Picking the right van size sounds straightforward, but it’s one of the most frequent sources of problems on moving day. Choose too small and you’re looking at multiple trips, extra costs, and a move that drags on far longer than planned. Choose too large and you’ve paid for capacity you didn’t need.
This guide covers the most common mistakes people make when estimating van size, and how to avoid them.
Forgetting About Storage Spaces
The belongings in your main living areas are easy to account for. What catches people out is everything else: the loft full of Christmas decorations and old photo albums, the garage with tools and garden furniture, the shed with bikes and outdoor equipment, and the cupboard under the stairs that hasn’t been opened in two years.
These hidden storage spaces can easily add 20 to 30 boxes worth of items to your move. A flat that looked like a comfortable fit for a Medium van (6 cubic metres) suddenly needs a Large van (10 cubic metres) once the loft contents are included.
Before estimating your van size, walk through every storage space in your property and make a note of what’s there. If you haven’t looked in a cupboard for months, open it now rather than on moving day.
Underestimating Total Volume
Most people significantly underestimate how much they own. Studies of household moves consistently find that people guess their belongings will require 30 to 50 percent less space than actually needed. This isn’t carelessness—it’s simply difficult to mentally aggregate items spread across multiple rooms into a single volume.
A useful exercise is to imagine everything you own piled into one room. Would it fill your living room? Overflow into the hallway? That mental picture gives a more realistic sense of total volume than trying to add up individual items.
For context, TVMC’s van sizes are: Medium (6 cubic metres), Large (10 cubic metres), and Extra-Large (18 cubic metres). The jump from Medium to Large provides nearly double the space, and Extra-Large offers three times the capacity of a Medium van.
Not Measuring Large Furniture
A sofa that fits through your front door might not fit through the van’s rear doors. A wardrobe that seemed normal-sized turns out to be taller than the internal height of a panel van. These discoveries on moving day cause delays and frustration.
Before booking, measure your largest items and compare them against van dimensions. TVMC’s Medium van has an internal height of 1.4 metres. The Large van offers 1.8 metres of height. The Extra-Large Luton provides 2.2 metres of height, which accommodates most standard wardrobes and tall furniture.
Pay particular attention to items that cannot be dismantled: pianos, fridge-freezers, large display cabinets, and solid wood furniture. If these items are close to the van’s maximum dimensions, you’ll want some margin for manoeuvring them into place.
Relying on Bedroom Count Alone
General guidelines suggest that a one-bedroom flat needs a Medium or Large van, while a two-bedroom house typically requires a Large or Extra-Large van. These rules of thumb have some value, but they can be misleading.
A minimalist one-bedroom flat might fit comfortably in a Medium van with room to spare. A heavily furnished one-bedroom flat stuffed with books, hobby equipment, and a home office could push into Large van territory. Similarly, a three-bedroom house where two rooms are barely used will require less space than a fully furnished two-bedroom property.
Bedroom count gives you a starting point, but the actual volume of furniture and possessions matters far more. A cluttered studio can need more space than a sparse two-bed flat.
Ignoring the Shape of Items
Van capacity is measured in cubic metres, but your belongings aren’t cubes. Chairs have legs that stick out awkwardly. Mattresses lie flat but are too wide to stand upright in smaller vans. Exercise bikes and garden furniture have irregular shapes that waste surrounding space.
In practice, you can typically use about 70 to 80 percent of a van’s theoretical capacity. The rest is lost to gaps, awkward shapes, and the need to access items during unloading. When calculating whether your belongings will fit, reduce the stated van capacity by roughly a quarter to account for this.
A Medium van with 6 cubic metres of space effectively holds around 4.5 cubic metres of belongings. A Large van at 10 cubic metres provides usable space of about 7.5 cubic metres. An Extra-Large Luton at 18 cubic metres offers approximately 13 to 14 cubic metres of practical loading capacity.
Assuming Everything Can Be Dismantled
Flat-pack furniture can often be broken down into manageable pieces. But not everything comes apart easily, and some items shouldn’t be dismantled at all.
Beds with integrated storage are usually designed for one-time assembly. Many modern sofas don’t have removable legs. Older furniture was built as single units without the intention of ever being taken apart. And even when dismantling is possible, the time required adds significantly to your move.
Before assuming you can reduce the size of large items, check whether they actually dismantle. If they don’t, you’ll need to account for their full dimensions when choosing van size.
Forgetting About Packing Materials
Your belongings need protection during transit. Boxes, blankets, bubble wrap, and padding all take up space. Fragile items need extra room around them. Valuable furniture requires blanket wrapping that adds to its effective size.
A neatly stacked pile of your possessions will occupy more space once properly packed and protected for transport. Allow for this additional volume when estimating your needs.
Making Last-Minute Estimates
Estimating your move while surrounded by unpacked belongings is far less accurate than doing so methodically in advance. Under pressure on the day before your move, it’s easy to forget entire categories of items or misjudge how much you really have.
A room-by-room inventory completed a week before moving gives a far more accurate picture. Walk through each space, count major items of furniture, estimate the number of boxes each room will generate, and record everything. This systematic approach catches the items that memory alone would miss.
Over-Ordering to “Be Safe”
While underestimating is more common, some people go too far in the other direction. Booking an Extra-Large Luton for a studio flat, just to be certain everything fits, means paying a premium for capacity you’ll never use.
The difference in hourly rates between van sizes is meaningful. If you’re confident a Large van will handle your move with room to spare, there’s no need to upgrade to Extra-Large for peace of mind. Accurate estimation saves money in both directions.
How to Get It Right
The most reliable way to choose the correct van size is to combine multiple approaches. Start with the bedroom count guideline as a baseline. Then complete a room-by-room inventory, paying special attention to storage spaces. Measure your largest items. Apply a 20 to 30 percent reduction to account for wasted space from irregular shapes. And if still uncertain, discuss your inventory when booking—experienced operators can often identify whether your estimate is realistic.
Getting this decision right at the start avoids the stress and cost of discovering you’ve chosen wrong when the van arrives.
If you’d like help estimating the right van size for your move, you can get an instant quote and compare options based on your specific requirements.
