House clearance

Not to be confused with Clearing house (finance).

House clearance is the process of removing all of the household items from a property or from part of a property. Many people use a house clearance service due to the need to remove a lot of items or the need to clear garages, lofts, sheds and basements, as well as the home itself.

Some house clearances can take more than a day if there are a large amount of household furniture and effects; this may be due to the previous occupant having suffered from OCD or compulsive hoarding syndrome.

Costs involved

When a house is cleared there are many costs associated with the job and vary depending on the items cleared. Many councils across the United Kingdom operate a strict policy which must be adhered to; examples of items which legally must be cleared in a safe way include:

• Asbestos
• Pesticides
• Fluorescent tubes
• Oils
• Some paints
• Some household and car batteries
• Discarded electrical equipment such as TVs and computer monitors, fridges and freezers
• Discarded energy-saving light bulbs (also known as CFLs)
• Mattresses
• Plasterboard
• Car tyres

A standard house of 3 to 4 bedrooms with an average amount of household furniture and effects can cost anywhere between £650 and £1,500 on average to clear, but can vary considerably based upon factors such as parking difficulty, ease of access to the property (such as a high-rise flat with only stair access), and high volume of content within the property. There may be a garden clearance involved and this would incur additional charges.

Garages can sometimes have large quantities of toxic material, such as paint and garden pesticides, which may also incur additional charges. The website gov.uk advises that toxic or hazardous items can be taken by the house's owners to local waste management centres before house clearance; however, due to changes made at recycling centres nationwide in 2013, homeowners can be charged for the disposal of plasterboard and mattresses, and these items have to be separated from the general waste. The loft or attic area can sometimes have large amounts of items, and house clearance companies will take this into consideration when working out a quotation.

Certificate

It is a legal requirement that companies who operate a house clearance service be registered waste carriers with the Environment Agency. The home owner can obtain this certificate by asking a house clearance business to produce one, or can check the validity of the certificate on the Environment Agency website.

In addition to certificate, homeowners should check for public liability insurance and for other credibility indicators. One scheme in Lancashire for example is Lancashire County Council Trading Standards Safe Trader Scheme.

References

This article "House clearance" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:House clearance. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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