House clearance is what removal companies don't do — it's emptying a property of furniture, possessions and decades of accumulated stuff, sorting reusable from recyclable from landfill, and leaving the place broom-swept and ready for sale, let or onward use. In Cornwall the work is driven by three things: probate clearances after older residents pass on, downsizers selling family homes, and (newly in 2026) second-home and holiday-let owners exiting their portfolios after the FHL abolition. This is the honest guide to what it costs, what's involved, and how to choose a clearance firm that won't dump your inheritance in a hedge.
House clearance vs removal: the distinction
A removal company moves your stuff from A to B. A house clearance firm takes the stuff away — to charity, auction, recycling or licensed waste — and bills you for the labour and disposal. Some firms do both, but they're separate services priced differently.
- Use a remover if you're moving the contents to a new property (your own or someone else's)
- Use a clearance firm if you're disposing of contents because you don't want them, the deceased family member's estate doesn't want them, or the property is being sold furnished-as-seen
- Some firms can split: remove the furniture you're keeping to your new place, clear the rest. Two separate jobs, possibly two separate quotes.
Cornwall house clearance prices (2026 indicative)
Estimates from established Cornwall clearance operators for typical jobs. Final quotes depend hugely on volume, access, and how much is sellable vs landfill.
| Property size | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1-bed flat or bungalow | £300 – £600 | Half-day to a day, 1 lorry |
| 2-bed house or flat | £500 – £900 | Day job, 1-2 lorries |
| 3-bed house | £800 – £1,500 | 1-1.5 day job, 2-3 lorries |
| 4-bed house with garage and shed | £1,200 – £2,500 | 2 day job, 3-4 lorries |
| 5-bed / farmhouse / smallholding | £2,500+ | Multi-day, multiple vehicles |
| Probate clearance (typical Cornwall) | £600 – £1,500 | Adds inventory, separate valuables handling |
| Hoarded property / extreme volume | £2,000 – £8,000+ | Specialist firms, PPE, biohazard if relevant |
| Asbestos or hazardous waste | +£400 – £2,000 | Licensed disposal mandatory |
Probate clearance often runs 20-40% more than equivalent standard clearance because of the inventory, valuables handling and family liaison required. Hoarded properties (Cornwall sees genuinely difficult cases each year, often elderly residents with no family living nearby) need specialist firms and can run £5,000+.
What happens to the contents
A reputable clearance firm sorts into four streams:
1. Reusable / saleable (auction or charity)
Quality furniture, china, art, books, jewellery, electricals in working order. Either auctioned by the firm (some offset the clearance cost against auction proceeds — be careful with this arrangement, see below) or donated to a Cornwall charity. Common charity routes: British Heart Foundation furniture collection (Truro store), Children's Hospice South West, Cornwall Hospice Care.
2. Recyclable
White goods, electronics, scrap metal, batteries — taken to Cornwall Council recycling centres or specialist recyclers. WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) regulations require licensed disposal of fridges, TVs, computers — your clearance firm should be a registered WEEE carrier.
3. Landfill
Genuinely worthless or contaminated items. Tipping fees apply at Cornwall Council waste sites (Bodmin, Bude, Camborne, Connon Bridge, Falmouth, Helston, Liskeard, St Day, St Erth and other locations). Reputable firms factor this in; cowboys fly-tip in lanes and you can be held liable if it's traced back to you.
4. Hazardous waste
Asbestos (very common in older Cornish properties: garage roofs, lagging, Artex ceilings), paints, oils, chemicals, fluorescent tubes. Licensed carrier and licensed disposal only. Most clearance firms will identify asbestos and quote separately for specialist removal — they're not allowed to bin-bag it.
The Cornwall Council bulky-waste alternative
For small clearances — say, one room of furniture — Cornwall Council operates a bulky-waste collection service. As of 2026, it's a paid service: typically £30-£60 for up to 3 items, with size and weight limits. Booking is online through the Cornwall Council website. Useful for small-scale clearance but not viable for whole-house jobs (the limit is around 3 items per booking, with restrictions on what's accepted).
