How house clearance works

A house clearance is a planned empty, not a surprise visit with a van. The useful sequence is: decide what must stay, describe what is leaving, agree a price and a date, then work through the house in order.

1. Decide the boundary

Full house, or only some rooms? Loft, garage and garden store included? If you cannot answer those, you are not ready to compare quotes.

For probate and bereavement jobs, the first decision is not the van. It is the keep pile: documents, photographs, jewellery, will items. Read preparing for a house clearance.

2. Describe the job

Postcode, property type, floor or stairs, parking, and photographs. A sentence such as “three-bed semi in Shirley, loft and garage full, driveway for the van” is more useful than “house clearance needed ASAP”.

3. Get a quote

We price from the information you send. If we cannot see the volume, we will ask for more photographs rather than invent a number. See cost factors.

4. Confirm authority and access

You need the right to have the contents removed. Executors, administrators, owners and landlords each stand in a different place. Keys, alarm codes and parking notes should be with the named contact the day before.

5. The day

We confirm what stays, protect the route as far as the job allows, and clear the agreed rooms. Unexpected documents or valuables are handed to the contact, not assumed to be waste.

Reusable items are separated where it is practical. The rest leaves for recycling or disposal. What happens to items afterwards explains that part.

6. Afterward

Rooms should be empty of the agreed contents. We do not provide an end-of-tenancy clean or a coat of paint. If a sale or checkout depends on cleaning, book that after the clearance.

If the job changes

If the house contains substantially more than the photographs showed, we stop and agree the extra before continuing. That is better than an argument on the driveway.