Hythe is a CT21 town of long-lived-in houses, and that shapes most of the work. Victorian and Edwardian terraces climbing away from the High Street, seafront flats along Marine Parade, interwar semis up towards Saltwood, bungalows spreading west towards the Marsh. The house clearance in Hythe we get asked for usually follows a death, a move into care or a sale. The person ringing us is very often a relative or an executor living somewhere else entirely. We have been doing this since 2007, we hold a waste carrier licence. We are insured for the work and for the property while we are in it.
A two-bedroom end terrace, cleared in a day
One from October 2022 that shows the shape of a normal day. A two-bed end terrace, empty, instructed by a relative who was not going to be there. The booking notes were about as clear as we ever get them: "2 double beds 3 wardrobes 2 chest drawers. 5 piece sofa 2 sideboard 5 dining chairs 1 table 1 display cabinet. Various clothing and brick a brak."
Access was written out for us before we asked, which saves everybody a phone call: "There are no parking restrictions and you can park on grass outside house if access available. Otherwise it is 10 metres to road." Ten metres is nothing. Ten metres uphill with a five-piece sofa in the rain is a different sentence. It was a flat carry and the grass held.
Two mattresses came out of the bedrooms. Mattresses need their own recycling route rather than being absorbed into a general load, so they travel separately. The notes had said no hazardous waste and no fridge freezer. In the event the large fridge turned out to be integrated. It could not be removed and it stayed exactly where it was. And there were two televisions and 77 tins of paint. Nobody ever counts the tins in their own house. Paint cannot go on a general load with the furniture, so those had to be separated out and dealt with under their own rules.
There was a bit of back and forth beforehand too, because the person instructing us had not been inside recently: "I was under the belief they had already been removed as they were not there last month ?" That is normal when somebody is organising a clearance from a distance, and it is exactly why we ask for photographs rather than a description. When it was finished the keys went back to the estate agent and we sent photographs of the empty rooms across. The family could see what state it had been left in without making the journey.
Sorting, reuse and the transfer station
Anything still usable we route to a reuse project or a charity shop rather than a skip. Around here the furniture and bric-a-brac shops in Hythe and Folkestone will take a surprising amount if it is clean and not broken. What can't be reused is sorted and tipped at a permitted transfer station, and every load leaves a paper trail. Waste transfer notes on request, at any point, including months later when a solicitor asks. We hold waste carrier licence CBDU419679 with the Environment Agency and we are insured for the work and for the property while we are in it. Kent County Council runs the household waste site over at Folkestone for residents' own carloads, but a firm clearing on your behalf can't use it. Trade waste has to go through a commercial facility, with the transfer notes to prove it, and that paperwork is a large part of what separates a licensed firm from a man with a van.
The postcodes and places we cover from here
Hythe itself sits in CT21, and we work the whole spread around it: CT20 for Sandgate and the western side of Folkestone, CT19 across the rest of the town, CT18 up through Densole, Etchinghill and Lyminge, TN28 for New Romney, TN29 across Romney Marsh, Dymchurch, Lydd and out to Lydd-on-Sea, and TN25 for Aldington and the villages towards Ashford. Hythe has no mainline station of its own — Sandling, up the hill towards Saltwood, is the nearest. Folkestone West and Folkestone Central a few minutes further on the Ashford line. The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway runs from the town out across the Marsh. Is charming and completely useless for moving furniture. The district is Folkestone and Hythe, the county is Kent. If you are calling about a probate property you have inherited and have not seen for years, that combination of postcodes is the one to give us on the phone.
Several of the towns around here have pages of their own, so if the property is not actually in CT21 you may want one of those instead: house clearance in Folkestone just over the hill, house clearance in Ashford inland along the railway, house clearance in Dover further round the coast, and house clearance in Broadstairs up on Thanet.
The access question
Marine Parade and the roads off the seafront are straightforward. The lanes climbing away from the High Street towards the church are not. Narrow, steep, cars parked both sides, and a Luton box van needs a plan before it needs a driver. The Royal Military Canal bridges are the other pinch point; a couple of the crossings are tight enough that we walk the route first if we don't know it. In the older terraces we sometimes park a short walk away and barrow the loads down, which does mean the day runs longer. We would rather know in advance. Out on the Marsh it is the opposite problem: long single-track approaches, soft verges. Turning space that only exists if you reverse the whole way in. Tell us if the drive is gravel over clay. We have been stuck.
The kinds of house clearance in Hythe we are asked for
Most jobs are one of about five things, and it helps to know which one you are ringing about.
