House clearance checklist
The first group exists because things get thrown away that cannot be replaced. Search before you sort, sort before you clear, and do it with someone else present.
46 items
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
The items
- Before anything leaves
- Confirm who has the legal authority to clear the property
- Agree with the family what happens to anything contested
- Photograph each room before you touch it
- Check insurance still covers an empty property
- Find the meter readings and the keys to everything
- Search first
- Inside books, especially the ones nobody would read
- Coat and trouser pockets
- The freezer and the back of the airing cupboardCash in freezers is a cliché because it keeps being true.
- Under drawer linings and mattresses
- Biscuit tins, sewing boxes and old handbags
- Behind and under wardrobes
- The loft, the shed and the garage
- Set aside
- Documents and anything with an official stamp
- Photographs, letters and albums — sort these last, never on the day
- Jewellery, watches and coins
- Medals, certificates and service records
- Anything with a name written on it
- Keys you cannot identify
- Sorting
- Four routes: family, sell, donate, dispose
- One room at a time, finished before starting the next
- Label every box with the room and the route
- Get a valuation before selling anything unusual
- Return borrowed and rented items — mobility aids, equipment, library books
- Dispose of medicines through a pharmacy
- Clearing
- Book a clearance firm or a skip, with a date
- Check what they will not take — paint, fridges, mattresses
- Charity collections booked for the larger furniture
- Electricals for recycling
- Garden waste and the shed
- Closing the house
- Final meter readings, photographed
- Utilities, phone and broadband closed
- Post redirected
- Water off and heating set to protect the pipes if it stands empty
- All keys collected and counted
- Locks changed if you cannot account for a set
- Look after yourself
- Never do it alone
- Half-days, not full ones
- Keep one thing that has no value at all
- Stop when you stop being able to decide
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- What should I look for before clearing a house?
- Documents, cash and jewellery hidden in books, coat pockets, freezers and biscuit tins. A generation that did not trust banks hid things, and clearance firms find them too late.
- How long does it take?
- Longer than the diary says, because it is not physical work. Plan in half-days with two people, and stop when you stop being able to make decisions.