House clearance in North London

What we clear

A house clearance is the job of emptying a property so it can be sold, let, handed back to a landlord or simply lived in again. Sal Removals clears whole houses and flats, single rooms, lofts, garages, sheds and gardens across North London and north-west London from our base in Kingsbury, NW9.

The team takes furniture, beds and mattresses, white goods, televisions and other electricals, carpets, curtains, clothes, books, kitchenware, boxes of paperwork, garden furniture and general rubbish. Wardrobes, bed frames and flat-pack units are dismantled on site where they will not fit down the stairs. The only things we do not carry are paint and flammable liquids or gases. If the property has been lived in for decades and the loft is full, that is normal for us and it is what the survey is for.

Most jobs fall into one of three kinds: a tenancy end where the landlord needs the flat empty by Friday, a downsizing move where some things go to the new home and the rest go, and a bereavement clearance handled for an executor. The process is the same for each, and the difference is how much sorting happens before the vans are loaded.

What happens to cleared items

This is the question most clearance pages skip, so here is the answer in full.

Reuse first. Furniture in good condition, working appliances, books and household goods are set aside during the clearance rather than thrown in with the rubbish. Where you want particular items kept for family, a charity or the new tenant, tell us at the survey and they are separated before anything is loaded.

Recycling second. Metal, wood, cardboard, paper, textiles and electrical goods are separated for recycling. Electricals and fridges are handled separately from general waste because they have to be.

Licensed disposal last. What cannot be reused or recycled goes to a licensed transfer station. Sal Removals is an upper tier registered waste carrier, number CBDU469343, so the waste is carried and tipped legally, which matters because a householder is responsible for where their waste ends up even after a company has taken it away. A firm that quotes a price too good to be true is often a firm that fly-tips, and the fine lands on the householder.

Household recycling centres are not part of our route because they refuse trade waste. If you want to take a small amount yourself, Barnet residents can use Summers Lane Reuse and Recycling Centre on Porters Lane, North Finchley N12 0RF, open daily 9am to 4pm with the gates closing at 3.45pm. Vans need booking 24 hours ahead with proof of residency, and are limited to six visits a year. Brent residents have Abbey Road Reuse and Recycling Centre in Park Royal, NW10 7TJ, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, where a van is treated as trade and has to be registered first. For anything more than a car boot of bags, the numbers below are usually cheaper than the day it takes.

How it works

1. Survey. You call 020 3475 0377 or send the form, and we book a free survey. We walk the property with you and agree what stays and what goes. Whole-house clearances and anything larger than a two-bed are surveyed in person; a single room or garage can often be quoted from a phone call.
2. Quote. You get a fixed written price for the whole job, including labour, vans and disposal.
3. Booking. You pick a date. We work Monday to Sunday, 8am to 8pm, and same-day is possible for smaller jobs when a van is free.
4. Clearance day. Our own team arrives in our own branded vans, sets aside anything you have marked to keep, dismantles what will not fit through the door, and loads room by room. Carpets can come up if you want them gone.
5. Sort and dispose. Reusable items are separated, recycling is separated, and the remainder goes to a licensed transfer station.
6. Handover. The rooms are swept and the property is left empty, ready for the agent, the landlord or the estate.

A typical job

A two-bed 1930s semi off Kingsbury Road, cleared for an executor before the house went to market. The family had already taken what they wanted, which left a full loft, three bedrooms of furniture, a garage of tools and paint tins, and forty years of paperwork. Survey on the Tuesday, fixed quote that evening, clearance the following Monday.

Two people and one van cleared the ground floor and loft in the morning. The double wardrobes were dismantled on the landing. Working white goods and a dining set were set aside for reuse, the paperwork went for confidential recycling, and the paint tins stayed on the shelf for the family to take to a council centre, because paint is the one thing we do not carry. The house was swept and handed back the same afternoon, priced in the whole three-bed band above.

Where we work

Kingsbury, Wembley, Harrow, Edgware, Finchley and Barnet are the home patch, with regular work across north and north-west London and into Hertfordshire. See removals in Barnet and removals in Kingsbury for the local pages, and house removals, storage and waste removal for the services that usually sit alongside a clearance. If the clearance is part of your own move, the admin guide on changing the address on your passport covers the paperwork people forget. There is also a step-by-step read on how house clearance works.

Why people choose Sal Removals for clearance

Checkatrade member. Fully insured, with a professionally trained team, our own branded vans, and a registered waste carrier carrying the waste. You deal with one company from survey to empty rooms.

Call 020 3475 0377 for a same-week survey, or get a free quote online.