Clearing a council house after a death
Most councils and housing associations give about four weeks to clear a home once a tenant has died, and the rent keeps running until the keys go back. We can usually clear a council flat within days, seven days a week, from £495 for a one-bed.
One-bed flats from £495 • two-bed from £750 • keys returned for you • pay on the day
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The short answer
- You usually get about four weeks. Once the landlord serves notice, Shelter England says you usually have about four weeks to clear the property, and a notice to quit needs at least four weeks (Citizens Advice covers the tenancy side).
- Rent keeps running until the keys go back. It is normally charged to the estate, so every extra week costs the estate money.
- You can ask for more time. Many councils and housing associations will agree an extension or a fixed surrender date. Ask in writing.
- We can clear it within days, seven days a week: a one-bed flat from £495, a two-bed from £750, confirmed after a free survey from photos, keys handed back for you if you like.
Clearing a council house after a death, step by step
- Tell the landlord. Anyone can report the death to the council or housing association. Note who you spoke to and when. They will usually ask for a copy of the death certificate.
- Check whether anyone can take over the tenancy. If a spouse, partner or relative lived there, they may be able to succeed to it. Raise this before anything is cleared.
- Agree how the tenancy ends. Usually the landlord serves a notice. Shelter England says you can also agree a surrender, which is an agreed end date after which no more rent is due, or give a notice to quit.
- Get the landlord’s clearing checklist. Ask what must go and what must stay: carpets, curtains, white goods, sheds and anything the tenant fitted.
- Take out what the family is keeping, plus the papers, photographs and valuables. We can help with this on the day.
- Book the clearance to finish a few days before the deadline, so there is time for the landlord’s inspection.
- Return every key and get written confirmation of the end date, so the estate is not charged beyond it.
Can someone take over the tenancy? Succession in 60 seconds
- Joint tenant? The tenancy passes automatically to the other named tenant.
- Husband, wife, civil partner or partner who lived there as their main home usually has the first right to succeed.
- Other family members (children, siblings, carers) can usually only succeed if the tenancy agreement allows it, and for some tenancies that started before 1 April 2012 they must have lived there for at least a year.
- Usually only once. Most council tenancies can be passed on one time only, and that includes a joint tenant taking over.
If anyone may have a claim, tell the landlord before anything is cleared. Sources: Shelter England on succession rights and Citizens Advice on staying in a council home. This is general information, not legal advice.
Template letter: agree the tenancy end date with the council
Put it in writing. A letter like this fixes the end date, asks for more time if you need it, and stops rent running on after the keys go back. Copy it, fill in the brackets and send it by email and post:
[Your name]
[Your address]
[Your phone and email]
[Date]
[Housing officer’s name, if known]
[Council or housing association]
[Address]
Re: [Tenant’s full name], [property address], tenancy reference [number]
Dear [Name or Sir/Madam],
I am writing as [the executor / next of kin / the person dealing with the estate] of [tenant’s full name], who died on [date]. A copy of the death certificate is enclosed.
No one is seeking to succeed to this tenancy. [Or: Please note that (name) lived at the property and may have a right to succeed.]
I would like to agree that the tenancy will end on [date], and that I will return all keys to [office or address] on or before that date. [If you need more time: Because (reason), I would be grateful if you could agree to an end date of (date).]
Please confirm in writing: (1) the agreed end date; (2) your checklist of what must be removed and anything that must be left, such as carpets or fixtures; and (3) any rent you say is due from the estate, and to whom it should be sent.
Please send all correspondence about the estate to me at the address above.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name]
Once the date is agreed, book the clearance to finish two or three days before it, so there is time for the inspection. We can hand the keys back for you.
Is there a free council house clearance after a death?
It is one of the most searched questions about this, and the honest answer is: almost never for the whole house. These are the routes that are genuinely free, and the ones that only look free:
| Route | Free? | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| The landlord clears what is left | Usually not | Many landlords clear belongings left after the keys go back, then recharge the estate, so you lose control of what goes and of the price |
| Charity furniture collection (BHF and others) | Yes, for resaleable items | Good-condition furniture and electricals with fire labels. Book early, because collection dates can be a week or more out |
| Council bulky waste | Sometimes free once a year | A few items left at the kerb on a set date. It will not empty a flat |
| Family tip runs | Free at the tip (not your time) | Household waste sites are free for residents with a car, but most need a permit for vans and limit DIY waste |
| Local reuse and furniture projects | Often free | Some local furniture projects collect usable items for people setting up home. Search your borough’s reuse network |
The cheapest approach usually combines them: charity collection for the good pieces, family takes what they want, then a single paid clearance for everything else. Because what is left is smaller, it is often a band cheaper. If the estate has little or no money, tell the housing officer early. Some will be flexible on the date or the checklist.
