House clearance cost in Shoreham and Lancing: what is priced and what is not

If you are pricing a house clearance in Shoreham or Lancing, you will not find a trustworthy local number. National guides quote one range for the whole country, add a flat uplift for the South East and, on the pages we opened on 21 October 2026, contradict their own tables. No page we found gave a Shoreham or Lancing figure with a source and a date.

So this guide does something different. It works through the only prices that are published for Adur, the council bulky collection bands, shows the arithmetic, and says where a whole property outgrows them. It then covers the Shoreham Recycling Centre rules, what a clearance quote should itemise, how VAT works and how to check a carrier. Right Turn Removals clears whole and part properties across Brighton, Hove and Sussex, and Lewis prices each job from photos rather than from a table.

The only published prices, worked through

For Adur, the council bulky bands are the one set of sourced figures, and they cover up to 3, 6 and 12 furniture items.

Adur and Worthing Councils bulky waste collection is priced in three bands for homes. Category 1 is £59 for up to three furniture items or nine sacks. Category 2 is £90 for up to six furniture items or 18 sacks. Category 3 is £145 for up to 12 furniture items or 36 sacks. The council says these prices apply from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 and that its page was last updated on 31 March 2026. It also says the final price depends on the items and how hard they are to reach, so treat the table below as a guide to the bands, not a quote.

The sums are worth doing because the bands do not scale evenly. Booking in several small slots costs more than one larger band, so the first thing to count is the number of items.

Where a whole property outgrows the bands

The council service stops at 12 furniture items, takes household items only and cannot arrange an immediate collection, so a full house clearance usually needs a different route.

A typical three-bedroom house holds more than 12 furniture items before you count wardrobe contents, kitchen items, the loft and the shed. The council page says jobs that do not fit a band may need an assessment for a tailored quote, that some locations with restricted access may not be covered and that a risk assessment may be needed. It also says it cannot arrange an immediate collection: you pick from dates up to six weeks ahead, and collections run on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Adur. The service is for residential properties only.

The council does not take building rubble, loose chalk and soil, large branches and roots or unbagged garden waste, and it lists asbestos, plasterboard and chemicals as items it will not collect. If a clearance includes a garage or shed with any of those, they need their own plan. Our guide to council bulky collection against a man and van sets out the same trade-off for Brighton and Hove, and the logic carries across: the council is good for a short list of items and a flexible date, and a clearance firm is the answer when the list is long or the date is fixed.

The council page itself notes that, for many items, a skip hire company may be easier and more cost-effective, and that items left out without a booked collection count as fly-tipping, which is illegal. It also says items in good condition can go to charity or resale sites, and items that cannot be donated can be taken to the tip for free. That last point leads to the next question.

Shoreham Recycling Centre: booking, hours and vehicle limits

Shoreham Recycling Centre on Brighton Road needs a booked 15 minute slot, is shut on Mondays and Tuesdays from October to March and refuses Luton vans and tipper trucks.

The West Sussex page for Shoreham Recycling Centre gives the address as Brighton Road, Shoreham, BN43 6RJ. It says you must book a slot before visiting, and slots are 15 minutes long. From 1 October to 31 March the site is open Wednesday to Sunday, 9am to 4pm, and closed on Monday and Tuesday. From 1 April to 30 September it stays open until 6pm. People on foot, on a bicycle or on a mobility scooter do not need to book.

The vehicle list matters if you are thinking of doing the clearance yourself with a hired vehicle. The council page says you cannot visit with a Luton type van, a horsebox, a twin axle trailer, a truck with a tipper, flatbed or drop-sides, a vehicle over 3.5 tonnes gross weight or one taller than 2.2 metres. A single trip also has a cap on building material: West Sussex says most of its sites accept up to 200kg of building, construction and demolition waste, roughly eight 25kg rubble bags, with some site exceptions to check in its A to Z guide.

For a Lancing address, Shoreham is the nearest centre we checked. The council terms say you need proof of residency and your booking confirmation or staff will turn you away. The recycling centre terms and conditions do not list which documents count, so check before you load the van. If the tip is part of your plan, our mattress disposal guide shows how a booking and ID check typically shapes a day of runs.

