What people ask before they book

All of them: CR0 town centre, Addiscombe, Shirley, New Addington and Selsdon; CR2 South Croydon and Sanderstead; CR5 Coulsdon; CR7 Thornton Heath; CR8 Purley and Kenley; and the Norbury edge into SW16. Beckenham, Bromley and Sutton we cross and serve but do not claim.

Yes, and it is a large share of the work. It is the flattest and densest part of the borough: long Victorian terraces, heavy on-street parking pressure and a lot of shared housing, so part-loads and single-room moves outnumber whole households there.

Both. These are the high districts, and the distinguishing feature is vertical: houses set above or below the carriageway, long flights of steps to front doors, and gradients steep enough that the approach direction matters for a loaded vehicle.

Yes. CR2 is where the ground starts to climb and where drives and side access reappear after the density of the centre. Generally good access, with volume hiding in lofts and garages.

Covered. Access is generally good — postwar estate housing with room to work. The planning factor is distance from the rest of the borough rather than anything about the properties.

Usually three things: a goods lift booked for a window long enough to do the job, a loading bay or parking arrangement at ground level, and someone in the building who knows you are coming. Ask your managing agent for all three as soon as you have a date.

Then the job takes considerably longer and sometimes cannot be completed as planned, which is why we chase the confirmation rather than assume it. It is the single most common cause of a town-centre move going wrong.

Sometimes, by stairs, and it needs to be identified at survey so the crew is sized for it. In a tall block it is occasionally the honest answer that a particular piece cannot come out at all, and we would much rather say that at survey than at the door.

Yes, and they are their own category: a narrow shared entrance, a staircase that turns, and loading onto a high street with a short stopping window. Tell us it is above a shop and we will plan for it.

It depends entirely on the district. Thornton Heath, Norbury and the denser CR0 streets often need a suspension or mean carrying from further away. South Croydon, Shirley and Coulsdon usually have a drive. The town centre is a bay with a time limit. We establish it at survey.

In the dense districts, frequently. We apply through Croydon Council in advance where a street needs one. It cannot be arranged on the morning, which is one reason we ask for the street early.

Beds, wardrobes and tables as standard. Flat-pack that has already been moved once may not survive a second dismantling, and we will tell you when we think that rather than discovering it at the other end.

Yes, and it is normal work in Purley and Kenley. It needs saying before the survey so the job is crewed for the climb; an under-crewed van on a stepped approach is how people get hurt and how days overrun.

Fuel, gas bottles, fireworks, solvents, open paint, anything corrosive. Plants and perishables at your own risk. You get the list before the day.

Send the form with both addresses and a rough idea of what is going. We come back with the questions the form cannot ask — usually the floor, the lift and the parking — and then arrange a survey. The written quote follows the survey.

Because a phone call cannot see a fifteenth floor, a stepped approach or a garage. A number given without those is a number that changes, and changing it later is worse for you than not giving it.

For as long as the gap runs. The terms, including notice for redelivery, are in your booking contract in writing rather than implied on a web page.

Yes — town-centre office floors, units along Purley Way, and smaller studio and retail space across the borough. Commercial work is scheduled around the lease and the building, and the building survey happens before we quote.

France, Spain, Italy and Portugal as regular road routes, each with its own page. Croydon sits well for it: onto the M25 at the southern side and round to the Kent crossings without crossing London.