Who pays: rent, the clearance and any charges
Citizens Advice says the landlord has to claim rent from the estate of the person who died. The same goes for the clearance: it is a cost of the estate, paid by the executor or the person sorting things out, and claimable from the estate if a relative pays first. Keep the receipt.
Relatives are not usually personally liable just because they are family. The exceptions are a joint tenant, a guarantor, and someone who stays on in the home after the date the landlord set, who may be charged "use and occupation" charges. If you are not sure, Citizens Advice and Shelter both have free helplines.
What a council house clearance costs
The same as any other clearance. There is nothing extra because it is a council property:
| Property | Our price | Typical council home |
|---|---|---|
| Single room | from £195 | A bedsit or studio, or a part-cleared flat |
| One-bed flat | from £495 | Most council and housing association flats |
| Two-bed home | from £750 | Two-bed flats and maisonettes |
| Three-bed house | from £1,095 | Three-bed council houses with a garden and shed |
Upper floors with no lift add carrying time, and sofas (£44), mattresses (£33) and fridges or freezers (£55) each carry a published eco fee. Every figure is a from price, confirmed after a free survey (photos, a video call or a visit), and we fix the price before we start. Every factor is explained in our house clearance cost guide.
How we clear inside the deadline
- A free survey the same day from photos or a video call, and a price back, usually within the hour, fixed before we start.
- A date that beats the deadline, seven days a week, 7am to 10pm, with time left for the landlord’s inspection.
- Your keep list first. Papers, photos, cash, jewellery and anything the family wants are set aside and never loaded.
- Cleared to the landlord’s checklist, including the loft, the shed and the garden, then swept through.
- Keys handed back for you if you are far away, with photos of the empty home for your records.
If the flat was the home of a parent, our bereavement and probate house clearance page covers the wider picture: probate, care moves and what to keep. For a whole-house job elsewhere, see our house clearance service.
House clearance prices
Priced by the size of the property and how full it is, with labour, transport and disposal included. Every figure is a from price, confirmed after a free survey from photos, a video call or a visit.
One bedroom, box room or a cleared-out lounge.
A full one-bedroom flat cleared and swept.
A typical two-bedroom house or larger flat.
A typical three-bedroom family house, loft and garden included.
Four bedrooms or more, or a large, very full property.
Every price is a from price, subject to survey: we confirm it after a free survey (photos, a video call or a visit) and fix it before we start — no hidden fees.
How it works
Free survey
We assess the property in person or from photos and a short video.
Fixed quote
You get one all-in price — labour, transport and disposal included.
Careful clearance
We clear room by room, setting aside anything you want to keep.
Left clean
The property is emptied, swept and handed back ready to re-let.
Council house clearance after a death: your questions answered
How long do you have to clear a council house after a death?
Usually about four weeks from when the landlord serves notice to end the tenancy, according to Shelter England. Rent is normally charged to the estate during that time. If you need longer, ask, because many councils and housing associations will agree extra time or a fixed surrender date.
Is there a free council house clearance after a death?
Rarely, and do not count on one. Some landlords will clear what is left after the keys go back, but they normally recharge the estate, often at a higher rate. Free help does exist for parts of the job: charities such as the British Heart Foundation collect resaleable furniture free, and family can do a tip run. For the rest, our clearance starts from £195.
Who pays the rent and the clearance after a council tenant dies?
The estate, normally. Citizens Advice says the landlord has to claim rent from the estate of the person who died. Relatives are not usually personally liable unless they were a joint tenant, a guarantor, or stayed on past the date they were told to leave, when use and occupation charges can apply.
What does the council mean by "cleared"?
Usually that all belongings, furniture, rubbish and anything left in the loft, shed and garden are gone, and the keys are returned. Ask about carpets, curtains, white goods and fixtures added by the tenant, because some landlords want them out and others ask you to leave them. We clear exactly what the landlord’s checklist says.
Can a relative take over the council tenancy?
Sometimes. This is called succession. A spouse, civil partner or partner who lived there usually has the strongest claim, and some relatives can qualify depending on the tenancy and when it started. Tell the landlord straight away if someone lived with the tenant, before anything is cleared.
How quickly can you clear a council flat?
Usually within a few days of the call, often the same week, seven days a week. Most council flats are a one-bed (from £495) or two-bed (from £750) clearance, subject to survey, done in one visit, and we hand the keys back to the housing office if you ask us to.
