Removals in Wigan
A borough of long terraced streets and large new estates, with very little in between. Both move well when they are planned for, and they need planning for in opposite ways.
- Fixed written quote
- Every WN postcode covered
- Storage if your dates do not meet
Two kinds of housing, two kinds of move
In short: send us both addresses, a description of the property, your date and anything you already know will be awkward. A fixed written price follows, usually the same working day.
Wigan has an unusually clear split in its housing, and it shapes almost every move we do here. On one side there are the terraced streets built for a mining and mill town, laid out in long uniform rows with no off-street parking and staircases that turn. On the other there is a great deal of newer estate housing, particularly around Standish and Shevington, with driveways, wide doors and straight stairs.
The two produce opposite problems. In the terraces the house is small and the access is difficult, so the day is shaped by carrying and dismantling. On the estates the access is easy and the house is large, so the day is shaped by volume, and specifically by garages and lofts that have been quietly filling since the estate was built.
Neither is harder than the other. They simply need different planning, which is why the first thing we ask is the street rather than the town.
What to expect where you live
Six parts of the borough, and the difference between them is mostly outside the front door.
Wigan town centre and Whelley
Terraced streets close to the centre with no off-street parking and controlled parking on the approach roads. Solid houses, and the carry from the vehicle to the door is a genuine part of the day.
Standish and Shevington
The largest concentration of newer housing in the borough, with a great deal built in the last fifteen years. Wide roads, driveways and easy access. What catches people out is the garage, which on these estates is frequently too narrow to be useful and therefore full.
Orrell and Winstanley
Established semis and detached housing with gardens, close to junction 26 of the M6. Comfortable moves in the main, with volume rather than access as the variable.
Pemberton, Norley and Worsley Mesnes
Former mining housing, mostly terraced and semi-detached, laid out in long uniform streets. Predictable inside, and parking on the street is the usual constraint.
Hindley, Ince and Platt Bridge
Terraced and post-war housing on flat ground east of the town. Access is generally straightforward and the yard or the garden is the thing most often left off the list.
Aspull and Haigh
The high ground north of the town, with older stone property, narrow lanes and steeper approaches. Beautiful, and the part of the borough we most often want to see before quoting.
Streets, estates and the ground between
Access decides more about a Wigan move than the amount of furniture does, and it does so in two completely different ways depending on which half of the borough you are in.
None of it is a problem when it is known beforehand. All of it is a problem when the vehicle arrives and finds out.
- The terraced streets around Whelley, Ince and Pemberton were laid out for a town where nobody owned a car, so the street is usually full before we arrive
- The borough is largely flat in the east and rises noticeably towards Aspull, Haigh and Standish, which changes the approach rather than the job
- Mining-era terraces have narrow turning staircases and doorways, so more furniture comes apart here than in the newer estates
- New estates around Standish have narrow roads, limited visitor parking and driveways that a large vehicle can block entirely
- The A49 and the roads around the M6 junctions are slow at commuter times, so an early start is worth more than it sounds
- Lanes around Haigh and Aspull have limited turning space and hedgerows on both sides
Tell us about your Wigan move
The more you tell us about the property and the street, the closer the written price will be to your final bill. Nothing is booked until you say yes.
The three weeks before
Four steps, spread over three weeks, and between them they do more for how the day goes than anything that happens on the day itself.
- Three weeks out, sort the storage spaces
Loft, garage, shed and yard. Decide what is coming, get it down and reachable, and deal with the rest. This single job prevents more problems than anything else on the list.
- Two weeks out, order the boxes and start
Pack the rooms you do not use daily. The spare room, the books, anything decorative. Leave the kitchen and bathrooms completely alone for now.
- One week out, confirm the practicalities
Utilities at both ends, the school if there is one, the vet, any standing deliveries, and who is having the children and pets on the day.
- The night before, finish the kitchen
It is the slowest room in the house and the one still being emptied when a crew arrives. Finish it, and put the kettle in the box that travels in your car.
Moving out of a terraced street
The terraced streets in Whelley, Ince, Pemberton and Platt Bridge are the most common kind of move we do in this borough, and they follow a recognisable pattern.
The first thing that matters is where the vehicle stands. These streets were built when nobody owned a car and they are now streets where most households own two, so by eight in the morning the kerb is usually full. We plan for a carry rather than assume a space, and if there is a realistic spot you know of, telling us saves real time.
The second is the staircase. Almost all of these houses have a straight flight with a turn at the top, and it is the turn that decides everything. A double bed will not come down it assembled. A wardrobe usually will not either. That is entirely normal and it is why dismantling is part of the job rather than an extra, but it does mean the day has more work in it than the size of the house suggests.
The third is the back. Many of these streets have a rear entry or alley, and people often assume it will be useful. Occasionally it is. Frequently it is too narrow, gated, or full of bins on the wrong day. Have a look at it before you assume it is a route.
None of this makes a terraced move difficult. It makes it a job with a shape, and once we know the street we usually know the shape already.
What we can move
The contents of the property, including the parts people assume they will have to arrange separately.
- Furniture taken apart and rebuilt, including beds, wardrobes and flat-pack
- Appliances disconnected and reconnected, integrated units included
- Lofts, garages, outhouses and anything in the yard
- Gardens, sheds, greenhouses and garden machinery
- Pianos, safes, gym equipment and anything genuinely heavy
- Storage for the gap between two dates, or a part load
What moves the price
Five things, and the first two account for most of the variation across this borough.
