Council house clearance

[AngryBananaSund]

FIL recently died (from Covid) and we are trying to sort things out.

The big problem is his flat, with all it’s furniture and appliances etc. There is no way we could clear this ourselves (first there’s the stairs, but even without that it would be impossible for us)

So will the council do this and bill his estate? Do we find someone?

Suggestions please

I think it depends from council to council, so I would phone up and ask.

I paid for a house clearance in a second home after my husband was killed. I couldn't cope with dealing with it myself. It was a five bed detached house plus garage. It cost £250. The company doing the clearance sells what they can. It was two years ago if that helps give you some idea about possible cost.

Sorry, I pressed send too early. I'm so sorry for your loss, OP.

So sorry you lost your dad.

What sort of time limit have they given you? I would call the council, as the PP suggested. Usually you can get a charity to do a house clearance but they won't be doing it at the moment.

Our local Age Concern did a relative's house for us. It cost over £2000 but it was full of stuff as he hoarded. They kept anything that was good for them to sell in the charity shop and recycled lots more with the remainder going to tip. They were very respectful of everything, and put aside some items that they thought might have sentimental value even though they could have got a fair amount for them.

Age Concern sounds hopeful and I’ll talk to them. There’s no time scale yet as we are still working out our options

And on another note, what about the virus? FIL died from this, and we were back and forth from the hospital to his place and repeat (we live miles away) so the virus could be all over his flat. We are self isolating at home, but then other family members/house clearance/etc will be visiting his place, is there a danger to them? And after they’ve been in will we be able to go back there?

So many questions

That's why I was asking about the time limit. Surely after a week or so it wouldn't be anywhere in the flat, still? I'm not sure but I would assume this.

It goes after a certain time but I would still mask and glove up ideally you need someone willing to go in there and sure it out before you start shifting things

It cannot survive that long, even in optimum conditions they are saying 72 hours. If the house has been shut up there's other potential issues though so wearing masks and gloves is a sensible precaution. House clearance companies will come and give an estimate, the better the belongings the lower the price - my dgm's house was cleared for free because they basically accepted the grandfather clock in lieu of payment

We used a house clearance firm from near Mold if your anywhere near there I can recommend them. We paid £500 and it was a three bed detached. They were amazing and cleared it all within three hours.

Sorry to hear. We have local charity who does furniture removals and find good homes for it. These are quite common. My parents did it years ago with a sofa bed they didn't want. The people who picked it up were taking it straight round to a pregnant women who had been sleeping on floor.

The virus can only live in things for a period of time, so you need to check on current advice.

And to answer my own question (in case the information is useful to someone else) it seems the housing trust will just clear the house for us for free. This might be because it’s a housing trust property rather than a council house, (although I’m not sure what the difference is) or it might be just how they do things. But it’s another thing done