The housing stock is older than you are used to
Central Margate and Cliftonville are largely Georgian, Regency and Victorian, a great deal of it converted into flats and a great deal of it listed or in a conservation area. That means original sashes, original glass, lath-and-plaster walls and communal stairs with real turns in them.
A London flat in a purpose-built block and a Cliftonville flat in a converted seafront terrace are not the same removal, even at the same volume.
Measure the turn, not the doorway
Doorways are rarely the problem. The turn on a half-landing is the problem, and it is where sofas, wardrobes and mattresses actually fail.
If you are buying furniture before you move down, the turn is the measurement that matters.
You will probably have more space and less access
Most people moving down gain floor area and lose the ability to park outside. That combination produces the classic Thanet first move: a household that fits comfortably into the property and a van that has to stand a long way from the door.
It is a carrying-distance problem rather than a volume problem, and it should be priced as one.
Mind the gap between the two ends
Chains behave differently here, and a gap between leaving one property and getting into the other is common rather than a disaster. Storage across that gap is normal, and the load should be sealed once and delivered when you are ready rather than unpacked and repacked in between.
Things worth doing before the van comes down
A short, honest list:
- Photograph the London property and the Thanet property before anything moves.
- Check where a van can legally stand at the Thanet end — not the road, the actual address.
- Find out whether the property has been empty, and for how long, so nobody is surprised by the damp or the electrics.
- Decide what is genuinely coming with you. Moving something down and then getting rid of it is the most expensive way to get rid of it.