You can also take items yourself to a Cornwall Council Household Waste Recycling Centre for free if you're a Cornwall resident and the volume fits in a domestic car or small van. Larger or commercial loads need a permit.
Probate clearance: the specifics
The legal context
When an estate is being administered, contents legally belong to the estate until probate is granted and beneficiaries take possession. Common arrangements:
- Executor identifies items to be retained by family, distributed per the will, or sold
- Probate valuation may be needed for HMRC (Inheritance Tax) — see below
- Remaining contents are cleared so the property can be sold
Probate valuation
If the estate is liable for Inheritance Tax (above the nil-rate band, currently £325,000, or higher with the residence nil-rate band of £175,000), HMRC requires a valuation of contents. The standard is "market value" — what items would realise at sale. House clearance firms can provide a written probate valuation (£100-£300 typical) or you can use an auctioneer (often Cornwall auction houses do this routinely).
For Cornwall: Lay's of Penzance, Bonhams (Cornwall), David Lay Fine Art, and various smaller auctioneers handle probate valuations. Some clearance firms partner with auctioneers — useful, but check independence (does the auctioneer benefit from low valuations?).
Family liaison
Good probate clearance firms:
- Walk through with the executor before quoting
- Photograph or inventory items as they go
- Flag any item that might have value (paintings, jewellery, antiques, ephemera)
- Give the family a chance to keep specific items even after work has started
- Provide a written summary of what was found, kept, sold, donated, recycled and disposed
Sentimental items
Before clearance begins, the family should:
- Walk the house and tag anything to be retained (sticky notes, room labelled "DO NOT CLEAR")
- Take photos of rooms before clearance — useful for memory and inheritance disputes
- Check pockets of coats, drawers, under mattresses for cash, documents, jewellery, letters
- Identify family papers (birth and marriage certificates, photo albums, war records) for retention
- Inform the clearance firm of any specific items in writing
Cornwall second-home and holiday-let clearance
A new market in 2026: second-home owners and holiday-let portfolios selling up post-FHL abolition (6 April 2025) and Cornwall's 100% second-home council tax premium (from April 2025). These clearances differ from typical probate or downsizing jobs:
- Furniture is often higher quality than family-home clearance — holiday lets are restocked regularly with newer mid-range pieces
- White goods are usually working and recent
- Soft furnishings are often less worn — holiday let occupants don't bond with sofas
- Less sentimental value means easier disposal decisions
- Re-saleable to other holiday-let operators via Facebook Marketplace, eBay, dedicated holiday-let resale groups
See our companion piece on the FHL abolition exit guide for the regulatory context.
How to choose a clearance firm
The licensed-carrier check
Any firm carrying waste in the UK must be a registered Waste Carrier with the Environment Agency. Check via the EA's public register at environment.data.gov.uk — search by company name or registration number. Unregistered carriers are illegal, often fly-tip, and you can be jointly liable.
Insurance
- Public liability insurance (£2m minimum)
- Employer's liability if they have staff
- Goods in transit if they're carrying items to auction
References and reviews
Cornwall is a small county — word travels. Ask for references from recent local jobs. Google reviews, Trustpilot, and the Federation of Master Cleaners (FOMC) member lists are useful. Be wary of firms with very few reviews or all 5-star reviews dated in the same week (manufactured).
The auction-offset trap
Some firms offer "free clearance" in exchange for keeping all sale proceeds at auction. This is fine for clearances with no sentimental or valuable contents, but be wary if:
- The family hasn't had a proper walkthrough first
- There's no written agreement about what counts as "sale proceeds"
- The firm controls the auction (not independent)
- You don't see itemised auction results
Better: get a written clearance quote AND an independent valuation. If the items go to auction, you keep the proceeds; if the auction doesn't cover the clearance cost, you pay the balance. Transparent.
