Shipping Container to the United Kingdom | Moving to the United Kingdom
Moving Your World, international shipping services.
Shipping to the United Kingdom from Australia
When shipping a 20FT or 40FT container (FCL) to the United Kingdom you are paying a fixed sea-freight rate (subject to USD/AUD exchange rate/s) and may fill up as little or as much of the sole-purpose container as you wish.
With this type of service, the container space is not shared with other cargoes and your goods are not handled from one container to another at several points during transit such as is the case with shared container services (LCL), rather, the goods stay in the same container they were packed at origin, until delivery at the final destination.
What size shipping container do I need for moving my personal effects to the United Kingdom?
- 20FT shipping containers have inner dimensions as follows and a capacity of 33m3//1,158cubic feet:
- 5.90m x 2.35m x 2.38m // 19.35 ft x 7.71 ft x 7.80 ft
- 20FT containers are usually sufficient for an entire 2-3 bedroom house contents
- 40FT shipping containers have inner dimensions as follows and have a capacity of 67m3//2,372cubic feet:
- 12.01m x 2.35m x 2.38m // 39.39 ft x 7.71 ft x 7.80 ft
- 40FT containers are usually sufficient for an entire 2-3 bedroom house contents and a motor vehicle, or, an entire 4-5 bedroom house contents.
- 40FT (High Cube) shipping containers have inner dimensions as follows and have a capacity of 76m3//2,679cubic feet:
- 12.01m x 2.35m x 2.69m // 39.39 ft x 7.71 ft x 8.82 ft
- 40HC containers are 30cm//1foot higher than a standard 40FT container and are designed for when that little bit of extra space is needed for excess cargoes.
What if I wish to ship only a smaller volume of goods to the United Kingdom?
If you wish to send only boxes and/or minimal amounts of furniture, our shared container services (LCL) may be the best option for you.
The minimal charge in our shared container services is 1m3//cubic metre, equivalent to approximately 10 standard moving cartons (tea-chest size), these cartons are 43cm x 41cm x 60cm each. See our LCL page here for more information about this type of shipping service.
Are you planning on Moving to the United Kingdom?
We provide self pack options or professional packing services (should you require them) to move your household goods and/or motor vehicle/s in 20FT and 40FT shipping container/s from your door in Australia to your door in the United Kingdom.
If you have owned and used the goods for more than 6 months, and are planning to move to the United Kingdom after being outside of the country for more than 12 months, you may be eligible to import your goods tax/duty free in reasonable quantities and not for re-sale.
The items may be imported up to 6 months in advance of the transfer of residence and no later than 12 months after the client’s arrival.
As of 1st of April 2017, all personal effect importers will need to obtain a Unique Reference number (URN) prior to sailing from the following HM Customs link, once obtained the URN must be listed on the bill of lading at the time of sailing.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-transfer-of-residence-tor-relief-tor01
It is advised that when completing the application, this should be saved as a PDF form and emailed to nch@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk (the applicant should also include their email address for further communication to speed up the process).
Failure to complete this application will result in the consignee being responsible for paying full customs duties and taxes on their cargo, if the consignee is unwilling to complete this application, or is unwilling to pay duties / taxes, this will result in their cargo being seized and destroyed without notice.
The same application will need to be made for any persons transferring their private motor vehicle to the UK.
Required documents for duty free import:
- Copy of the importers passport photo page
- Bill of Lading (provided once cargo is shipped)
- Comprehensive valued inventory list in English, signed and dated.
- URN obtained from HMRC (see above)
- Proofs of living outside of the United Kingdom for a period of at least 12 months, property lease//purchase, utility bills, tax filings etc
Required documents for vehicle importation: Proof of purchase showing make/model/VIN, Certificate of title, Purchase Invoice, Current/Previous registration, Insurance Policy.
Vehicle/s may be considered as part of the household goods relocation and exempt of taxes/duties if used over 6 months and importer will not dispose of the vehicle within 12 months.
Importer should check all the details with an import agent prior to arranging shipping of their motor vehicle.
The motor vehicle needs to be listed on the container manifest and the shipping documents showing the motor vehicle make/model/year/VIN.
If you are considering moving to the United Kingdom speak to one of our friendly professionals to assist you with all your shipping related questions, call us on +6129575-7614.
