Clearing a parent's house: a room-by-room checklist

Clearing a parent's house is rarely just a logistics job. Every drawer has a memory in it, and the work usually lands on one or two people who are also grieving, working or caring for someone. This guide gives you an order to work in, so you are never standing in front of a whole house wondering where to begin.

It covers the two situations we are asked about most: a parent who has died, and a parent who is moving into a care home or a smaller place. Who can decide differs between the two, so the first section settles that. After it comes a room-by-room route, then the Brighton, Hove and East Sussex tip rules and what to agree with a clearance firm. If you are an executor, our probate house clearance checklist goes deeper on the legal side.

Settle who can decide before anything moves

If your parent is alive, the decisions are theirs, or an attorney's under a registered lasting power of attorney. If they have died, the executor or administrator decides.

If your parent is alive and able to decide, take them through the house, or show them photos, and let them say what stays. Throwing things out behind someone's back, however well meant, is how families fall out. If they cannot decide, check whether there is a lasting power of attorney. GOV.UK explains that a property and financial affairs LPA lets an attorney make decisions about money and property, including selling a home, and can be used as soon as it is registered, with the person's permission. A health and welfare LPA covers decisions such as moving into a care home, but only when the person cannot decide for themselves. GOV.UK says registration takes 8 to 10 weeks if there are no mistakes, so do not set a clearance date around an application that has not been registered yet. With no LPA and a parent who cannot decide, take legal advice before anything is cleared.

If your parent has died, the executor named in the will, or the closest relative where there is no will, decides what happens to the contents. Report the death once through GOV.UK's Tell Us Once service, which tells most government organisations in one go. You must use it within 28 days of getting your reference number. Banks, insurers and utilities still need contacting separately.

With brothers and sisters involved, agree the keep list in writing before the clearance, even if that is only a group message. A clearance firm cannot settle a family disagreement, and once items have gone they do not come back.

Work through the house in this order

Start with papers and valuables, finish with the loft, garage and garden, and leave the kitchen until you know what is staying.

Here is the route we suggest. Tick each stage off before starting the next, and photograph each room before you touch it.

1. Papers and valuables. Find them first and put them in one box.
2. Bedrooms. Pockets, drawers, bedside tables and under-bed storage.
3. Living room. Photographs and keepsakes before furniture.
4. Kitchen. Food and fridge-freezer first, then cupboards.
5. Bathroom. Medicines and toiletries.
6. Loft, airing cupboard and under the stairs. Where "later" collects.
7. Garage, shed and garden. Tools, paint, gas and fuel need their own route.

1. Papers and valuables

Before any room is cleared, find the paperwork: the will, deeds, bank and pension letters, insurance, tax and the passport. In older homes these are often in a bureau, a biscuit tin or a carrier bag in the wardrobe, not a filing cabinet. Look for keys, alarm codes and safe combinations too, and note who holds each set. If the estate may be liable for Inheritance Tax, GOV.UK asks you to value household and personal items, including furniture, jewellery, paintings and stamp collections, at what they would have sold for, and suggests checking similar items on online marketplaces. It also says HMRC can ask to see records for up to 20 years after the tax is paid, so keep your photos and notes.

2. Bedrooms

Clothes and bedding are the bulk, but the surprises are in the small places: coat and trouser pockets, handbags, shoe boxes, jewellery boxes, the back of the bedside drawer. Check every pocket before a coat goes into a bag. Photograph jewellery where you find it. Good clothes can go to charity shops, and a mattress has its own route, covered in our mattress disposal guide.

3. Living room

Do the photographs first. Albums, framed pictures, slides and boxes of loose prints should be set aside before any furniture is judged, because they are the things people regret losing. Look at the back of pictures and clocks for labels or papers. Then the books, ornaments and electrical items, and last the furniture. If the settee is going, our sofa disposal guide compares the routes.

4. Kitchen

The kitchen is usually quicker than it looks, because most of it is food, tins and crockery. Empty and defrost the fridge-freezer early, then work through the cupboards. Set aside anything that is part of a set or clearly loved, such as a tea service or a cake tin that belonged to a grandparent. Cleaning products, aerosols and cooking oil should not go in the general rubbish, so keep them to one side. East Sussex County Council's recycling site list shows which sites take aerosols, chemicals, cooking oil and fridges and freezers, so check before you load a car.

