What size van do I need?
Nobody estimates their belongings in cubic feet. Here is the honest answer in rooms, with the one mistake that costs more than the van size difference ever saves.
For a studio or single room, a small van is enough. For a one or two bedroom flat, choose a medium van. For a three bedroom house or an office move, you need a Luton with a tail lift. If you are between two sizes, take the larger one: a second trip costs far more than the hourly difference.
Van sizing is the single most common thing people get wrong when booking a move, and it is almost always wrong in the same direction. Faced with a small van at £35 an hour and a medium at £45, the instinct is to take the cheaper one and pack carefully. Then it does not all fit, the crew has to do a second run, and the ten pound hourly saving turns into two extra hours of driving.
The reason it happens is that capacity is normally advertised in cubic feet, which is a measurement nobody can apply to their own possessions. Very few people can look at a living room and estimate 250 cubic feet. So the practical way to size a van is by rooms and by the largest single item, not by volume.
The largest item matters more than the total. A three seat sofa, a double or king mattress, an American style fridge freezer or a wardrobe that will not dismantle each set a floor on the van you need regardless of how little else you own. If one item will not go in, the van is too small even if everything else would have fitted twice over.
The second factor is whether the load can be stacked. Boxes stack; furniture largely does not. A studio flat of neatly packed boxes uses space efficiently. The same volume as loose furniture, mattresses and bicycles needs considerably more van, because the gaps cannot be filled.
Access changes the answer too, in the opposite direction. A Luton cannot enter most multi-storey car parks, which are typically barriered around 2.0 to 2.1 metres. If either end of your move is inside a height-restricted car park, a medium van doing two runs may genuinely be the only workable option, and that is a case where undersizing is correct.
There is also a difference between how much a van holds and how much it can legally carry. Payload is a weight limit set on the vehicle plate, and a van packed with books, tools, tiles or gym equipment can reach it while the load space still looks half empty. This almost never affects a normal domestic move, but it does affect garage clearances, home offices and anyone shifting a workshop, and it is worth mentioning at booking if your load is unusually dense.
Van sizes by what actually fits
Capacities are approximate and vary by make. The room guidance assumes normal contents rather than an unusually full or sparse property.
| Van | Roughly fits | Best for | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small van | Up to 250 cubic ft | Studio flat, one room, a few large items, a single-item delivery | From £35/hr |
| Medium van | Up to 450 cubic ft | One or two bedroom flat. The most commonly booked size | From £45/hr |
| Luton with tail lift | Up to 700 cubic ft | Three bedroom house, office moves, white goods and safes | From £60/hr |
| Luton plus second trip | 1,400 cubic ft over two runs | Four bedroom house, or a three bed with a garage and loft | From £60/hr |
| Extra helper | Adds no space | Upper floors, no lift, long carry from door to van | From £12/hr |
Step by step
Count the bedrooms, then check the biggest item
Bedrooms give you the starting size. Then look for the largest single thing you own: a three seat sofa, an American fridge freezer, a wardrobe that will not come apart. If that item will not fit, size up regardless of the room count.
Decide how much is boxed
Boxes stack tightly and use space well. Loose furniture, mattresses and bikes leave gaps that cannot be filled. A mostly boxed move fits a smaller van than the same volume of loose items.
Check access at both ends
Height barriers on multi-storey and covered car parks typically sit around 2.0 to 2.1 metres, which excludes a Luton. Narrow lanes, low bridges and permit-only streets all constrain what can physically reach the door.
Count floors and lifts, not just rooms
Van size does not change with floor level, but time does. A third-floor flat with no lift can double the hours. That is what the extra helper is for, and it usually costs less than the additional hours one person would take.
If you are between sizes, go bigger
The gap between a medium and a Luton is £15 an hour. A second trip on a five mile move is easily ninety minutes including loading and reloading. The larger van is nearly always the cheaper answer.
Why undersizing costs more than it saves
The economics are straightforward once you look at them. A medium van at £45 an hour versus a Luton at £60 saves £15 for every hour of the job. A typical three bedroom move runs four to six hours, so the saving is somewhere between £60 and £90. A second trip on a local move adds loading, driving both ways and unloading, which is rarely less than ninety minutes and often two hours. At the medium rate that is £68 to £90 of extra time, wiping out the saving entirely, and that is before the risk that the second run pushes the job past a tenancy handover deadline. The bigger van is not a luxury purchase; on any move where it is genuinely borderline, it is the cheaper option.
What a tail lift actually changes
A tail lift is a powered platform at the back of a Luton that raises heavy items from ground level into the van. It matters for anything that cannot safely be carried up a ramp: washing machines, American style fridge freezers, safes, large glass items, upright pianos and heavy filing cabinets. Without one, those items either need more people or cannot be moved at all. Every Luton in the TowManVan network carries a tail lift as standard, which is why the Luton is the default for whole-house and office moves rather than simply the biggest option.
When a smaller van is the right answer
There are genuine cases for going smaller. Height-restricted car parks are the main one: if either end of the move sits inside a covered deck barriered at around 2 metres, a Luton physically cannot get in and a medium van doing two runs is the workable plan. Narrow rural lanes, gated developments with tight turning circles and some city centre service yards create the same constraint. Tell whoever you book with about the access before the day, because a Luton that cannot reach the door is worse than a medium van that can.
