House clearance in Solihull is most of what we do in this corner of the West Midlands, and it has been since 2007. Full houses, part-clearances, flats, garages, lofts — Shirley through to Knowle, and the villages out past Hockley Heath. Two of those jobs are written up below, properly, because a real day tells you more about how a firm works than a page of adjectives.
The garage was what caused the argument on the first one. September 2018, a house over on the Knowle side of the borough in B93, booked as a one-day job: team on site in the morning, whole house emptied, one Luton load out, and a small fridge freezer taken off separately because it counts as a regulated item and can't ride with the rest. The lads emptied the garage too, which was never in the original description. By the time that was on the van the van was full, so a few things were still standing in the hallway at the end. The customer wasn't happy, and said so plainly: "I do not know as a layperson how much weight and volume the designated vehicle can take. But with no wardrobes or double beds I'm surprised that there were items left"
Reasonable question, that. So we sent him the photographs of the packed van and the waste transfer note showing the weight that had actually gone through the gate. A Luton body has a fixed cube and a legal weight ceiling, and once you're at the ceiling you're done regardless of how much air is left above the load. Garages are the usual culprit round here — flagstones, half-bags of sand, a workbench, twenty years of tins. The team leader offered on the day to come back and run a second load that same afternoon and finish it off. He turned that down at the time, then felt it should have been dealt with in one. We'd rather have that conversation before the van leaves than after, which is why the written proposal says in plain terms that a single load isn't guaranteed, and why the office never asks anyone to empty a cupboard themselves before we arrive. That's included, always has been.
Flat clearance in Shirley, B90
A different sort of job in Shirley, B90, in the spring of 2020. First-floor flat in a purpose-built block, cleared and then cleaned to a three-bed standard afterwards, one mattress out and one fridge. The paperwork went off with a fridge freezer listed on it, and the customer came straight back: "It was only a fridge that was removed not a fridge-freezer." He was right. It was corrected and reissued the same day.
We've left that on the page deliberately, because it tells you two useful things about flat clearance in Solihull. First, cooling appliances are listed separately from everything else for a legal reason, not an arbitrary one: the refrigerant gas has to be removed by a licensed processor before the carcass can be stripped, so a fridge cannot simply be thrown in with the sofa. Same with mattresses, which most transfer sites now handle on their own line. Second, if the office gets a detail wrong, say so and it gets changed. Nothing is added after the fact without somebody telling you about it first.
Flats bring their own problems in this borough. The purpose-built blocks around B90 and B92 tend to have a single narrow staircase, a communal door that shuts behind you, and a car park where the residents' bays are all spoken for by nine. The team will walk the route before anything moves, and if there's a lift we'll check the internal dimensions rather than assume a wardrobe fits. Sheltered schemes usually want notice given to the scheme manager, and that's fine — tell the office when you book and we'll ring ahead.
Probate house clearance in Solihull
Plenty of the work in Solihull comes through families settling an estate rather than through the person who lived in the house. Probate house clearance is its own kind of day: slower at the start, because somebody usually wants a last look through the bureau, and quicker at the end once the decisions are made.
An executor living at a distance is the normal case, not the unusual one. Sons and daughters in Lancashire, Devon, Ireland, abroad — arranging a Solihull house clearance over months and a dozen email threads, while a sibling is away and the two of them are still deciding what to keep. That works fine as long as somebody can get us in. Keys from a neighbour, a key safe with a code, an agent's lockbox — all normal. The team rings the instructing contact from the doorstep, walks the rooms on the phone if needed, and photographs the empty property at the end so there's a record.
On probate work we invoice the solicitor, the executor or the estate directly, whichever you tell us to, and payment for the probate clearance can come out of the estate rather than from your own pocket. There is no deposit and nothing is asked for at the booking stage. The invoice is itemised and dated, with the disposal documented, so it can go straight in front of a beneficiary or the solicitor handling the grant without you having to explain it.
Anything that looks saleable is flagged rather than binned. If the family wants a specific box of papers, a photograph album or a set of car keys kept back, they tell the team on arrival and it's set aside in one room, and that room stays untouched until somebody says otherwise. On instructed clearances we're often told to leave anything possibly of value — jewellery, medals, china, a phone — in the house rather than load it, so the executor can assess it later. That's the ordinary drill, not a favour.
Garage and loft clearance in Solihull
Garage and loft clearance is the part people underestimate, on Solihull semis especially. A loft hatch with no ladder, boarded out badly in about 1988, forty years of boxes shoved back under the eaves where you can only reach them on your stomach. A detached garage with a door that doesn't lift properly any more. We do both as part of a full house clearance or on their own, and the honest advice is: open the garage and put your head in the loft before you ring, because that's where the volume hides.