Written quote essentials
- Scope: rooms, garage, shed, loft, garden
- What's included: labour, disposal, vehicles, tip fees
- What's excluded: asbestos, hazardous materials, garden waste
- Auction/sale arrangement if applicable
- Payment terms: deposit, balance, methods
- Insurance and waste carrier license number
- Timeline: when can they start, how long will it take
- What's the property handover state: broom-swept? professionally cleaned?
The process from quote to keys
Stage 1: Survey and quote
Walk-through of the property with the clearance firm. They assess volume, access, special items (asbestos, large furniture, hazardous waste), and any items they'd like to handle separately (sellable, charity-suitable). Written quote follows within 24-72 hours.
Stage 2: Family walkthrough (if probate)
Before work begins, executor and family walk through tagging items to keep. Clear written list provided to the firm.
Stage 3: Inventory and sorting
Crew arrives, starts room by room. Inventory photographs as they go. Items are sorted into the four streams (reuse, recycle, landfill, hazardous). Family-flagged items are set aside.
Stage 4: Removal
Multiple lorry loads typically. Standard waste to recycling centre; auction-bound items to auction storage; charity items to charity store; landfill to licensed waste site. WEEE items separately. Each load is tracked.
Stage 5: Final clear and clean
House is broom-swept. Some firms offer end-of-tenancy or pre-sale cleaning as add-on (carpets, windows, kitchen and bathroom deep clean). Useful if the property is being sold immediately.
Stage 6: Sign-off and paperwork
Written summary of what was found, kept, donated, sold, recycled, disposed. Waste transfer notes if requested. Auction results if applicable. Final invoice and (for probate) valuation if requested.
Cornwall-specific access considerations
Same access issues that affect removals affect clearance:
- Narrow lanes: A 7.5-tonne tipper truck can't reach many Cornish cottages. Shuttle vehicles add time and cost.
- Listed buildings: Granite cottages with Grade II listings need care with floor protection, doorway approach.
- Coastal cottages: Exposed properties, wind during loading, possible salt-corrosion on metal items reducing scrap value.
- Farms and smallholdings: Often larger volume, agricultural machinery and animal feed residues, asbestos in older barns.
- Holiday parks and static caravans: Restricted access hours, site rules for vehicles.
What you can do to reduce the cost
- Pre-sort before the firm arrives. Anything you can bag up for charity shops, take photos for online sale, or drop at the tip yourself saves the firm's labour time.
- Use Cornwall Council bulky waste for small items (3-item bookings) — cheaper than full clearance for limited volume.
- Sell sellable items separately. Quality furniture, working appliances, and decent electricals fetch real money on Facebook Marketplace, eBay or Cornwall's local sale groups. The clearance firm will dispose; you might earn.
- Donate quality items to charity. British Heart Foundation, Cornwall Hospice Care and Children's Hospice South West will collect quality furniture for free.
- Don't pay for items the firm could sell. A good clearance firm offsets sellable items against the price; ensure this is in writing.
Avoiding fly-tip cowboys
Cornwall has a fly-tipping problem. Lanes off the A30 and across the moors regularly see dumped sofas, mattresses and white goods — sometimes traceable to legitimate-looking but unlicensed "clearance" operators. Risks of using an unlicensed firm:
- Items dumped illegally; the EA can trace and prosecute you (the householder) under "duty of care" rules
- Fines up to £5,000 (and now potentially higher under updated waste enforcement)
- No insurance if anything goes wrong on the job
- Quality items sold for cash without proper auction recourse — you don't see the money
Always check the EA waste carrier register before booking. Always.
Ready to get a clearance quote?
For removal needs (moving contents, not clearing them), submit your details for Cornwall remover quotes. For clearance specifically, our vetted partner firms include licensed waste carriers — mention "house clearance" in the message field. See also our related guides: downsizing in Cornwall, moving to Cornwall, and selling up after FHL abolition.