By the Porta team · Updated 15 July 2026 · 7 min read
Every van size guide on the internet asks you to estimate your own belongings in cubic metres, which is a strange thing to ask of anyone who has never thought about their sofa in litres. Here is what genuinely fits in each van, and the bit nobody mentions: with a man and van, choosing is not actually your job.
The four sizes, side by side
Van names are not standardised, which is half the confusion. One firm's "large" is another's "LWB". What does not move is the load space, the weight limit and what realistically fits, so judge on those three and ignore the badge on the back.
UK man-and-van sizes: load space, weight limit and what fits
Van size
Load space
Payload
Boxes
What it realistically suits
Small van
3 to 4 m³
500 to 900 kg
Up to ~10
A single item, a student run, a marketplace pickup
Medium van
6 to 9 m³
900 to 1,200 kg
10 to 15
A studio, a room, a few big pieces
Long wheelbase
11 to 15 m³
1,200 to 1,500 kg
~25
A one or two-bed flat
3.5t Luton
18 to 20 m³
1,000 to 1,200 kg
35+
A two or three-bed house, often with a tail lift
01The small van: one thing, done cheaply
Think Caddy or Berlingo: 3 to 4 cubic metres, a car-sized footprint, and no drama parking it. It is the right call for a single armchair, a marketplace pickup, a bike, a few boxes to a student halls. It is not a moving van and will not pretend to be one, but for one-item jobs it is quick, cheap and easy to get down a tight street.
02The medium van: a studio, or the big stuff
Around 6 to 9 cubic metres, which is the contents of one decent room: a bed, a chest of drawers, a two-seater, and ten to fifteen boxes. This is the workhorse of single-item and small-move jobs. Where it bites is length rather than volume. A three-seater sofa, a long wardrobe or a mattress travelling with everything else will run out of floor before the van runs out of air.
03The long-wheelbase van: the flat mover
Eleven to fifteen cubic metres and the best weight allowance of the lot, which is why it quietly does most one and two-bed flat moves in this country. Furniture, appliances, around 25 boxes and the odd awkward thing all fit, and it still gets down a normal residential street without a three-point turn per house.
04The Luton: two or three bedrooms
Eighteen to twenty cubic metres, a box body over the cab, and often a tail lift on the back. This is house-move territory: 35 boxes and up, wardrobes, sofas, white goods. The tail lift is the real reason to want one, because it turns "four people and a prayer" into a powered platform. The trade-off is access. A Luton needs somewhere to park and a driver who can place it.
The bit the size guides get wrong
Nearly every van size guide is written as though you are hiring the van and driving it yourself. If that is you, size matters enormously and getting it wrong means a second trip and a ruined Saturday. But if you are booking a man with a van, the driver owns that problem. You are buying a load being moved, not a vehicle.
So the useful question is not "which van do I need", it is "have I described my load accurately". Give the items and the access, and the right van turns up. Where hourly firms make size your problem, because a van that is too small means another run on the meter, a fixed price puts that risk on the driver. Porta quotes the job, not the vehicle, so a driver who misjudges the van is not something you pay for.
Does the van size change the price?
Not directly, and this surprises people. The price follows what you are moving and how far, not which vehicle the driver picks to do it. A chest of drawers going twenty miles costs the same whether it rides in a medium van or rattles around a Luton the driver already had out. Size affects whether the job is possible in one run, which is a scheduling question, not a billing one. Real numbers by item and distance are in how much a man with a van costs.
Frequently asked questions
What size van do I need for a two-bedroom flat?
A long-wheelbase van will usually do a two-bed flat if you are sensible about it, but a 3.5t Luton is the comfortable answer, especially if there are wardrobes, a sofa and thirty-odd boxes. The deciding factor is rarely the furniture, it is how many boxes have quietly appeared since you started packing. If it is borderline, say so when you book and let the driver make the call.
Can I fit a double bed in a medium van?
A double bed frame, yes, once it is taken apart, and most flat-pack and divan frames come apart in minutes. The mattress is the awkward one: a double mattress will go in a medium van but it eats the space, so if the mattress is travelling with much else, a long-wheelbase is the safer shout.
Will a sofa fit in a medium van?
A two-seater usually will. A three-seater or a corner sofa is where mediums start to struggle, because sofas do not fold and the load space is only so long. Corner sofas often travel in sections. Measure the longest part of the sofa and mention that figure when you book, it is the single most useful number you can give.
Do Luton vans have a tail lift?
Many do, not all. A tail lift is the powered platform that lifts heavy things up to the load floor rather than someone carrying them up a ramp, and it is what makes an American fridge freezer or a piano realistic. If your item is genuinely heavy, ask for a tail lift when you book rather than assuming.
How many boxes fit in a van?
As a rough rule, ten medium boxes take up about one cubic metre. So a medium van at 6 to 9 cubic metres swallows 10 to 15 boxes alongside a few bits of furniture, a long-wheelbase handles around 25, and a Luton takes 35 or more. Boxes are also the thing people most underestimate, so count yours and add a few.
What size van do I need for one large item?
Whatever that item fits in, which is usually smaller than people expect. A single armchair, a fridge or a chest of drawers does not need a Luton. For one-item jobs the size question matters far less than the weight and the access, so give the dimensions and let the driver bring the right van.
What size van do I need for a house move?
A 3.5t Luton is the realistic floor for a whole house, and a three or four-bed usually means either two runs or a bigger vehicle and a proper crew. Once you are moving a full family home with a loft and a shed, the question quietly stops being about van size and starts being about whether a man and van is still the right tool, which is worth weighing up before you book.
