SE23 / SE26
Removals in Forest Hill and Sydenham
Hills, steep front steps and houses built on a slope.
Forest Hill and Sydenham sit on the highest ground in the borough, and the gradient is the first thing that matters about moving here.
Streets climb away from the South Circular towards the Horniman and up over the hill to Crystal Palace. The houses are built into the slope, which means front steps — sometimes a great many of them — and back gardens that drop or rise sharply.
The stock is late Victorian and Edwardian, generally larger than Catford and generally less divided than Brockley, with a good share of family houses still whole.
Gradient, front steps and tail-lift standing
A tail lift needs level ground to operate safely. On several streets here the camber and the slope mean the nearest safe standing point is not outside the house, and that changes the carry. We pick the position at the survey rather than discovering it on the morning.
Front steps are the defining feature. Many houses sit well above pavement level with a flight up to the door, and some have a second flight inside immediately after. Heavy items get planned around that, and the crew is sized for it.
The roads up towards the Horniman and over to Crystal Palace are narrow with parking on both sides. A large vehicle can often get up but cannot always turn, so the approach and the exit are both planned.
Sydenham has controlled parking around the station and along the main roads. Bay suspensions are applied for where a street needs one, with the usual lead time.
The housing here
- Hillside Victorian houses
- Raised above the pavement with a flight of front steps. The steps, not the stairs, are usually the constraint.
- Large family houses
- Often still undivided. Three floors, a loft, a cellar and a garden that has accumulated things.
- Purpose-built flats
- Around Forest Hill and Sydenham stations. Lifts in the newer blocks, none in the older ones.
- Conversions
- Fewer than Brockley but present, with shared entrances and communal stairs.
Other parts of the borough
Next step
Moving in or out of Forest Hill & Sydenham?
Send us both addresses. We will check the stairs, the steps and the street at each end and come back with a written quote.