Probate house clearance in Hythe
The bulk of it. A probate house clearance in Hythe is normally instructed by an executor or a solicitor rather than by anyone who lives in the town. Often nobody has been through the house properly since the funeral. We work to whatever the grant of probate requires: clear everything, clear all but a named list, or leave the carpets and curtains for the buyer. Nothing gets thrown out blind — cash, jewellery, documents, photographs and papers that look like they matter are set aside for whoever is collecting. If you need waste transfer notes for the estate file, ask and they follow the invoice.
Flat clearance in CT21
The seafront blocks and the converted houses behind the High Street throw up the same problems every time: stairs, a turn on the landing, no lift. A communal door that has to stay shut. Wardrobes come apart upstairs and go down in pieces. A one-bedroom flat clearance in CT21 is usually inside the day, and we sweep through afterwards.
Garage and loft clearance in Hythe
More houses than you would think are three-quarters empty downstairs and completely full above and behind. A garage and loft clearance in Hythe is the job people underestimate most: the loft that has not been opened since the boys left home. The garage with a workbench bolted to the brickwork that has to come off the wall before it will move. If there is a garage, a loft, a shed or a garden to include, say so when you ring. It changes how many loads the day needs.
End of tenancy clearance in Hythe
Landlords and managing agents ring us between tenancies, usually at short notice, sometimes with the keys held by a neighbour or left in an agent's office. An end of tenancy clearance in Hythe is normally furniture, white goods and whatever was left in the cupboards, and the property handed back swept.
Getting a figure, and who we invoice
We do not put figures on this page, because the honest answer depends on what is actually in the house. Ring the office on 0800 046 5555 with the postcode, the number of bedrooms and whether there is a loft, garage or shed, or send photographs through the form on this page. You will get a figure back for the job, free and with nothing to sign.
On probate work we invoice the solicitor, the executor or the administrator directly. You do not have to fund it personally and then claim it back. Payment can come out of the estate. There is no deposit: we do the work first and the invoice follows. Matters when probate has not yet been granted and the estate accounts are not open.
What we won't put on the van
Paint, thinners, gas cylinders, asbestos sheeting off an old garage roof, car batteries and clinical waste all have to be dealt with under separate rules. We will tell you on the phone rather than discover it on the day. Fridges and freezers carry refrigerant gas and go to a licensed treatment site. Upholstered sofas and armchairs fall under the persistent organic pollutant rules, which means a dedicated route rather than the general load. Same with the honest limits of a single van. We used to be too optimistic about what a three-bedroom house would fit into, and a complaint years back taught us to stop saying it. A full three-bed with a loft and a garage is rarely one trip, and it is better to hear that before you book than to be stood in the hallway at four o'clock arguing about it. Nine o'clock starts are what we aim for, though if the M20 is queuing at Ashford the team may knock on at half past.
Cluttered, overfilled and long-neglected houses
Some of the properties we clear have not been sorted in twenty or thirty years. Rooms you can only enter sideways and a kitchen nobody has cooked in for a decade. Hoarder house clearance in Hythe is handled without comment and without extra drama; the crew are used to it, they wear the right kit. The only practical difference is that the job takes more loads and sometimes a second day. Nothing gets thrown out blind here either — if you have asked us to look for something specific, such as letters or old family films, we go through drawers and boxes properly and put anything found to one side.
Common questions about house clearance in Hythe
How long does a house clearance in Hythe take? A two-bedroom house is usually a day. A three-bed with a full loft and garage often is not. We would rather say so when you ring than at four in the afternoon.
Can you invoice the solicitor or the executor? Yes. We invoice the solicitor, executor or administrator dealing with the estate directly, and payment can come from estate funds. There is no deposit, and the invoice follows the work rather than preceding it.
Do you clear the loft, garage and shed as well as the house? Yes, if you tell us they are there. Garage and loft contents are the commonest reason a day runs longer than expected.
What happens to things that are still usable? They go to a reuse project or a charity shop where we can place them. Only what cannot be reused goes to the transfer station.
Can you prove the waste was disposed of properly? Yes. We hold waste carrier licence CBDU419679 and can send waste transfer notes at any point, including long afterwards when an estate is being closed.
Do you cover the villages outside Hythe? Yes — Sandgate, Saltwood, Dymchurch, New Romney and across Romney Marsh, along with the CT18 villages up on the ridge.
How to book us
Ring us with the postcode, the number of bedrooms, whether there's a loft, garage, shed or garden to include, and anything awkward. A stairlift, a piano, no parking outside, a key held by a neighbour. We will give you a proper figure over the phone from that. We would rather revise it upwards on the phone than surprise you in the hallway. From Hythe, Sandgate, Saltwood, Dymchurch, New Romney or anywhere across Romney Marsh, we can usually offer a date within a few working days. The number is 0800 046 5555, or send photographs through the form on this page and we will come back to you.
