House Clearance - Guidance & Our Services

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If you find yourself in the position as executor or other similar circumstance it can be daunting trying to understand how to undertake a house clearance.

We also understand that many trustee/executors are busy and we are happy to undertake visits outside the typical 9-5 working day.

Our approach has always been to inform customers of the various options so that they can make a decision that reflects their circumstances. 

We’ve compiled the following advice in relation to house clearances. 

• Consider promptly changing door locks on the property. Sadly we’re aware of far too many instances whereby neighbours and relatives have been suspected of entering the property to remove items. Whilst of course this could be understandable in some cases - it can become an unwelcome source of additional stress.
  
  
• Consider security for the house if left unattended. Light switches and radios etc on timer switches are useful. Ensure post doesn’t build up and close curtains.

• Ask yourself if you believe that the property and contents of the house and other personal assets (less any debts) is likely to be under the £325k threshold.
  
  
• If you’re unsure, please contact us and we can undertake a valuation accordingly.

• If you are certain the assets are well over £325k you’ll need to arrange for a prompt contents valuation. Please contact us and we can undertake a valuation accordingly.

• If valuable assets are removed or given away before a valuation is undertaken and the HMRC elect to investigate fully then expect them to be forensic in their approach. This will lead to delays and potentially conclude with financial penalties to the executor/trustee.
  
  
• At this stage, you’ll have ruled in/out a contents valuation. Once that’s complete - the next step is to consider removing the contents.

• We always ask executors to firstly allow any relatives the opportunity to perhaps take some items of sentimental value at this juncture.

Clearing a property can be undertaken in a variety of ways, typically involving one or several of the below options: 

• Do It Yourself. Perhaps with friends and family. A typical 3 bed home with sheds etc can take a professional team of 3-4 people an entire day to clear. That’s around 35-40 hours’ time. You will also likely need to factor waste disposal such as skips and visits to Household Waste Recycling Centres which adds additional cost.
  
  
• Facebook Marketplace: Any items you believe to have value could be listed here. Although expect to sell at the lower end of the items’ value. Whilst there are many genuine buyers on Facebook, it can be a little frustrating with people not collecting and asking for crazy discounts. Also, beware of scams.

• Ebay: This is a great place to sell various items as it has a very large and diverse customer base. Recent changes mean that private sellers no longer have to pay commission on their sale. Take good photos and add as much detail as you can to maximise value. 

• Yard Sales: These are big in America but haven’t quite yet embedded themself in British culture. However, advertised locally on Facebook groups - they can be a good way to move items on, although expect to sell them for minimal value.
  
  
• Carboot Sales: These are a great way to get rid of items. Expect to sell items for low value to other traders and dealers. In our experience you rarely clear everything in one visit so multiple trips may be required.

• Charity Shops: If you have a large volume of household items, you’ll need to check ahead to ensure they are willing/able to accept a large volume of donations to avoid wasted journeys. Some charity shops such as the British Heart Foundation will collect items but these need to be good quality and compliant with furniture fire regulations. Additionally, many charity shops decline items such as books and CDs due to low turnover.
  
  
• Auction Houses: These are very helpful places to assist you and many will provide guidance on likely value. Auction houses typically ask for a lotting fee and also take a percentage of the sale of around 25-35%. We operate our own in house auction which is a great way to deal with a large volume of items. We also have great connections with local auction houses and can guide you to the most suitable places for your items so that you can maximise potential value. Not all auction houses are the same and a valuable item sold at a high volume ‘general auction’ will potentially be sold for a much lower price.

• Antiques Dealers. Companies like ours are good to call in ASAP. It’s often surprising which items have value. Dealers will typically offer to buy items of interest but generally this is small scale in relation to the overall contents. They’ll look to make a profit on items so expect to sell at the lower range of the items value. 

• House Clearance Companies. These will either offer money if there are sufficient items of value, if not then you’ll need to pay to have items professionally removed. We highly recommend you to only ever use reputable companies to avoid fly tipping. Recent legislative changes can now lead to the owner of the rubbish being prosecuted and fined. 

• Long Term Storage: For some people, an option to store items is desirable as deciding what to keep whilst grieving is difficult. We actively advise customers to avoid being hasty with house clearances as items can change hands quickly and be very difficult to trace. You can arrange your own storage of course but we can also make arrangements and take the items to a secure storage facility. 

A big factor in deciding your options are what timeframes you have available. If you have several months or more then a combination of the above is possible.

We highly recommend avoiding the scenario of leaving it until the ‘last minute’ this removes many of your options and will substantially reduce the value of items. Additionally, it could lead to items unnecessarily ending up in landfill.

As each property is unique, we provide full quotations on request. We also pride ourselves on reducing waste and will always aim to redistribute items as whilst many have no value, they are of course useful to charities.

House clearance is quite a straightforward proposition. If there are assets or items of value which exceed the time and effort to clear a property then it might be the case that a house clearance firm will pay you. Conversely, if there are few items of value then the company will charge you a fee to clear.

We hope this content has been useful. If we can help in any way with your house clearance requirements, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.