The question everybody asks first
What does a house clearance cost?
There is no fixed price, and anybody quoting you one down the phone is guessing. Here is what actually decides the number, so you can work out roughly where your job sits before we come.
How much does a house clearance cost?
We do not publish a price, because there is not one. What a house clearance costs comes down to how much there is, how much of it can be reused or recycled rather than tipped, and what is actually in the property. We come and look, then give you a figure in writing. There is nothing to pay for that, nothing to sign, and no VAT on top, because we are not VAT registered.
Why house clearance companies will not quote a price
Because two houses that look the same from the pavement can cost very different amounts to empty, and a firm that quotes a flat figure has to protect itself by pitching it high.
We would rather explain the three things that move the number. Once you know them you can usually tell for yourself whether your job is a small one or a big one.
The three things that decide a house clearance price
1. How much there is, and what it weighs
The recycling centre charges us by weight. So a house full of books and a house full of soft furnishings can look identical and cost different amounts, because one of them is far heavier than the other.
2. How much of it does not have to be tipped
Anything that can be reused, recycled or passed on is not going over a weighbridge. A lot of what comes out of a house goes to charity, and that shows up in the price.
3. What is actually in the property
Furniture and household things somebody else will use are the cheapest part of a clearance to deal with. A house full of them costs less to empty than a house full of things that can only be tipped.
Can a house clearance be free?
Occasionally, and it is worth asking about rather than assuming. Where enough of the contents can be passed on rather than tipped, that can cover the cost of the work.
It is not a promise and we will not pretend it is common. It is one of the things we are looking at while we walk round, and if it applies to your property we will say so.
How a house clearance compares with a skip
You do not need a permit, you do not load it, and nobody else can fill it overnight. Our vans hold the equivalent of two large builders skips, so most houses go in one or two loads.
There is one thing about a skip worth knowing, and it catches people out. Once a firm has done the work it stops being household waste. Suffolk County Council says on its own page that charges apply to any waste as a result of business or trade activity, and Essex requires every vehicle to pre-book and states the waste must not come from a tradesperson working at your home. The free household route closes the moment somebody else lifts it.
What does the council charge to clear a house?
The council does not clear houses. That is not our opinion: Babergh District Council, which covers Sudbury, says on its own bulky collection page we do not offer a house clearance service. What the councils do is collect a few large items at a time.
Read on 14 September 2026, Babergh charged £72 for up to five separate items, or up to ten bin bags. Colchester City Council charged £19 for most single items, £77 for up to six and £100 for six to twelve. Both collect on one set day a week, and neither will give you a time.
So the honest comparison is not about the price. A three-bedroom house is not twelve items. The councils also turn down the things a clearance is usually full of: Babergh lists fixtures and fittings, doors, baths, sinks, sheds and greenhouses, pianos and anything very large or heavy among the items it will not take.
Check both figures yourself before you decide, because charges change: Babergh bulky collections and Colchester special collections.
No VAT on a house clearance from us
We are not VAT registered, so the figure we give you is the figure you pay. Against a registered firm quoting a price plus VAT, that is a real difference for anybody who cannot reclaim it, which is most people clearing a family home.
How big a house clearance can be
Most properties go in one or two van loads. We have done jobs well into double figures of loads, so a large house or a full estate is not a problem, and one room or one garage is a perfectly normal job.
The only thing we do not take on is a single item. One sofa or one fridge is a job for a man with a van, and they will do it cheaper than we could.
Why we look at a house clearance before pricing it
A photograph of a room shows you the sofa. It does not show you what is in the cupboards, whether the loft is full, how far the van has to park from the door, or whether the wardrobe has to come apart on the landing.
The visit is free and there is nothing to sign. It usually takes ten minutes and it is the difference between a price we can hold and a price we have to revise.
Everything leaves under Upper Tier waste carrier registration CBDU634717, with a waste transfer note for the job.
Are we the cheapest house clearance in Suffolk and Essex?
We are not the cheapest and we are not the dearest. What we do is bring the number down honestly, by taking the things somebody else will use and putting them back into use instead of over a weighbridge, and that is worth more on a full house than any discount.
What makes a house clearance cheaper
Furniture, tools, china, books and anything else with a second life left in it. The more of that there is, the less goes to the tip, and the tip is what we are charged for. A house of usable things is a cheaper clearance than a house of the same size filled with things nobody can take on.
What a cheap house clearance quote can leave out
Where your things actually go. If you pay somebody to take household waste away, the law asks you to make sure they are authorised to take it, and the government's own guidance names checking their registration number as the way to do that. If it is fly-tipped afterwards, that comes back to the person whose waste it was.
The check takes seconds and you should do it to us as well as to anybody else. We are Environment Agency waste carrier, Upper Tier CBDU634717, and here is our entry on the Environment Agency register. The government guidance on a householder's duty of care sets out what is expected of you. You also get a waste transfer note for your own job.
Get a price for your house clearance
We come out, walk round and quote there and then. Or call 01787 703059 if you would rather talk it through.
Not sure what your house clearance would cost?
Ten minutes at the property and you will have a real figure, not a guess.