The short answer
We price by the van load, from £50 for a minimum load to £400 for a full van. A whole house is usually a full van, sometimes more, and anything above one van is quoted after a look.
The unit is the van, not the bedroom
Almost every house clearance quote in Bristol is priced by bedroom count, and a good many of them get revised on the day. The reason is simple: bedrooms do not correlate with volume. A four-bed house whose owner spent two months sorting it can produce less than a one-bed flat nobody has emptied since 1998.
We price by the van load instead, because that is what actually costs money: the vehicle, the crew, the trip and the disposal.
| Load | Price | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum load | £50 | A few bags, or one large single item |
| Quarter van | £120 | A small room, or a garden tidy |
| Half van | £200 | One or two rooms, or a large garden |
| Three-quarter van | £320 | Several rooms, or a small office |
| Full van | £400 | A whole property, or a large job |
More than one van load is quoted after somebody has seen it. Guessing at a two-van job from photographs is how a firm ends up either making a second trip at its own cost or asking you for more money at four in the afternoon.
The four things that change the price
Volume, honestly described. The loft, the cellar, the garage, the shed and the space behind the shed are where the volume hides. They are also the four things people forget to mention, and between them they routinely double a quote.
Access. A drive in Henleaze and a permit street in Clifton with a second-floor flat are different jobs at the same volume. Carrying distance, stairs, lifts and where the van can legally stand are all real work.
Weight. Soil, rubble, damp furniture and old carpet fill a van by weight long before they fill it by volume. If that is what you have, say so. It is priced differently for a reason.
What is in it. Paint, oils, gas bottles, fridges and anything electrical cannot travel as general waste. None of it is a problem when it is declared in advance.
Not sure which load you are?
Send a few photos, loft and shed included, and we will tell you.
How to get a number you can rely on
Describe the property honestly, including the parts you have not looked in. Say what is staying as well as what is going. Mention the access before anyone quotes rather than after. And ask for the total in writing, with what is included and what is not.
What a clearance price does not cover
Clearance and cleaning are separate jobs. A clearance leaves the property empty and swept; a deposit-standard or professional clean is another trade and another invoice. Carpets, curtains and fitted items need saying out loud too. They are not automatically part of a full house clearance, whatever the phrase sounds like.
And a clearance quote is not a valuation. If there is anything in the house that might be worth money, that is a conversation to have before the van is booked, not after it has left.
