Most people book a house clearance once in their lives, usually at a point when they have plenty else to think about — a death in the family, a completion date, a tenant who has left a mess. This is what the process actually looks like, so there are no surprises on the day.
Step 1: The first contact
You ring, WhatsApp photos or fill in a form. What is genuinely useful at this stage:
- The property type and size — “three-bed semi, plus a full loft and a single garage”
- How full it is — “normal amount of furniture” or “she lived here fifty years and kept everything”
- Access — which floor, whether the van can park outside, stairs, side gate
- The deadline — completion date, tenancy end, probate timing
- Anything unusual — a piano, a hot tub, a garage full of paint tins, a hoarded room
Photographs are worth more than descriptions. Two or three per room, taken from the doorway, are usually enough to price a whole house.
Step 2: The quote
For most properties CL Clearances quotes from photographs, the same day. For larger houses, hoarded properties or anything where access is uncertain, Charlotte visits — normally within two working days — and quotes on site.
A proper quote is fixed and in writing, and states what is included: which rooms, whether the loft, garage, shed and garden are in, what happens to items of value, and what paperwork you will get. An hourly estimate with no ceiling is not a quote, and “from £X” is a marketing figure rather than a price.
The quote holds even if the job takes longer than expected. That is the point of fixing it: the risk of the loft being fuller than it looked sits with us, not with you.
Step 3: Before the day
There is very little you need to do, and a few things that help.
You should do:
- Take out anything you are keeping, or mark it clearly — a sticker, a note on the door, a room we are told not to touch
- Tell us about documents, jewellery, cash or photographs you know are somewhere in the house
- Arrange parking if the street needs a permit, or tell us and we will arrange a dispensation
- Take final meter readings if the property is being handed over
You do not need to do:
- Move anything to the ground floor or the kerb. Lofts, cellars, back bedrooms, the bottom of the garden — we carry from where it is
- Bag anything up
- Take the carpets up, disconnect appliances or dismantle furniture
- Be there for the whole day, or at all if you would rather not be
Step 4: Clearance day
The van arrives in the agreed window. If you are there, we do a quick walk round first to confirm what stays and what goes — the last chance to change your mind about the dresser.
Then the work itself, which is more methodical than people expect:
- Search first. Drawers, wardrobes, pockets, books, tins, the backs of cupboards. Money, paperwork, jewellery, keys, medals and photographs turn up constantly, and they go into set-aside boxes rather than the van. In a bereavement or probate clearance this stage takes as long as the clearing.
- Sort as we load. Items in good condition are kept separate for reuse and charity. Metal, wood, electricals and textiles are loaded in groups so the transfer station can recycle them rather than mixing everything into general waste. There is more on where it all ends up in what happens to furniture after a house clearance.
- Room by room, top to bottom. Usually the loft first, then bedrooms, then ground floor, then garage, shed and garden last, so nothing is carried through a cleared room twice.
- Sweep through. The property is left swept and empty, windows shut, doors locked.
A one-bedroom flat is typically half a day. A three-bedroom house is a full day, sometimes two. A hoarded property is planned in stages over several visits — see hoarder house clearance.
Step 5: Afterwards
You get photographs of the empty rooms, the set-aside boxes handed over or delivered, and the keys back where you want them — to you, an agent, a neighbour or a key safe.
You should also get paperwork:
- A receipt, itemised, which matters if the cost is going into estate accounts
- A Waste Transfer Note, naming the carrier, the licence number and the disposal site. Landlords, letting agents, executors and businesses need one; anyone can ask for one
If the property needs cleaning after the clearance, or the garden has gone over, both can be done on the same visit — see garden clearance.
What can go wrong, and how to avoid it
Something important gets thrown away. Prevented by the search-first approach and by telling us in advance what might be hidden where. If in doubt, we box it and ask.
The price changes on the day. Only happens with estimates rather than fixed quotes, or where the job described was not the job found. Photographs at the quoting stage protect both sides.
The waste is fly-tipped. This is the one that comes back to bite the householder: under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 you have a duty of care to pass your waste to a licensed carrier, and if it turns up in a lay-by the trail leads to you. Check the carrier’s registration before booking — how to verify a waste carrier licence takes thirty seconds.
Nobody can get a van near the property. Sorted at the quoting stage, not on the morning. Permit streets, footstreets in York, tenfoots in Hull and farm tracks in the DN14 villages are all normal; they just need knowing about.
Book a clearance
CL Clearances covers East Yorkshire, the Selby district, North Lincolnshire and into South and West Yorkshire from a base in Howden. Charlotte quotes, attends and clears every job personally, under Environment Agency waste carrier licence CBDU291452.
Call or WhatsApp 07783 430775, or use the quote form. For prices by property size, see how much is a house clearance; for the service itself, house clearance.
