one in five lived in a flat in a converted or shared house. In a block, ask the managing agent about set times for access and for using the lift. Wealden is the opposite picture: 43.7% of households there live in a detached house, nearly twice England’s 22.9%.
Flats in the city, detached houses in the country
Households in a flat
Households in a detached house
Households, Census 2021, table TS044; flats are our total of four Census categories.
Before the day
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Measure your largest pieces against the narrowest point at the new address: the stair turn, not just the front door.
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If something won’t fit, plan it now. Sometimes a sofa goes through a window.
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Get a survey. GOV.UK says that if access is difficult or you have unusual items, make sure the removal company visits before it quotes.
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Tell the firm about antiques, pianos and anything heavy upstairs (see moving antique furniture).
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Pack glass and china in packing paper, never towels, and empty every drawer, or let our full packing service do it.
Source: GOV.UK home-buying guide.
Country lanes and village access
On a move from Midhurst we had three lorries nose to tail on a lane built for one. “Where the lorries can stand decides the length of every carry, and on a lane like this it is decided before the day, not on it.”
When the lorry can’t reach the door
1 The lorry stays on the road. 2 A smaller van shuttles. 3 Loads go to the door.
Where a lorry can’t get to the door, it parks on the road and a smaller van shuttles loads to and from the house. Tell your removal firm about farm tracks, gates, unmade drives, tight bends and weak or narrow bridges before the survey.
Verges aren’t a fallback either. The Highway Code says vehicles over 7.5 tonnes must not park on a verge or pavement without police permission, except when loading is essential, and then the vehicle must not be left unattended.
Source: Highway Code rule 246.
Tip rules and bulky waste: booking, ID and vans
Whatever you get rid of, you don’t pay to move. Each Sussex tip system has its own rules on bookings, ID and vehicles, and all of them turn away Luton vans (box vans with a bulge over the cab).
West Sussex
Booking:required; up to 14 days ahead, up to 5 visits a month
Bring:ID showing you’re a West Sussex council taxpayer
Vehicles:no Luton-type vans, horseboxes, tippers, flatbeds, drop-sides or anything over 3.5 tonnes; trailer rules vary
Days:closed days vary by centre: in winter, Worthing shuts on Thursdays and Shoreham on Mondays and Tuesdays
East Sussex
Booking:required; up to two weeks ahead
Vans:only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; no Luton, box, flatbed or tipper vans, nothing 3,500 kg or over
Non-residents:£8.75 a visit
Brighton & Hove
Sites:two, at Hove and Brighton
Vans:proof of a Brighton & Hove address with two forms of ID; hired vans need the rental agreement
Vehicles:no Luton or box vans, flatbeds or tippers; trailers up to 1.2 m at Hove only
At the tip gate
Horsham and Shoreham have a 2.2 m height barrier, so check the page for your centre. For sofas, beds and white goods, council bulky-waste collections need booking well ahead: Brighton & Hove was booking 3 to 4 weeks ahead in October 2026.
Clearing a whole house? Our house clearance service looks at the full contents and makes an offer for them.
Timing: completion day and the Sussex events calendar
GOV.UK’s home-buying guide says completion is often around 2 to 4 weeks after exchange, and “the keys are often handed over around lunchtime”. The same guide warns that “Fridays and the first and last days of the month are often very busy”.
Big events close roads too: the Brighton Marathon, on Sunday 4 April 2027, and Pride, usually the first weekend of August.
Sussex events, 2027
Sources: Brighton Marathon road closures, Goodwood and Brighton & Hove Pride (2027 date not yet published). Timing: GOV.UK buying and selling guides.
Moving with children
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Primary school applications for September 2027 close on 15 January 2027 in West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton & Hove.
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Moving during the school year: West Sussex suggests applying about 4 weeks before the start date; East Sussex accepts a new address once contracts are exchanged or a tenancy is signed.
Sources: West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton & Hove.
Collecting from London: emission and congestion charges
Moving from London? Removal vehicles face charges on collection day, depending on their size.
What applies on collection day
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Lorries over 3.5 tonnes: the Low Emission Zone covers all of Greater London, every day. A lorry that doesn’t meet Euro VI pays £100 a day, or £300 if it doesn’t meet Euro IV.
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Vans up to 3.5 tonnes: the ULEZ charge is £12.50 a day for vans that don’t meet its standards.
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Central London: the Congestion Charge runs 7am to 6pm on weekdays and noon to 6pm at weekends and on bank holidays: £18 a day paid in advance or on the day.
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Lorries over 18 tonnes need permission under the London Lorry Control Scheme at night and at weekends.
Sources: TfL Low Emission Zone, TfL ULEZ, TfL Congestion Charge and London Councils.
Ask whether the firm’s vehicles meet these standards, and who pays any charge. Our long-distance moving guide covers the journey itself.
What drives the cost, and choosing a removal company
A Sussex move costs more when the lorry can’t get close.
What sets the price
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How much you’re moving: it sets the size of lorry and crew.
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Access at both ends: stairs, flats, long carries from the kerb, and a shuttle van on rural lanes.
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Parking: the council’s suspension fee, if you need one.
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Packing and dismantling: priced by the work, so a divan that unclips adds almost nothing and an intricate bunk bed adds more.
Ask for an itemised written quote after a survey; our pricing page explains how we work ours out.
Any firm using a lorry over 3,500 kg needs a goods vehicle operator’s licence, which you can look up on GOV.UK, and by law the service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill (Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49). For the full list, see our 13 questions to ask a removal firm and our removals checklist.
Your first week in a new Sussex home
Your first week, in order
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Meters: take readings when you leave and when you arrive. GOV.UK says a date-stamped photo is useful. If Southern Water supplies you, it asks for a final reading on the day you move out.
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Water: Sussex has more than one water supplier, so check which one serves the new home.
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Council tax: tell both your old and new councils, so you stop paying for the old home.
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Voting: register again: “the Electoral Register is not updated when you move in or out of a property”, as Adur & Worthing put it.
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Doctor: register with a new GP; the old surgery is told automatically.
Sources: GOV.UK home-buying guide, Southern Water, GOV.UK register to vote, Adur & Worthing and NHS.
How Wolves Removals handles a Sussex move
We’re based in Ashington, between Worthing and Horsham, and have moved Sussex homes since 2016.
Moving with us
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A free survey for your house removal, by video or in your home, then a fixed written quote.
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At the survey we’ll ask about access and parking at both addresses.
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A LAPADA Approved Service Provider.
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Goods vehicle operator’s licence OK2089561, so you can check us on GOV.UK.
See our removals in West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton. When you’re ready, book a free survey.
Jack Wolfe
Director, Wolves Removals · Ashington, West Sussex
Jack runs Wolves Removals, which has moved families and businesses across West and East Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Kent since 2016 from its Ashington base. The firm is fully insured, Checkatrade-verified and a LAPADA Approved Service Provider for antiques and fine art. More about us, or read our reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions
From 5 working days in Adur, Worthing, Crawley and Horsham to 10 in Arun. Some councils publish none, so ask early.
If money is delayed in the chain, GOV.UK warns of possible extra removal charges, so ask the firm’s policy before booking. If you can’t get in, your things can go into storage until you can.
There’s no single limit. Where there’s no loading ban, a van can load on yellow lines while loading is continuous; East Sussex allows 20 minutes in permit, shared-use or paid bays. For longer, you need a bay suspension.
East Sussex. For 2026/27, West Sussex areas average £2,418 to £2,548 at Band D and East Sussex areas £2,654 to £2,756, all above England’s £2,392. Your bill depends on your band and parish.
