What is House Clearance? | A Beginners Guide
- Admin
- March 4, 2024
What is House Clearance?
House clearance is the removal of unused products from your property or a part of it to declutter it. Unused furniture, clutter, and other goods are removed during this process. You have to decide what you need to keep, donate, sell, or dispose of.
Apparently, the whole process is simple as you only have to remove unwanted items from your property or a part of it. But in fact, it’s a challenging and time-consuming task, especially when you don’t have proper guidelines. Don’t worry! We are here with a detailed guide on house clearance. In this guide, we will cover everything that beginners should know about this process. Let’s start exploring it.
When is House Clearance Required?
There are numerous instances when you may need house clearance. The most common reasons to opt for it are listed below:
- To declutter your new house and make it suitable to live.
- To declutter your home which will create some more space to keep valuable items.
- Prepare your property for new residents when planning to sell or rent it.
- Clearing the property or a part of the property of a deceased friend or relative.
Decide What to Keep
Deciding what to keep and what to get rid of can be a challenging task, and you need to be ruthless to complete this. The simplest way to decide is to write down all the things you will keep with yourself. When doing so, make sure to keep only those things you will use. Avoid keeping bigger things as they create more clutter. You can easily keep smaller items like jewellery or photos as they don’t take much space in your room, and you can later donate, sell, or recycle them if not needed.
When categorising your belongings for clearance, make sure to label them. You can do so by using multiple coloured stickers. The simplest method will be using traffic light colours:
- Red colour for items you will keep
- Yellow colour for items to be recycled
- Green colour for items that will go to the bin
Go through your home and label items using these stickers.
Find a Reputable House Clearance Company
House clearance is a challenging task, and you cannot opt for DIY, especially when a lot of items need to be removed. Therefore, you must get assistance from professionals. However, finding a reputable house clearance company can be a tricky task. The following are the primary things you can do to select a reputable house clearance company.
Research Online: You must start by searching online to find out some top listed clearance companies around you. You can explore some top search results and select one of them.
Get Recommendations: Some of your friends or colleagues may have hired a house clearance company in the past. You can get recommendations from them as well.
Check Reviews: Before you make a final call, you must understand how they work and whether you should hire them. To do so, you need to check reviews or testimonials from previous customers.
Consider Registration: You should opt for an established company instead of a random man and van service, as the latter costs you more. Established companies will be VAT registered and are approved as waste carriers.
Are House Clearance and Rubbish Clearance the Same?
One thing you must keep in mind is that house clearance and rubbish clearance aren’t the same. House clearance companies have professional staff to collect your belongings and take them to the recycling centres or dispose of them. They handle everything with care.
On the other side of the spectrum, waste clearance companies collect waste from your home and dispose of it safely. Though they may offer house clearance, their workers aren’t trained and smash up everything to fit them in their tipper-style vehicles. It can be upsetting to see the belongings of your loved ones smashed up in front of you. Therefore, it would be best to hire a registered house clearance company to clear your property.
Get Multiple Quotes
To know the price of clearance services upfront, you can request a quote. Almost every reputable home-clearance company will offer free, no-obligation quotes. It would be best if you got multiple quotes to get the most affordable services.
Usually, the home clearance service providers will survey your property before giving a quote. They do so to check the complexity of the project and decide how long it will take to complete. They usually take 30 to 45 minutes to go through your property and estimate the cost. They will tell you what products will be wasted and what will go to the recycling centre.
How Long Will House Clearance Take?
It depends upon the number of things to be removed and how organised your property is. The number of workers you hire for the clearance and the company you choose will also impact the time required to clear your home.
A regular home with 2 or 3 bedrooms, average furniture and other items in it can be cleared within 8 to 14 hours by hiring a team of 2 or 3 members. It may take a full day as well, depending upon the quantity of clutter or rubbish in your home. It can take even longer if the access to items to be removed is restricted.
Throughout the clearance process, the team will categorise the rubbish and recyclable goods on-site and load them in the trucks. If you hire a reputable and registered company, the workers will leave the home clean and tidy.
The Cost of House Clearance
The cost will also depend on the quantity of items to be removed and complexity of the project. The company you choose will also impact the cost. A good house clearance company will give you a free, no-obligation quote, ensuring you know the costs upfront.
House clearance companies have to pay around £138 – £160 per tonne to dispose of the rubbish. It can impact the cost of clearance. Moreover, after collecting products from your home, companies have to spend some more time disposing of them and delivering them to the recycling centres. This will also impact the cost. House clearance cost for an average household is around £550 – £900, including VAT.
Charitable House Clearance
Different charities offer house clearance services as they collect unused items from your home and use them for a good cause. However, they will not take everything from your home. There are chances will only take certain items that can be donated, leaving you with all the rubbish and clutter.
Therefore, when you contact charities for house clearance, you must discuss what items they will take. The best option is to hire a reputable clearance company. These companies work with charities and donate your items to them.
What to Do with Valuables?
If you have some valuable items in your property to be cleared, the best option is to sell them. You can estimate their worth using sites like eBay or ask the clearance contractors about their value. You can offset the clearance cost against these valuables.