Putney to Germany
Removals from Putney to Germany
The commonest professional relocation out of SW15 and one of the most orderly countries to arrive in — provided the file is assembled in the right order, which German administration rewards and does not forgive.
Register the address, then everything else. And read what the flat does and does not include.
Who takes this route from Putney
- Work relocations to Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and the Rhine-Ruhr cities, usually on a corporate timetable.
- Academic and research moves into the university cities, frequently a flat and frequently book-heavy.
- Households leaving a Putney tenancy or leasehold flat and taking the contents rather than replacing them.
The road out of SW15
From SW15 the vehicle works round the South Circular to the M25 and over to the M20, crossing on the Eurotunnel shuttle at Folkestone. The shuttle suits a loaded vehicle: short crossing, vehicle sealed, driver stays with it and keeps the hours for the long German leg.
From Calais the A16 and E40 run north-east through Belgium, then the E40 and E314 for Aachen and the German border. The A4 and A3 carry the load past Cologne and Frankfurt, the A3 and A9 head south-east for Nuremberg and Munich, and the A2 runs east for Hanover and Berlin.
Where we deliver
Customs, and the order to do it in
Germany grants relief on household effects for somebody transferring their residence, and asks you to evidence both halves of that: that the old residence ended and the new one began. The registration system makes the second half easy once done and awkward until it is.
Who obtains what
| Document | Obtained by | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Detailed inventory (valued, in German) | Us | Prepared at the Putney survey and translated as standard, with electrical items listed individually. |
| Anmeldung (registration certificate) | You | Registration of your German address at the local Bürgeramt. The document the rest of the file leans on. |
| Proof the UK residence has ended | You | Your ending tenancy agreement, a completion statement, or a final council tax bill. |
| Employment contract or proof of purpose | You | Commonly requested where the move is work-driven, and it makes the relief claim straightforward. |
| Passport and status documents | You | Copies for the file, with whatever evidences your right to reside. |
| Export declaration and German import entry | Us | Both raised against the same inventory, with our agent lodging the German side. |
Rows marked You are attached to you as a person and are what hold a load up when they are started late. Rows marked Us are built here from the inventory taken at your Putney property.
End the SW15 agreement properly first
The German end of this move is well documented. The Putney end is where people come unstuck, because a rental agreement does not care that the next address is abroad: the notice your tenancy specifies still applies, the check-out inventory still happens, and a joint tenancy still binds everybody who signed it.
So the sequence that works is to settle the SW15 paperwork first, then collect, then ship. Where those do not line up — and on an international move they frequently do not — goods are collected on the British date and held until the German end exists.
On what to take: German rental flats are often let without a fitted kitchen and sometimes without light fittings. That changes the arithmetic. Things a British tenant would leave behind without thinking can be worth their space here, and it is worth checking the listing wording before deciding anything.
Putney to Germany
Questions on this route
- 01
Do we need the Anmeldung before the goods arrive?
It makes everything simpler and it is frequently asked for. Where the timing will not allow it, goods can be collected in Putney and held while the registration goes through.
- 02
Are German flats really let without kitchens?
Often, particularly in the private rental market. Check the listing wording before deciding what to leave behind in SW15 — replacing a kitchen at the far end is an expensive surprise.
- 03
We are on a joint tenancy in Putney. Does that complicate things?
It complicates the UK end rather than the German one. The agreement continues until it ends or is varied, whatever happens to your furniture. Sort that first.
- 04
What about the Altbau stairwells?
Handsome and narrow. An exterior lift through a window is normal practice in German cities and it has to be arranged in advance rather than discovered on the day.
- 05
Are UK appliances worth taking?
Germany runs the continental plug and voltage standard, so adaptors are needed and large white goods rarely repay the space — unless the flat has none, which is a real possibility.
- 06
Dedicated vehicle or a shared load?
Germany is a well-served corridor, so shared loads run regularly and cost less. Where a start date cannot move, pay for a dedicated vehicle and keep the control.
Moving from Putney to Germany?
Both addresses, the agreement at the Putney end, and whether the far end is confirmed. We will come back with the route, the documents and a written quote.