A three-bedroom new build in Standish with a garage and a boarded loft holds far more than a three-bedroom terrace in Ince with a yard. We count spaces that hold things.
The widest variable in this borough. A Standish driveway barely registers. A terraced street in Whelley where the nearest space is forty metres away is a meaningful part of the day.
In the older terraces the staircases turn and the doorways are narrow, so beds and wardrobes almost always come apart. That is time spent at both ends.
Within the borough a second load is possible if it is genuinely needed. Beyond the North West everything has to fit in one run and the day works backwards from a departure time.
Fridays, month ends and school holidays fill first. A midweek date in term time is cheaper and considerably calmer.
Moving into the borough, and out of it
A good share of the moves we do here cross the borough boundary rather than staying inside it, and Wigan sits in an unusual position for that. It is close to the M6 and the M58, roughly equidistant between Manchester, Liverpool and Preston, and considerably cheaper per square foot than any of them.
That produces two recognisable patterns. People move into the borough for space, usually from Manchester or the towns immediately around it, and the volume roughly doubles when they get here. A two-bedroom flat becomes a three-bedroom house with a garage, and there is suddenly somewhere to put things that had been in storage or at a relative for years. It is worth being generous rather than optimistic when you estimate.
The other pattern is people moving out towards Liverpool, Preston or further, where the motorway network makes the journey straightforward but the planning changes. Once you are travelling any real distance the vehicle cannot return for a second load, so everything has to fit in one run and the day works backwards from a departure time rather than forwards from a start.
If the two ends do not complete on the same day, which on longer moves is common, storage covers the gap. It is a normal arrangement rather than a sign something has gone wrong, and it is far cheaper than trying to force two completions to align.
Moving onto a new estate
Standish and Shevington have absorbed a very large amount of new housing over the past fifteen years, and moving onto one of those estates has its own quirks. They are all minor and they all cost time if nobody has thought about them.
Estate roads are narrower than they look and frequently have no formal visitor parking. A removal vehicle parked outside your house may block a neighbour driveway, and on a new estate where everyone is still working out how the road functions, that goes down badly. An early start avoids most of it, because at eight in the morning there is room and by ten there is not.
The garages are the thing that most surprises people. On a good many modern estates the garage is narrow enough that a normal family car cannot comfortably use it, which means it becomes storage almost immediately. If you are moving out of one, it will hold more than you think. If you are moving into one, do not plan for it to take the things that will not fit in the house.
Finally, if the estate is still being built, check the route in. Construction traffic, temporary road layouts and unadopted surfaces are all normal and all worth knowing about the day before rather than while a lorry is trying to turn round.
Where we cover across the borough
Every WN postcode and the areas immediately around them.
- Wigan town centre & WhelleyWN1
- Hindley & Platt BridgeWN2
- Ince & AspullWN2
- Worsley MesnesWN3
- Ashton-in-MakerfieldWN4
- Bryn & Stubshaw CrossWN4
- Orrell & WinstanleyWN5
- Pemberton & NorleyWN5
- StandishWN6
- Shevington & Appley BridgeWN6
- Haigh & Blackrod edgeWN2 / BL6
- Abram & BickershawWN2
Other ways we can help
House removals in Wigan
Family homes specifically, and the day itself.
Office removals in Wigan
Commercial moves across Martland Park, Westwood and the town centre.
Storage
For the gap between two dates, or while decisions get made.
Packing services
The whole house, or just the kitchen and the breakables.
Questions people ask about moving in Wigan
How much does a removal in Wigan cost?
We price each job rather than quoting a rate. The two things that move the figure most are how much you have and where the vehicle can stand, and in this borough those vary enormously between a new build in Standish and a terrace in Whelley. Send both addresses and a description and a written price follows, usually the same working day.
My street is terraced with no parking. Is that a problem?
It is normal here and it is planned for rather than discovered. Tell us the street when you enquire and the carrying distance goes into the quote, so the figure does not change on the morning. Where a street is genuinely impassable we use a smaller vehicle and shuttle.
We are moving into a new build in Standish. Anything to know?
Two things. The roads on newer estates are narrow and visitor parking is limited, so an early start helps considerably. And the garages on many of these houses are too narrow to be genuinely useful, which is worth knowing before you plan where things will live.
Do I need to empty the loft and garage first?
No, but tell us they are coming. On the newer estates the garage is often the largest single store in the house, and on the older terraces the loft usually is. Both are the common reason a quote turns out to be wrong.
Will you take beds and wardrobes apart?
Yes. In the mining-era terraces it is unavoidable rather than optional, because the staircases turn and the doorways are narrow. Everything is rebuilt at the new address.
Can you move me if the completion date is not confirmed?
Yes, and it happens most weeks. We hold a provisional date and confirm it as the chain settles. Where the two ends will not meet, storage bridges the gap.
Do you cover Standish, Ashton-in-Makerfield and Hindley?
Yes, and the rest of the borough including Orrell, Shevington, Pemberton, Ince, Aspull, Platt Bridge, Bryn and Abram.
What is the busiest time of year?
Month ends throughout the year and the school summer holidays above all. If your date falls in either, book earlier than feels necessary.
Get your written quote
Both addresses, the property, your date and anything you already know is awkward. A fixed written price follows.