London is the region where the container itself is the easy part and the delivery is the hard part. The ports are close — London Gateway and Tilbury are on the Thames — but getting a 40ft artic and a crane to a specific address inside the M25 involves constraints that simply do not exist elsewhere: emission zones, red routes, weekend and night restrictions, and streets laid out long before articulated lorries.
Free delivery to London
Delivery is free to London on every container we sell, and the price you see is the price you pay — nothing is added at checkout. Offload by HIAB or crane is agreed in writing before delivery, so you know how the container is coming off the lorry before it leaves us. This page is one of our UK delivery areas.
Ports serving London
- London Gateway (DP World)
- Tilbury
- Purfleet
- Dagenham
London Gateway is one of the newest deep-water container terminals in Europe and sits directly on the Thames estuary, with Tilbury nearby. Proximity to the port rarely determines the cost or complexity of a London delivery — the access arrangements at the far end usually do.
Roads and routes into London
Getting a container into London is a regulatory exercise as much as a driving one. Greater London is covered by the Ultra Low Emission Zone, and heavy goods vehicles must additionally meet the London-wide Low Emission Zone standards. Any HGV over 12 tonnes needs a Transport for London Direct Vision Standard safety permit to enter Greater London at all, and vehicles without one face a penalty charge — this is a real, checkable requirement, not a formality. On top of that sit red routes with no stopping at any time, borough loading restrictions, the Congestion Charge zone, weight-restricted bridges and low railway arches. The A406 and A205 ring roads and the M25 carry most through freight for exactly these reasons.
Areas we cover
- Central London
- North London
- East London and Docklands
- South London
- West London
- Greater London boroughs
- The M25 corridor
Site access
Please tell us about ULEZ and LEZ implications, any red route or loading restrictions, width and height limits, overhead cables and whether the vehicle can legally wait while the container is placed. Many London deliveries are workable but need to be planned rather than simply booked, and a wasted journey helps nobody. Where a site cannot take a full artic, that is worth establishing before you order rather than on the day.
A loaded 40ft container arrives on an articulated lorry. In the UK an artic runs to a maximum of 44 tonnes gross and is around 16.5 metres long, so it needs firm, reasonably level ground, room to turn, and space clear of overhead cables and branches for the offload. A 10ft or 20ft unit is considerably more forgiving. Our guide to delivery access, craning and ground preparation sets out what to check. If you are unsure whether your site works, tell us about the approach and we will tell you honestly before you order.
Planning permission in London
Planning control sits with the individual London borough, and London has the highest density of conservation areas and listed buildings in the country. A container on a commercial yard in an outer borough is a different proposition from one behind a terraced house in a conservation area, and leaseholds and estate covenants stop as many containers in London as planning does. Our guide to planning permission for a shipping container explains the principles so you can ask the right question. It is general information, not planning advice — your local planning authority has the final word.
Delivery timing to London
London deliveries are booked around access rather than around distance. Where a full artic cannot legally stop or turn, the delivery has to be planned differently, and that is a conversation to have before you order rather than on the morning. A wasted journey into central London is an expensive way to discover a constraint.
Nearby delivery areas
Or see every region on the container delivery areas page.
Buying a container in London
You can browse shipping containers, storage containers, high cube containers, refrigerated containers, site cabins and modified containers, or see the full container range. Every container is sold outright — we do not hire.
Read the condition guide to understand the difference between new, one-trip and used grades, the buyer’s guide for choosing between sizes and specifications, or the delivery information page for how offload and access are handled. If you would rather talk it through, request a quote and tell us where the container is going.