Have you ever used a house clearance company (post-bereavement)?

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MIL died two years ago. She and FIL had lived in their house for over 60 years so, while it’s not cluttered, there’s plenty of stuff. It’s a three-bed semi.

Poor DH is struggling as he’s not ready to deal with clearing the house or selling it (it was a very traumatic death), but we unfortunately don’t have a choice as tax on the inheritance is due to be paid by October (we’re not in the UK) and the house will need to be sold to raise the funds for this. I’m racking my brain to come up with something that’ll make it easier on him.

Has anyone ever used a company that specialises in house clearance post-bereavement? If so, what did they do and would you recommend such a service? Also, can you give me an idea of what you paid, please?

I’ve found a few local companies who do it but wanted to get an idea of what’s involved before contacting them.

I used the British Heart Foundation and they charged a small fee (around £250 I recall) to take everything away. I felt better to know that it was all going to a worthy cause. Prior to them coming, the family had gone through and taken the stuff that we wanted to keep personally.

Hi I used the British Heart Foundation to clear a large house post bereavement. I can’t recommend highly enough they were fantastic and so sensitive to our bereavement. They did everything they could to make the whole clearance as easy as possible for us. They were professional and reasonably priced. So sorry for your situation.

This is really helpful, never knew charities did this, although it makes sense. My folks are total hoarders and have no intention of changing. I’m aware I’d need help if it came to it, we’ve even discussed it a bit. The BHF website said cost is from £400. Sorry for your family loss OP.

I paid a house clearance service for my parents house. They had a lot of stuff, and all the carpets needed to come up as well. It cost about £2500, but it took 3 of them 2 full days of going back and forth to the tip with a luton van.
It wasn't easy to see it happening, but it got the house and shed clear for sale months sooner. My brother and I did a few sweeps of things that needed to be sold/ had value, things we each wanted, and some that was donatable.

We used an auction house to clear my uncle's house. They sold anything worth selling and I think we made a small profit in the end. Definitely recommend it.

We used British Heart Foundation when my mum moved into a home. They were great and completely cleared the house even the rubbish piled in the garage. It cost £800 about a year ago, it depends on how much they can sell and how much they have to dispose of.

There's a similar auction house near me. I think you pay a fee initially but then it goes into auction and you keep the profits. It's a household auction so it just have to be reasonably decent stuff rather real antiques.

Hi, I think you will need probate before you can sell the house? Is that under control?

@Tiree1965 just wondering how big your mum’s house was and full it was?
did they take absolutely everything?
Trying to work out whether this would be an option for us.

I used a local company, they did take everything, so it was important to make sure i'd already taken personal things we wanted plus items to take to charity shops. I asked if they'd be able to sell the dresser but they said they already had loads of those, so unlikely. So they were fine, but BHF sounds better in that more items will be sold for charity and reused. (It was during Covid, local charities weren't providing tne service). To be honest I found it useful to be there while they were doing it, but even so they left some things in the attic.

British Heart Foundation. They were brilliant: worked so hard, cleared everything, were considerate. We viewed it as an easy way to increase our giving to charity and didn’t mind the fact they were getting some really nice quality things. Realistically we couldn’t accommodate or store them ourselves.

My mum was in an extra care flat and the manager recommended a local guy. It was money well spent. He and his mate worked super quickly and pleasantly. This was only a couple of weeks after mum died as it was a council owned place. My brother and I could never have cleared the place in time ourselves.

If you’re not in the UK then the British Heart Foundation won’t be of any use.
What country are you in?

I looked into this last week for my grans house. BHF said they will take what they can sell (and charge me a fee for collection!) but don’t take rubbish. On the council website they have a list of companies with waste licenses who will come and clear the whole house and charge based on volume.

Likely I will go the BHF route then council waste clearance company.

@Roseyposeysuposeyshe had a 3 bedroom semi with a garage. They took absolutely everything, even rubbish. Some went to the tip as it didn’t have safety labels but the rest they would sell on. They came out to house to give us a quote and the cost varies depending on how much can be sold and how much needs disposed of.