How the two-hour minimum affects your choice
Almost every man and van service applies a two-hour minimum, because travel to the job and back is unpaid time that has to be covered somewhere. That means a very small job does not get proportionally cheaper by choosing a smaller van; you pay two hours either way. If your move is short, the size decision should be made purely on whether everything fits in one load, since the price floor is the same regardless.
Sizing for a single item rather than a whole move
Not every booking is a house move. Single-item jobs, a sofa bought secondhand, a fridge freezer, a wardrobe from a marketplace listing, are common and they size differently. Here the only question is whether the item physically fits and whether it can be carried by the crew you have booked. A three seat sofa will go in a medium van but rarely in a small one. A tall American fridge freezer usually needs a Luton, not for volume but because it has to travel upright and needs the height. For anything heavy and awkward the tail lift matters more than the cubic feet, so the Luton is often the right call for a single item that a smaller van could technically swallow.
What to know before you book
A studio is not always a small van
Studio flats vary enormously. One with a sofa bed, a wardrobe and twenty boxes is a medium van job despite being a single room. Count the furniture rather than the rooms when the property is small.
Lofts and garages are the hidden volume
People size the van on the rooms they live in and forget the loft, the garage and the shed. Those three routinely add fifty percent to a move and are the most common reason a correctly sized van turns out to be too small.
Dismantling buys you space
Beds, wardrobes and flat-pack take far less room disassembled, and some will not clear a doorway assembled at all. Dismantling is charged per item, and on a borderline move it can be cheaper than the next van size up.
Mattresses are awkward, not heavy
A king mattress is light but rigid and takes a surprising amount of floor space. Two mattresses will often decide the van size on their own, particularly in a medium where they cannot be stood on edge.
Plants, mirrors and TVs need space around them
Fragile and awkward items cannot be packed against. Allow for them separately rather than counting them into the general volume, because they effectively reserve more room than their size suggests.
The first 15 miles are included
Mileage inside 15 miles carries no extra charge, so for most local moves distance is not part of the sizing decision. Beyond that a longer run makes a single-load Luton even more clearly the right answer.
Measure the doorway, not just the item
The commonest single-item failure is not the van, it is the doorway or the staircase turn at one end. Measuring the narrowest point on the route matters more than measuring the sofa.
The parts people get wrong
Cubic feet figures are approximate
Manufacturers measure load space differently and real usable capacity depends on wheel arch intrusion and load height. Treat published cubic footage as a rough guide rather than a precise number to plan against.
A bigger van is not always faster
If access is tight, a Luton may have to park further away, which lengthens the carry and can cost more time than it saves. Access sometimes outranks capacity, which is why it is worth describing both ends honestly when booking.
Weight and volume are different limits
A van full of books or tools can hit its payload limit long before the space runs out. If your move is unusually dense, say so, because an overloaded van is both illegal and unsafe regardless of whether it looks full.
Sizing guidance is not a quote
These figures are guidance to help you choose. The actual price depends on hours, crew, access and any extras like packing or dismantling, all of which are shown before you confirm a booking.
Common questions
What size van do I need for a 2 bedroom flat?
A medium van, up to about 450 cubic feet, handles most one and two bedroom flats in a single load. If you have a large sofa, an American style fridge freezer or a lot of loft and garage contents, step up to a Luton, because a second trip costs more than the hourly difference.
What size van for a 3 bedroom house?
A Luton with a tail lift, up to about 700 cubic feet. A medium van will not do a three bedroom house in one load, and two runs on a medium usually costs more in time than the Luton costs in hourly rate.
Is a Luton van worth the extra cost?
On any move where it is genuinely borderline, yes. The rate difference is about £15 an hour. A second trip on a local move is typically ninety minutes to two hours including loading and reloading, which costs more than the upgrade. The exception is height-restricted access, where a Luton cannot physically reach the door.
How many boxes fit in a medium van?
Roughly 60 to 80 standard removal boxes, though the real answer depends on what else is going in. Boxes stack efficiently; furniture does not. A van holding a sofa, a mattress and a wardrobe will take far fewer boxes than one carrying boxes alone.
Will a Luton van fit in a multi-storey car park?
Almost never. Covered and multi-storey car parks are typically barriered at around 2.0 to 2.1 metres and a Luton is taller than that. If either end of your move is inside a height-restricted car park, plan on a medium van, a surface bay, or a shuttle from a nearby loading point.
Should I book an extra helper instead of a bigger van?
They solve different problems. A bigger van solves capacity; a helper solves time. If everything fits but the property is on the third floor with no lift, a helper at £12 an hour is the better spend. If it does not all fit, no amount of help avoids a second trip.
What if I book the wrong size?
The crew will tell you on arrival if it will not go in one load. Where a larger van happens to be free nearby it can sometimes be swapped, but not reliably, which is why over-sizing slightly is the safer call. A Luton that finishes in one trip beats a medium that needs two.
Does the van size change the minimum booking?
No. The two-hour minimum applies to every van size, because travel and setup time has to be covered regardless. That means for very short jobs the size choice should come down purely to whether everything fits in one load.
Book it in the app
Pick the van, pick the slot, see the hourly rate and the two-hour minimum before you book. No quote board and no waiting overnight for bids.
Mel Carrington - Head of Removals Operations
Mel ran national removal fleets at Pickfords for 15 years before joining TowManVan. She reviews van sizing, pricing and crew guidance on this page. Questions? Email mel@towmanvan.co.uk.
Last updated 19 August 2026. Figures are guidance, not a quote. Check current requirements with the relevant authority before acting on them.