5. Bathroom

A bathroom is small but it holds the medicines. Do not put them in the bin or down the toilet. Ask a pharmacy how to return unwanted medicines, and keep sharps separate from general waste. Towels, toiletries and cleaning products are quick to sort once the medicines have gone.

6. Loft, airing cupboard and under the stairs

This is where "I will sort it later" collects: suitcases, boxes, decorations, tools, paperwork and bags of clothes. Open the suitcases and boxes before they go, because papers and photographs hide in luggage. Only go into a loft where there are boards to walk on, and never step between the joists. If you cannot get up there safely, say so when you send photos, along with whether there is a fixed ladder.

7. Garage, shed and garden

Tools, bicycles, garden furniture and a working lawnmower can be sold or given away. Paint, fuel, gas bottles and chemicals are different: they cannot go in a general load and need their own route, so list them when you ask for a quote.

When the house is very full

A house packed with belongings is not a failing on anyone's part, and the kindest way to clear it is slowly, with agreement and without judgement.

The NHS describes hoarding disorder as a mental health condition in which a person collects lots of things and finds it very difficult to get rid of them. It says many people with it are not aware they have a problem, and that it can mean rooms cannot be used because they are too full. If you are worried about a parent, the NHS suggests encouraging them to speak to their GP.

In practice, that means a few rules. Do not clear a living person's home against their wishes. Start with one clear path and one room rather than the whole house. Keep the walkways and exits clear as you go, because trip hazards build quickly in a crowded home. Photograph each room before you start, so there is a shared record of what was there. If your parent has died and the house is heavily packed, tell the clearance firm plainly when you send the photos. A very full property takes more people and more planning, and the crew and the time can only be arranged properly if Lewis knows beforehand. Our Peacehaven whole-property guide and Newhaven preparation timeline show how a full-house job is planned.

What to take to the tip yourself, and what to leave

A tip run suits a few items, but Brighton and Hove asks for photo ID and proof of address, and if you are bringing a parent's waste, they must come with you.

The council's access rules ask car drivers for photo ID showing a Brighton and Hove address plus matching proof of residency dated within three months. Van drivers need two forms of ID and proof of address. The council adds that if you are helping someone else by bringing their waste, they must come with you and bring ID, including proof they live in the city. For an adult child clearing a parent's home, that is the rule that catches people out. A hired van needs its rental agreement and must meet the size limits, and Luton and box-body vans, flatbeds and tippers are banned. Trade waste cannot be tipped at all.

East Sussex County Council runs recycling sites including Lewes, Newhaven and Seaford, and says you must book a slot before you visit. Its site list shows what each one accepts, including furniture, mattresses, electrical goods, carpet and household batteries.

The alternative is the council's large item collection. It collects from a driveway or garden, or just inside the front door if there is no outside space. When we checked on 7 October 2026 it was booking slots three to four weeks ahead, and the council says it may refuse items that are not as described on the phone. It is built for a few items, not for emptying a home, which is why our council collection comparison usually points a whole-house job elsewhere. If it is mostly furniture, the old furniture guide lists the reuse routes.

Agree a written scope with a licensed carrier

Name every room and outside space, say what is staying, and check the carrier is registered before anyone loads a van.

Send photos of every room, including cupboards, the loft, the garage and the garden, and mark anything that is staying. Agree who holds the keys, who will be at the property and what happens if something turns up: cash, jewellery, papers or photographs should be set aside and shown to your contact, not bagged. Ask what the finish will be. A cleared house is empty of the agreed contents. It is not automatically cleaned, repaired or decorated, so say if an agent, landlord or buyer expects more.

Check the carrier on the Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers and keep the receipt. Right Turn's waste carrier number is CBDU621046, and Lewis runs every job himself. Our guide to checking a clearance company is legal lists the questions worth asking.

Lewis does not publish prices, because no two houses are the same. You will get a clear price for the agreed contents once he has seen the photos, and what shapes a clearance quote is volume, access, stairs, parking and what can be reused. If part of the job is a move, perhaps a parent's favourite furniture going to a new home or a care room, our home removals service can sit in the same plan, and our moving checklist covers that side. The house clearance service page and the rubbish clearance section explain the rest.

What to send with your enquiry

• The postcode and the type of property, with the floor if it is a flat.
• Photos of every room, the loft, garage, shed and garden.
• What is staying, or a note that it has already been removed or labelled.
• Anything awkward: heavy furniture, gas bottles, paint, a very full room.
• Access and parking, including steps, and who has the keys.
• Any date you are working to, and who will be there on the day.