Whole House Clearances in Sussex

No to both, and we would rather be clear about it than have you waste a trip. We take on whole properties where we are buying the contents. We are not a waste or rubbish removal service, we do not do tip runs or skip work, and a single wardrobe or a garage of broken things is not a job for us. If that is what you need, a local waste firm will do it properly and for less than we could.

Somebody looks at the property in person — you cannot value a house of furniture from photographs. We go through room by room, note what has resale value and what does not, and put a figure together from that. The valuing is done by people who handle antiques and fine art as a matter of course: we are a LAPADA Approved Service Provider, which is the trade body for art and antique dealers, so the pieces that matter are recognised rather than guessed at.

Yes, always, and in writing. You will know exactly where you stand before a single item leaves the property — what we are buying, what it comes to, and what happens to the rest. Nothing is decided on the day and nothing is worked out afterwards. If the figure does not suit you, that is the end of it and there is no charge for having looked.

No. Everything goes through a written purchase agreement and is paid properly, so there is a record of what was bought and what was paid for it. Doorstep cash is how people get taken advantage of, particularly when they are clearing a parent’s house and have no idea what anything is worth. If someone offers you notes on the day for a house of contents, that on its own is worth pausing over.

Then we say so, and quickly. Not every property suits this — a house of modern flat-pack, or one where the good pieces have already gone, will not carry a purchase. There is no obligation either way and no charge for the visit. Where it is close, we will tell you honestly what is carrying the value and what is not, so you can decide whether to sell some of it separately first.

It stays yours to deal with, and we will tell you at the visit exactly what falls into that category so it is never a surprise at the end. We are not a waste carrier and do not present ourselves as one. Most families find the remainder is smaller than they feared once the furniture and the saleable things are gone, and charities will often collect usable items directly.

Yes — that is often how these jobs come about. Somebody is downsizing and part of the house is going with them; or a property is being emptied while a sale completes and what is kept needs somewhere to go. We can move what you are keeping to the new address or into containerised storage, and buy the rest, as one arrangement rather than three separate bookings.

For the visit, usually a few days. For the clearance itself it depends on the size of the property and what is in it, and we will give you a realistic date rather than an optimistic one. If you are working to a completion or a tenancy end, say so at the start — it is the single most useful thing you can tell us, and it is much easier to plan around a fixed date than to discover it late.

Generally no, and it is worth explaining why. Taking only the best pieces leaves the family with the hardest part of the job and none of the value, which is how people end up feeling badly done by. We would rather buy the contents as a whole. If there is a single exceptional item and nothing else of note, that is a different conversation and one our antiques service may suit better.