Removals to Melbourne from the UK

Williams & Yates arrange removals to Melbourne from the UK for families, senior executives and the people who manage their moves for them. One dedicated coordinator takes responsibility for your belongings from packing at your UK home to placement in your new one, whether that is a Victorian terrace in the inner east or an apartment above Southbank.

This page covers the Melbourne end of the move. For the national picture, see our guide to international removals to Australia.

Williams & Yates manage every stage of a UK to Melbourne move through a single move coordinator: the home survey, packing and crating, sea or air freight, Australian customs and biosecurity processing, delivery, placement and unpacking. Your coordinator is accountable to you, or to your PA or household manager, from first call to final room.

After a survey, in person or by video, we pack and crate at your UK address, complete the inventory on your behalf and prepare the export paperwork. When your consignment lands, your coordinator manages customs and biosecurity clearance and books the delivery around the access your Melbourne address allows.

Your goods change hands several times on this route, between a UK collection address, a port, Australian inspection and a Melbourne delivery address. Pairing a UK mover with a separate Melbourne removalist leaves a gap in the middle where responsibility is unclear.

Many of the moves we manage are run day to day by a PA or household manager, and your coordinator works directly with them. If you would like someone on the ground in Melbourne to oversee the delivery crews and the unpack, your coordinator can talk you through the options.

If you are leaving a main residence and a country house, both collections can be consolidated into a single move. We hold FIDI FAIM accreditation, the international removals industry’s highest standard, and are members of the British Association of Removers and the International Association of Movers.

Whoever you speak to, a door-to-door quote for a move to Melbourne should itemise each stage, so nothing surfaces as an extra once your goods have landed. Look for:

• Collection and packing at your UK address, including any bespoke crating
• Export documentation
• Sea or air freight to Melbourne
• Transit insurance
• Australian customs and biosecurity processing
• Port and destination charges
• Delivery to your Melbourne address, including any access arrangements
• Unpacking and removal of packing materials

To begin planning, arrange a tailored home survey.

Williams & Yates can deliver into Melbourne apartments, from towers in the CBD, Southbank and Docklands to low-rise blocks in South Yarra and along St Kilda Road. Move-in rules are usually set building by building, so your coordinator checks them early and plans the delivery around the window the building allows.

In Victoria, apartment buildings are run by an owners corporation, which manages common property such as lifts and lobbies. Consumer Affairs Victoria’s guide to owners corporations explains how they work. Building managers often ask for a booked lift window, a reserved slot at the loading dock and proof of the removal company’s insurance.

Houses, Terraces and Tram-Lined Streets

Melbourne’s inner suburbs have many Victorian terraces and Edwardian villas, with narrow frontages, tight internal stairs and, on many streets, rear access via a laneway. Your coordinator plans the crew, the vehicle and the order of unloading around those details. Many of these homes also sit within heritage overlays.

Tram tracks, overhead wires and stops on many of Melbourne’s main roads limit where a large vehicle can stand and for how long, so the stopping position for delivery day is worked out in advance.

On busy or restricted streets, a removal vehicle often needs council approval to stand outside the property, and the arrangements vary by council. The City of Melbourne offers short-term reserved parking for removals. The City of Stonnington, which covers Toorak and South Yarra east of Punt Road, issues a Permit to Use a Heavy / Long Vehicle in or on a Public Place or Restricted Road where signs would otherwise prohibit them, and Bayside City Council issues the same permit for Brighton. Your coordinator books the council permits and parking arrangements needed for delivery day.

Melbourne summers can also bring very hot days, so where your consignment includes heat-sensitive furniture, instruments or artworks, we plan the delivery schedule and handling around the weather.

Williams & Yates coordinate pet relocation alongside the household move. Dogs and cats arriving in Australia complete post-entry quarantine at the Mickleham quarantine facility near Melbourne, and our page on removals to Australia covers the national pet import rules.

We plan storage at the survey. In the UK, that can be our secure storage in London or Dunstable, and if your Melbourne home is not ready when your consignment arrives, we have storage at your destination too.

You choose how much we unpack. A debris clear unpack places everything on flat, clear surfaces for you to put away yourself. A full white-glove unpack goes further, with boxes emptied, cupboards wiped, items put away and beds dressed, so the family can settle in and sleep there that night. If you are bringing a car, our Australia page explains the vehicle import process.