House clearance cost
Every cost guide online quotes a different number for the same house — we found published ranges from £275 to £1,200 for a three-bedroom. They are not contradicting each other so much as pricing two different jobs. This page explains the difference, and the calculator asks the question the others skip.
What a house clearance costs in 2026
Typical UK prices, including VAT, for a normally furnished property on the ground floor outside London. These are the same figures the calculator uses.
| Property | Volume | Already sorted | Full service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single room, garage or loft | 3–6 yd³ | £175–£235 | £210–£350 |
| 1-bed flat | 8–14 yd³ | £285–£430 | £380–£700 |
| 2-bed flat | 12–20 yd³ | £385–£670 | £530–£1,055 |
| 2-bed house | 15–24 yd³ | £455–£805 | £635–£1,265 |
| 3-bed house | 20–32 yd³ | £670–£1,075 | £910–£1,690 |
| 4-bed house | 28–44 yd³ | £940–£1,480 | £1,275–£2,325 |
| 5+ bed house | 40–60 yd³ | £1,345–£2,015 | £1,825–£3,170 |
Volume is shown in cubic yards because that is what the trade prices on. A Luton van holds about 20. If your property is unusually full or unusually bare, the volume column will mislead and the calculator will not — adjust the clutter setting and watch the number move.
Why you will be quoted wildly different prices
We compared the four most-read UK house clearance cost guides. For a three-bedroom house they quote between £275 and £1,200 — and one of them contradicts itself between two tables on the same page.
| Source | 3-bed house | What they are pricing |
|---|---|---|
| MyJobQuote (volume table) | £275–£425 | Removal of a part-load |
| MyJobQuote (labour table) | £400–£700 | Removal, three people for a day |
| PropertyBuyersToday | £400–£900 | Unstated |
| ClearASpace | £800–£1,200 | Full-service clearance |
The cheap end assumes you have already emptied the cupboards, bagged what is going and stacked it by the door. The expensive end assumes someone else does all of that first — which for an average three-bedroom house is a day or two of work for a team of three, before a single item leaves the property.
So the first thing to establish when collecting quotes is which of the two you are being quoted for. A firm that is £400 cheaper may simply be expecting you to do a weekend of work they never mentioned.
What changes the price
- Volume
- The only thing that really matters. Priced in cubic yards or van loads — a Luton van is about 20.
- Whether it is sorted
- The difference between a firm hauling a stacked pile and a team emptying every drawer. Worth several hundred pounds.
- Clutter and hoarding
- Drives volume and labour at the same time, which is why it compounds rather than adds. A hoarded three-bed can cost three times a furnished one.
- Access
- Floor level, lifts, stairs, and how far the van can get from the door. Every trip is repeated dozens of times.
- Region
- London runs roughly 65% above the rest of the UK, on both labour and disposal.
- Awkward items
- Pianos, safes, fridges and anything hazardous carry their own charges — see below.
- Disposal costs
- Landfill Tax rises every April, which is why clearance prices drift up each year regardless of anything else.
Items that cost extra
Some things cannot go in a general load. These are typical surcharges, excluding VAT, on top of the clearance price.
| Item | Typical surcharge |
|---|---|
| Piano | £160 |
| Pool table | £140 |
| Safe | £110 |
| Large fridge-freezer | £95 |
| Under-counter fridge | £35 |
| Mattress | £30 |
| Sofa | £30 |
| Armchair | £25 |
| TV or monitor | £20 |
| Tyre | £20 |
| Tin of paint | £15 |
| Small appliance | £12 |
| Gas canister | £10 |
Six questions to ask before you accept a quote
- 1.Are you quoting to sort the property, or to remove what I have already sorted? Get this in writing.
- 2.Is the price all-in, or will volume over an estimate be charged extra on the day?
- 3.Does it include VAT? Trade price lists are usually quoted without it.
- 4.Are you a licensed waste carrier? Ask for the registration number and check it on the Environment Agency register — fly-tipped waste traced back to you is your liability, not theirs.
- 5.What happens to items with resale value, and does anything come off the bill?
- 6.Is disposal of fridges, mattresses and hazardous items included or extra?
Common questions
- How much does a house clearance cost?
- For a normally furnished three-bedroom house outside London, expect roughly £670–£1,075 if you have already sorted and stacked everything, or £910–£1,690 for a full service where the firm goes through the property for you. A one-bedroom flat starts around £285 sorted, and a large five-bedroom house can reach £3,170. The figure moves on volume rather than bedroom count, so the calculator above will be closer than any average.
- Why do house clearance quotes vary so much?
- Because two different services are sold under one name. A waste-removal firm prices by volume and expects the house to be sorted and stacked already. A full clearance firm sends a team to go through every drawer, route items to charity, auction or the tip, and clear the property. For the same three-bedroom house the first might quote £700 and the second £1,600, and neither is overcharging — they are quoting for different work.
- What is a house clearance actually priced on?
- Volume, measured in cubic yards or van loads, plus labour hours. A Luton van holds roughly 20 cubic yards, and an average three-bedroom house is one to one and a half loads. Bedroom count is only a proxy: a decluttered four-bedroom house can be a smaller job than a full one-bedroom flat. Access matters too, because stairs with no lift and nowhere to park add time to every single trip.
- How long does a house clearance take?
- A one-bedroom flat is usually half a day. A three-bedroom house is a full day for a team of three, or two days if it is heavily cluttered. Hoarded properties are quoted separately and can run to a week, because the sorting is slow and the volume is often two or three times what the room count suggests.
- Can I get a house clearance done for free?
- Rarely, and effectively never for a whole house. Charities such as the British Heart Foundation collect furniture free, but only saleable items in good condition with fire labels intact, which is typically a small share of a property's contents. The rest still needs clearing and paying for. Firms advertising free house clearance are offsetting the cost against items they can resell, which only works when the contents are genuinely valuable.
- Will the contents reduce the bill?
- Sometimes, but far less than people expect. Ordinary second-hand furniture has close to no resale value in 2026 — brown furniture in particular is often a disposal cost rather than an asset. Antiques, jewellery, gold, tools, vinyl, militaria and some mid-century furniture do carry value. If you think anything might be worth something, get it valued before the clearance rather than after. Once it is on the van it is gone.
- Who pays for a house clearance after a death?
- The estate normally pays, and it is a legitimate estate expense the executor can settle from estate funds rather than out of their own pocket. If the property was rented, the tenancy usually has to be cleared and handed back before rent stops accruing, which is why clearance often becomes urgent. Have the contents valued for HMRC before anything is disposed of — probate valuations are based on what things were worth on the date of death, and you cannot value what has already gone.
- What will a clearance firm refuse to take?
- Anything classed as hazardous waste needs separate handling and carries a surcharge: paint, solvents, gas canisters, asbestos, car batteries, fluorescent tubes and some garden chemicals. Fridges and freezers need degassing, which is why they carry their own charge. A reputable firm will tell you before the day rather than leaving it in the garage.
- Is it cheaper to hire a skip instead?
- For a small, already-sorted job, sometimes. A two to three cubic yard skip is around £90–£130 and a twelve yard skip £250–£440, plus £20–£65 for a council permit if it goes on the road. But you load it yourself, you cannot put fridges, mattresses or hazardous waste in it without extra charges, and a full house needs several. For anything above a room or a garage, a clearance firm is usually both cheaper and faster once your own time is counted.
- Do I need to be there on the day?
- No, and many clearances are done with the firm holding a key, which is common for probate and for landlords. If you are not attending, walk the property with them beforehand or send photographs of every room, and put anything you are keeping in one locked room. The single most common complaint in this trade is something sentimental being cleared by mistake.