Hoarder house clearance is the same story at a larger scale. Rooms you can only enter sideways, a hallway with a path through it — the team has seen far heavier and won't comment on it. What it changes is arithmetic, not willingness: more volume means more loads, and sometimes a second day. End of tenancy clearances go the other way, usually one van and out, with the property left swept.
The area we actually cover
Solihull sits inside the B postcode area, and our own districts here are B90 in Shirley, B91 around the town centre and Widney Manor, B92 in Olton and Elmdon, B93 for Knowle and Dorridge, and B94 out towards Hockley Heath and Lapworth. Those five are where the jobs on this page were done. From the same run we'll also take work in Hall Green, Acocks Green, Balsall Common, Hampton in Arden and Meriden without it being treated as some special long-distance visit.
Vans come in off the M42 rather than through the middle of Birmingham, which matters for an early start. If you're meeting us off the train, Solihull station on the Chiltern line is a short walk from most of the B91 addresses we clear, and Olton, Widney Manor and Dorridge sit on the same route. Waste goes through Solihull Metropolitan Borough's own network of permitted sites, and our upper-tier carrier registration is CBDU419679.
Next door, we do the same work on a bigger scale — house clearance in Birmingham covers the city districts north and west of here. Going the other way, house clearance in Sutton Coldfield and house clearance in Redditch each have their own page, and so does house clearance in Tamworth over the Staffordshire line. If your property sits between two of those, ring the office on 0800 046 5555 and we'll tell you which team is nearest.
What leaves the house and where it ends up
Furniture with real life left in it gets offered on before anything else — reuse schemes and charity outlets around the borough take beds, dining sets, wardrobes and white goods that still work. Metal goes for scrap. Cardboard, paper and clean timber are separated on the van as the lads load, because it's quicker than sorting a mixed heap later.
The rest goes to a permitted transfer site and comes back as a weighed waste transfer note, which we'll show you on request. That's the paperwork that proves your belongings didn't end up on a lane near Meriden. The company holds public liability and goods-in-transit cover as well as the carrier registration.
Some things can't travel in a general load at all. Paint, thinners, gas bottles, asbestos sheeting and car batteries all need their own consignment route, and we'll tell you on the phone if we can see them in your photographs. Padded furniture is its own category: sofas, armchairs, dining chairs, footstools and beanbags are POP items, because the flame retardants in older foam are persistent organic pollutants and have to be incinerated under a separate permit rather than tipped. Since 2023 that has been handled strictly, which is why upholstery is loaded and logged separately from everything else.
How the day usually runs
The team aims to be on site early and will ring when they're on the way. First job is a walk round every room with whoever is letting us in, including the loft, the garage and the shed, so nothing is a surprise at four in the afternoon. Then it's the heavy furniture out first while everyone's fresh, small stuff and boxes after.
A three-bed house with a normal amount in it is a day. Add a full garage, a boarded loft and a shed and it stops being a day. That's not a problem as long as we know before we start, which is exactly what the walk round is for. If a second visit is needed, it gets booked before the team leaves rather than left hanging.
Common questions about house clearance in Solihull
How much will my house clearance in Solihull cost? Ring the office on 0800 046 5555 and talk it through room by room, or send photographs through the form on this page. You'll get a figure back and the terms it's based on. Photographs of the loft, the garage and the shed help more than anything else you can send.
Can you invoice the solicitor or the executor? Yes. On probate work we invoice the solicitor, executor or estate directly, and payment can come from the estate. There is no deposit and nothing is payable at the booking stage — the invoice follows the completed work, itemised and dated.
Which Solihull postcodes do you cover? B90, B91, B92, B93 and B94 — Shirley, the town centre and Widney Manor, Olton and Elmdon, Knowle and Dorridge, and out to Hockley Heath and Lapworth. Neighbouring areas on the same run are fine too.
Do I have to be there on the day? No. Keys from a neighbour, a key safe or an agent's lockbox all work. The team rings the instructing contact from the doorstep and photographs the empty property at the end.
Do I need to empty the cupboards first? No, and please don't. Emptying cupboards, drawers and divan bases is part of the clearance and always has been.
Will you take the fridge and the mattresses? Yes. They're handled separately from the rest of the load because the law requires it — fridges need degassing by a licensed processor, and mattresses and upholstery go through their own permitted routes.
Can you do just the garage and loft? Yes. Garage and loft clearance on its own is perfectly normal, as is a single room, a shed, or a one-off item.
If you've got a house, a flat or a garage to empty anywhere from Dorridge to Shirley, ring the office on 0800 046 5555 and talk it through, or send photographs through the form on this page. It's a free, no-obligation estimate, and you'll have the terms it's based on in writing before anyone books a van.
