Flat clearance, stairs and all

What should I tell you about the stairs and the lift?

The floor, the lift and the distance to the truck change a flat clearance price more than anything else, so put them in your message. A ground-floor flat with a door onto the street loads quickly. A fourth-floor flat with a narrow stairwell and no lift takes longer, and the more we know beforehand, the more accurate the price from your photos.

Put these in your message along with the photos:

• Which floor the flat is on, and whether there's a lift
• If the sofa, wardrobe or bed frames will fit in the lift, or have to come down the stairs
• How far it is from the front door of the block to where the truck can stop
• Any entry codes, fobs or concierge desk the crew will need to get past

Where does the truck park for a flat clearance?

The truck parks wherever it can pull in nearest the block, such as a rear service road, a loading bay, the estate car park or a side street, and the crew carries from the door to the truck. Plenty of flats have nowhere to stop directly outside, so tell us where that is.

The flats above the shops on Bromley High Street are a good example. The centre is pedestrianised, and the shops are serviced from rear roads such as Tetty Way, so the back entrance is usually the one to mention. For more on the town centre, see rubbish removal in Bromley.

This is also where a clearance and a skip differ. We don't hire skips, but a skip in a parking bay needs a council skip licence, may need a bay suspension too, and sits there for days while it fills. A clearance truck is loaded and gone on the same visit, and you pay only for the space your things take up.

Can landlords and agents book an end-of-tenancy flat clearance?

Landlords and letting agents book flat clearances to empty what tenants leave behind before the next tenant moves in. That's usually a mattress, a broken chest of drawers, bags in the cupboard under the stairs or a fridge the tenant didn't want to move, and you may not be anywhere near the flat.

You don't need to be there if access is arranged. Send photos of what's left, and the price is confirmed before work starts. You can check RLE Waste Clearance on the government's register of waste carriers (external site) as an upper tier carrier, number CBDU175566. Our landlord's guide to end-of-tenancy clearance covers what to do with a tenant's belongings and what the deposit can cover.

Renting is common in central Bromley. Across the Bromley Town ward, 54.8% of homes are flats and 32.6% are privately rented, according to the 2021 Census (external site).

What costs extra in a flat clearance?

Fridges, freezers, mattresses, TVs and paint cost extra in a flat clearance, on top of the load price. These are the ones you're most likely to find in a flat:

• Fridges, fridge freezers and upright freezers at £60 plus VAT each
• American fridge freezers at £90 plus VAT each
• Mattresses at £10 plus VAT each
• TVs and computer monitors at £10 plus VAT each
• Paint at £10 plus VAT per 5 litres

The full list is on the pricing page. We can collect asbestos that has already been removed if you tell us about it first, but not chemicals or other hazardous waste.

Can you clear a relative's flat after a death?

A relative's flat is cleared the same way as any other, once the family has set aside what it's keeping. Put those things in one room or tell us which rooms and cupboards to leave alone, and the crew clears the rest. You don't need to be there if a neighbour or a key safe can let the crew in, and house clearance has rough prices for bigger homes. For an executor clearing an estate, see probate house clearance.