The enquiry that came in for PO18 was the ordinary sort — a whole property out in the villages north-west of the city to be emptied, and nobody in the family with the time or the back to do it themselves. What we wrote back is what we write to anyone asking about a house clearance in Chichester. A Luton furniture van and three of our staff, at the door for nine in the morning. The property is normally cleared by the end of that same day. No preparation needed at the customer's end. As the reply put it, word for word: "There is no need to box or bag anything up."
The rest of it was just as plain. "Our friendly staff will clear everything from inside cupboards, wardrobes, drawers, they will take up carpets and underlay and sweep right through the property as well if required." If the house turns out to be more cluttered than anyone expected, we don't down tools and rebook. We carry on the same day and run extra loads until the rooms are empty. And nobody has to stand about supervising: keys can come from an estate agent, a neighbour or a key safe, photographs of the cleared property get emailed over afterwards, and anything of sentimental value can be picked out and posted on.
That is roughly what a house clearance in this corner of West Sussex looks like when it goes well. Most of them do.
How a house clearance in Chichester runs
Nine o'clock start, because the day is long enough as it is and the lanes round here are slower than the map suggests. The team walks the property with whoever is there, agrees what's going and what's staying, and starts at the far end — usually the room that has been shut for longest. Lofts and outbuildings come before the furniture, because that's the part that decides whether the job is one load or three. Carpets and underlay come up last, once there's nothing standing on them.
For a figure, ring the office on 0800 046 5555, or send photographs through the form on this page. Room by room is best, plus the loft hatch, the garage and whatever is behind the shed door. The quote is free and doesn't commit you to anything, and we'd sooner talk it through on the phone than guess from one picture of a lounge.
Three loads out of a bungalow near Selsey
Down the Manhood Peninsula in PO20 we cleared a property at Selsey that looked modest from the kerb and turned out to be anything but. First load, then two more the same day, with a pair of mattresses out of it as well. Booked and settled from an address up in Berkshire, not from anyone in Sussex — the person instructing us never set foot in the county while the work was done, which is more common than people assume.
Selsey does this. A lot of the housing down there is single storey, with a loft hatch nobody has opened since the eighties, a garage along the side and a shed behind it, and between them the outbuildings can hold more than the house does. It's also a long thin run of road in and out, so a three-load day at the tip end of the peninsula is a different proposition from a three-load day inside the city walls. We start early and we don't book anything tight behind it.
Mattresses are one of the few things that can't simply be thrown on the load with everything else. They are kept separate and taken to a facility that will handle them. That is why they're always worth mentioning when you first ring.
Probate house clearance in Chichester
Quite a lot of our work here is instructed by executors rather than by the person who lived in the house. What we tell them at the outset is this, and it hasn't changed in years: "In the sad event the clearance is due to the bereavement and probate are dealing with the matter, we can invoice solicitors, power of attorney or executors of the estate." So the bill doesn't have to land on one relative. It can be settled from the estate itself.
A probate house clearance in Chichester rarely runs to anyone's convenience. The house is often two or three counties from whoever is dealing with it, the sale is waiting on the clearance, and the executor is trying to fit a day in Sussex around a job. You don't have to be there at all. Keys from the agent or a neighbour, photographs of every empty room by email afterwards, and anything with sentimental weight set aside rather than binned. If probate is still in progress and the timing is uncertain, tell us — we'd rather hold a date loosely than have you rush it.
Houses packed to the ceiling are ordinary work for us, not a special case, and we handle them the same way we handle any other hoarder house clearance — steadily, without commentary. If it genuinely needs two days we say so before we start, not halfway through the second afternoon. More on the estate side is on our probate house clearance page.
Garage and loft clearance in Chichester
Half the volume in a village property is never in the house. A garage and loft clearance in Chichester is often the whole job in miniature. Paint tins on a shelf since the last decorating. A mower that stopped running years ago. Roof timbers hung with boxes that were sorted once and never opened again. The garage and loft go out with everything else on the same day where we can get to them — the exception is a loft with no proper ladder, which slows everything down, so it's worth saying on the phone. Sheds, greenhouses and the contents of a lean-to fall under the same booking. If it's only the outbuildings and not the house, that's fine too, and so is a single heavy item; for smaller amounts our house rubbish removal service is usually the better fit.
