In Cardiff the door is only half the story. The city has a higher share of terraced homes, purpose-built flats and converted houses than Wales as a whole, and each has its own tight spot. This guide covers how to measure, what Welsh standards say about doors and lifts, and what to do when it will not go.
Measure the diagonal, not the depth
Take the seat cushions off and lay something straight, a broom handle will do, across the top of the back and the front of the arm. Measure from that line down to the back corner of the frame. That diagonal depth is the smallest dimension the sofa can present to a doorway when it is tipped on its back.
If the diagonal depth is less than the clear width of the door, the sofa can usually be tipped and turned through. Then check the space on the other side, because a sofa has to swing round once it is through, and the turn is often where it sticks.
- Sofa: width, height, depth and diagonal depth, with the cushions off.
- Every door on the route: clear width and height, measured with the door open.
- Hallways, landings and the turn at the top and bottom of the stairs.
Cardiff homes are tighter than the Welsh average
The 2021 census shows why Cardiff moves need more measuring. In Cardiff 29.6% of households live in terraced homes against 26.6% across Wales, 20.2% live in purpose-built blocks of flats against 9.4%, and 5.0% live in part of a converted or shared house against 1.8%.
Each has its own pinch point. A terrace often has a narrow hallway and a straight stair. A purpose-built flat adds a communal door, a stairwell and possibly a lift. A converted house can have a shared front door, a hallway that was once part of a single home, and stairs that turn on a small landing. Measure all of it. The figures are in the census accommodation type table.
What Welsh building rules say about doors and lifts
Building regulations in Wales are set by the Welsh Government, and its guidance on access is the 2004 edition of Approved Document M, with later amendments. For a dwelling, an external door must give a clear opening width of at least 775mm, measured from the face of the door stop on the latch side to the face of the door when it is open. That is less than the door itself, so measure the gap, not the door.
Where the guidance calls for a passenger lift, it sets a lift car at least 900mm wide and 1,250mm long, with a door giving at least 800mm. A sofa that fits a 775mm doorway can still fail in a lift of that size, so in a block of flats measure the lift car as well as the front door. The rules are in the Welsh Government's Part M guidance.
Newer housing association homes are built for furniture
Homes built with Welsh Government social housing grant have to meet the Welsh Development Quality Requirements. The 2021 edition requires the approach to each home, including the point of access, stairs, lifts and circulation, to be designed to enable easy movement of furniture and belongings, and stairs to allow furniture to be moved between floors.
Accessibility is met through the Lifetime Homes standard, which pairs internal door widths with hallway widths and sets hallways at a minimum of 900mm, narrowing only at short pinch points. So a new housing association home is usually the easy end of a sofa move, and an older terrace or conversion the hard one.
When it will not fit
There is usually something to try first. Some sofas have legs that unscrew or arms that bolt off, and an internal door can come off its hinges for an hour. Our furniture dismantling service does exactly that and puts it back once the sofa is in the room.
If you are buying, measure before you order rather than after. A sofa made to your own specification is not covered by the usual 14-day right to cancel, and some retailers charge to redeliver when the problem is access. For a sofa you are collecting second-hand, our single items service would rather know the door width before the van leaves.
Last checked: October 2026.