What happens to items of value during a house clearance?

A written agreement should say which items are retained for the family, which are sold or donated, and whether any resale value is offset against the fee. Get that before the van arrives.

How is a clearance handled after a bereavement in Scotland?

Where confirmation is needed, the executor should not dispose of estate property before the inventory is settled. Clearance firms used to executry work will wait for the solicitor's confirmation of authority.

Do house clearance firms need a waste carrier licence?

Yes — SEPA registration is required to transport waste commercially in Scotland, and you can ask to see the registration number before booking.

Back to home

Property services

House clearance in Edinburgh and the Lothians

Clearing a property before a move, sale or after a bereavement.

House clearance is emptying a property: after a bereavement, before a sale, at the end of a long tenancy, or where a lifetime of belongings has accumulated. It is part logistics, part waste licensing and part sensitivity.

The good firms separate what is sold, what is donated, what is recycled and what is disposed of, and they tell you the split. The poor ones charge for a skip and fly-tip the contents, which leaves the liability with you.

When Edinburgh owners call house clearance

You are administering an estate and the property must be emptied before sale.
A property is being sold and decades of contents need dealing with.
A tenancy has ended leaving abandoned furniture and belongings.
You need a partial clearance so a property can be photographed and viewed.

Local context: Edinburgh and the Lothians

Waste from a house clearance is commercial waste, and whoever removes it must be registered with SEPA as a waste carrier. If your possessions are fly-tipped, the trail leads back to the householder, and enforcement action against owners does happen.

In tenement clearances, everything comes down a stair. Firms price by volume and by flights, and a fourth-floor flat with no lift will legitimately cost significantly more than the same volume at street level.

What this work typically costs

Published ranges are market context gathered from local jobs, not a quotation. We do not price work, arrange it or take a cut of it — always get your own written quotes.

Job	Typical range	What moves the price
Single-room clearance	£150-£400	Volume and stair access.
Two-bedroom flat, full clearance	£450-£1,200	Floor level, lift availability and volume of heavy furniture.
Three-bedroom house, full clearance	£900-£2,200	Loft, garage and garden contents add materially.
Hoarded property clearance	£1,500-£6,000+	Specialist handling, PPE and multiple loads.
Sensitive bereavement clearance with item search	Quoted per job	Time is spent identifying documents, jewellery and photographs before removal.

Tenements and common repairs

Clearing a flat through a common stair means protecting it and clearing up afterwards. Damage to a close wall or a stair window during a clearance becomes a dispute with every other owner, not just an inconvenience.

Agree the loading arrangement in advance. Streets in the New Town and Marchmont often need a parking suspension from the council for a large van, which takes several working days to arrange.

More on shared repairs and selling a tenement flat

What to check before you instruct

SEPA waste carrier registration
Itemised what is removed and what is kept
Handling of items of value

SEPA waste carrier registration: Ask for the registration number and check it on SEPA's public register before anything is loaded.
Written itemisation: Agree in writing what is being removed, what is kept, and where anything of value goes.
Insurance: Public liability plus goods in transit if items are being stored or sold on your behalf.
Offset against resale: Where saleable items are taken for resale, ask how that is valued and whether it reduces your invoice.

We publish factual detail supplied by each business. We do not rate, rank, endorse or guarantee anyone listed, and no business pays for placement. Checking registration, insurance and references is always your decision.

Questions to ask before you instruct

What is your SEPA waste carrier registration number?
How do you separate donation, recycling and disposal, and can you evidence it?
What happens if you find documents, jewellery or cash?
Is a parking suspension needed and who arranges it?
Will you protect and clean the common stair afterwards?
Is the price fixed or per load?

Businesses listed

Loading…

Lothian Property is a property information and professional-introduction service operated by Maybury Scotland Limited. Lothian Property is not an estate agency. Where requested, we may connect homeowners with independent estate agents and other property professionals. How we work.

Read our guide on house clearance

House clearance: common questions

What happens to items of value during a house clearance?: A written agreement should say which items are retained for the family, which are sold or donated, and whether any resale value is offset against the fee. Get that before the van arrives.
How is a clearance handled after a bereavement in Scotland?: Where confirmation is needed, the executor should not dispose of estate property before the inventory is settled. Clearance firms used to executry work will wait for the solicitor's confirmation of authority.
Do house clearance firms need a waste carrier licence?: Yes — SEPA registration is required to transport waste commercially in Scotland, and you can ask to see the registration number before booking.