What happens to the contents
Nothing goes straight in a hole in the ground if it can be helped. We use licensed recycling centres, and we aim to keep items out of landfill where there's any life left in them — furniture, crockery, tools and books go to charities or straight back into use rather than into a skip. Waste transfer notes can be provided on request; you only have to ask, and it's worth asking if the property is part of an estate and you want the paperwork tidy.
We're registered with the Environment Agency as an upper tier waste carrier under CBDU419679, and we carry insurance for the work and for the property while we're in it. The firm has been doing this since 2007.
Padded furniture is the one that surprises people. Since the rules on persistent organic pollutants changed, sofas, sofa beds, armchairs, padded dining and office chairs, footstools and beanbags all have to be kept apart from general waste and sent for incineration, because of the flame retardants in the foam. Fridges, freezers and chest freezers are hazardous waste and go a separate route again. Tins of paint, patio gas bottles, car batteries, old garden chemicals and asbestos sheeting can't ride in an ordinary clearance load at all — we'll tell you where they can go instead. If cash, jewellery or documents surface in a drawer while the team is working, they're put to one side and handed to whoever booked the job. Happens more often than you'd think.
The postcodes we cover from here
PO19 is the city itself, and around it we work PO18 through the Bosham, Funtington, Lavant, Boxgrove and Westbourne villages, and PO20 out to Selsey, Sidlesham, Birdham and the Witterings. That's Chichester District Council for most of it, with West Sussex County Council running the household waste site at Westhampnett.
Chichester railway station sits on the West Coastway line between Fishbourne and Barnham, which is how a good number of executors arrive — down from London Victoria, meet the team at nine, catch a train back in the afternoon with the house empty behind them. Midhurst and Petworth have no railway at all since the old line went, so everything up there comes in by road over the Downs, and we build the extra half hour into the day rather than turning up late.
We work the neighbouring towns as well, and several have their own pages: house clearance in Bognor Regis along the coast east of here, house clearance in Midhurst north of the Downs, and house clearance in Fareham over the Hampshire border. Arundel and Emsworth are within a normal day too.
Parking, lanes and the awkward bits
Tell us on the phone what the access is like and the day goes smoothly. In the streets inside the city walls, and around the Hornet and St Pancras, a Luton often can't get within thirty yards of the door, which means carrying — that's fine, but it eats time, so we'd sooner know beforehand. The lanes out towards Bepton, Cocking and West Dean are narrow with high banks and passing places, and a big van meeting a tractor is a slow negotiation. Selsey has essentially one road in and out, so we start early. If a permit or a suspended bay is needed, that's worth arranging before the date; if a fine gets picked up because there was nowhere legal to stand, nobody enjoys that conversation.
Getting it in the diary
Ring the office on 0800 046 5555 with the postcode, the size of the property, whether there's a loft, garage, shed or garden to include, and anything heavy or awkward — a piano, a stair lift, a full workshop. Or send photographs through the form on this page and we'll come back to you. We usually need a day or two's notice, we start at nine, and most jobs are finished the same day.
Questions we get asked about house clearance in Chichester
Do I need to be at the property? No. Keys can come from an estate agent, a neighbour or a key safe, and we email photographs of every room once it's empty. Items of sentimental value can be set aside and posted on.
Can you handle a probate house clearance in Chichester if I live away? Yes, and it's routine. Where probate is being dealt with we can invoice the solicitor, an attorney or the executors of the estate directly, so it's settled from the estate rather than out of one relative's pocket.
Do I have to sort or pack anything first? No. The team empties cupboards, wardrobes and drawers, lifts carpets and underlay where you want them gone, and sweeps through at the end.
What can't you take away? Paint, gas bottles, car batteries, garden chemicals and asbestos can't travel in a clearance load. Fridges, freezers and upholstered furniture are handled separately by law — they still go, they just go a different route. We'll tell you what's what when you ring.
Which areas around Chichester do you cover? PO19 in the city, PO18 through the villages, and PO20 down the Manhood Peninsula, plus the neighbouring towns linked above. If you're not sure whether your postcode falls inside, ring and ask.
Can I get a waste transfer note? Yes, on request. We use licensed recycling centres and we're registered with the Environment Agency as an upper tier waste carrier under CBDU419679.