Do I have to be there?
No. We can collect keys from you, a neighbour or the housing office, clear to an agreed keep list, and send photos of the empty flat for the landlord.
Where we clear houses
House, flat and probate clearances across Hillingdon, South Bucks and west London from our Uxbridge (UB8) base — Hayes, Gerrards Cross, Denham, West Drayton, Ruislip, Northwood, Feltham, Ealing and Hounslow. We do the lifting and sweep up after.
What the price includes — and what it doesn't
The most common complaint about clearance companies is a price that grows once the van is loaded. So here is the whole of ours, before you book, including the parts that cost extra.
Included in the price we quote
No line of this is billed separately afterwards.
- Labour — the crew, the carrying and the loading.
- The van, the fuel and ULEZ — all in the price. The Congestion Charge is passed through at cost, only on jobs inside the zone on a charging day.
- Disposal and recycling of the load — the tipping cost is inside the price.
- Access from anywhere on the property — any room, up or down stairs, or out of the garden.
- VAT — the price you are shown is the price you pay.
- Waste transfer paperwork for your load, on request — so your duty of care is documented.
Priced separately, or not carried at all
Told to you up front, never discovered on the invoice.
- Upholstered seating and mattresses carry their own disposal fee, because the law forces them down a more expensive route than the rest of your load. The amount is on our pricing page before you book.
- Hazardous items — paint, chemicals, asbestos, tyres and gas bottles cannot travel in a general load and need a specialist route. We will tell you which one.
- Fridges, freezers and electricals have a separate WEEE route — flag them when you book so we arrive with the right van.
- Anything flammable, explosive, illegal, or alive — we cannot carry it, and we will say so before the day.
If there turns out to be more than we quoted for, you hear the new price before anything goes in the van — not once it is loaded, and not on the invoice. The same goes for access: tell us when you book if your street is permit-only or on a red route, or if the job is above the third floor with no lift, and we plan for it instead of pricing round it on the day.
What happens to your waste after we drive away
Most clearance companies stop this story at the word "recycled". Here is the actual route your load takes, including the part of it that nobody advertises.
It goes in by hand
Everything is carried out and loaded by the crew — from the room, the garden or the kerbside. What is in the load matters, because what is in it decides where it is legally allowed to go.
Sorted, not buried
The load goes to a licensed transfer station or recycling centre, where it is separated by material. It is not tipped straight into a hole in the ground.
Recovered by material
Metal, wood, cardboard, textiles and electricals are pulled out for recycling or recovery. Green waste is composted.
The bit nobody advertises
Upholstered furniture cannot be recycled at all. Since January 2023 the Environment Agency presumes every domestic sofa, armchair and padded dining chair contains persistent organic pollutants, so it must be kept apart from other waste and incinerated — never landfilled, never shredded for reuse. That law, not a markup, is why soft seating carries its own fee. Whatever is genuinely left after sorting goes to energy recovery.
- Metal
- Wood
- Cardboard & paper
- Textiles
- Electricals (WEEE)
- Green waste
We do not publish a recycling percentage. You will see "90% diverted from landfill" on a lot of clearance websites. The sorting happens at the transfer station, after our van has left, and we are not going to take credit for a figure we cannot evidence. What we can give you is the route your load takes and the paperwork for it — and if you want to check who handles it, ask us to identify the registered carrier for your collection and verify them on the Environment Agency public register before we load.
Proof, not adjectives
Anyone can type "trusted" and "reliable" onto a website. These are the things about us you can actually check.
We are a small London crew, not a national booking platform, and we are not going to pretend otherwise: we have 33 five-star reviews on Google and 3 on Yell. That is all of them. Every one is public, unedited and one tap away — which is worth rather more than a five-figure review count you have no way of reading.
House clearance guides
House clearance services
Full and part clearances, fixed price
Bereavement & probate clearance
Clearing a home after a death
Parent moving into care
What to take, the 12-week disregard
Hoarder house clearance
Discreet, no judgement, priced by volume
House clearance costs 2026
From prices, worked examples, skip, council and BHF compared
Related services
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Waste Removal
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Sofa & Mattress Disposal
Single bulky furniture and mattress removals.
Garden Waste Removal
Green waste and garden clear-outs.
Man and Van
Move belongings on the same visit, from £89/hr.
Storage Solutions
Store what you keep while you clear the rest.
Beat the council deadline
Send photos on WhatsApp or call for a free survey and a price today. We can usually clear within days, seven days a week.