Why a clearance quote includes disposal

West Sussex refuses commercial waste at its recycling centres, so a firm clearing your house cannot use the tip the way you can, and disposal sits inside the quote.

The same West Sussex terms say only household waste may be brought in, that it is against the law to deposit commercial waste at a Recycling Centre and that staff will refuse entry if they believe it is business waste. They add that the person who produced the waste must deliver it, or accompany whoever transports it. Otherwise the waste is classed as commercial. Residents who bring a load themselves are covered. A business that takes your waste away is not.

That is the practical reason a clearance price is not a tip fee plus a day of labour. The person clearing the property takes the load away as a registered waste carrier and has to deal with it through a route that accepts it. Reuse and recycling are considered where suitable, which is part of why a clearance quote depends on what is in the house: a home full of resaleable furniture can be a different job from one full of mixed rubbish. Ask for a waste receipt, and ask what the quote includes for disposal.

If the house belongs to someone who has died, there is more to settle before anything leaves, from who may authorise the work to what must be kept. Our guide to probate house clearance in Sussex covers those steps, and the checklist for clearing a parent's house helps with the emotional side of sorting.

What a clearance quote should itemise

A comparable quote names the scope, the rooms and outbuildings included, the disposal, the access, the finish and whether VAT is added.

Without a Shoreham or Lancing benchmark, the way to compare quotes is by what each one says, not by the headline number. A good quote should answer these points in writing, or by message, before anyone books:

• Scope: which rooms, the loft, the garage, the shed and the garden are included, and which are not.
• What is taken: everything, or only the furniture, and what happens to items you want to keep.
• Disposal: whether the cost of disposing of the load is included, and whether you can have a waste receipt.
• Access and parking: stairs, lifts, distance from the van and who arranges any parking.
• The finish: swept, or a deeper clean. Right Turn leaves the property swept.
• VAT: whether the figure includes it (next section).
• If the scope changes: how any change is agreed before work continues.

The last point is how Lewis works: if the scope changes on the day, he explains and agrees the change before carrying on. Two quotes can only be compared once both answer the same list. If one covers the loft and the other does not, they are different jobs.

VAT: how the arithmetic works

GOV.UK gives the standard VAT rate as 20%, and a quote from a VAT-registered business that shows a bare figure may or may not include it, so ask.

The GOV.UK VAT rates page sets the standard rate at 20% for most goods and services. Businesses have to register once their VAT taxable turnover passes £90,000 so a small sole-trader clearance business may not charge VAT at all, while a larger one will. Neither is wrong. The problem is a quote that does not say.

The sum is simple. To add VAT to a figure that excludes it, multiply by 1.2. To take VAT out of a figure that includes it, divide by 1.2. If two quotes sit close together, put both on the same footing first. The council bulky bands above are different: they are set out by the council on its own page, so use those as printed.

Access, parking and the route out

Stairs, distance from the van and parking drive the time on site, so say where the items are and how they get out.

Two properties with the same contents can be different jobs. A ground floor flat with parking at the door is a shorter carry than a third floor flat with no lift and a long walk to the van. The council bulky page makes the same point in its own way: items should be left outside, easy to reach and clearly visible, and it prices harder access higher. On a whole-property job the carry is repeated hundreds of times, so tell the person quoting about every step, narrow hall and restricted parking space.

Lewis reviews volume, access, parking and anything needing a specialist route from your photos, then gives a clear price before booking. Photos of each room, the loft hatch, the garage and the path to the road show more than a list. Our guide to getting rid of old furniture has a short photo checklist that works for a clearance as well, and the fridge and freezer guide explains why appliances are worth flagging, since they need a specific route.

Check the carrier before anything leaves

GOV.UK says you must make sure whoever takes your household waste is legally allowed to, and the Environment Agency register lets you check in a minute.

GOV.UK on getting rid of household waste says you could be fined if you give your household waste to someone who is not legally allowed to take it. It tells you to check the business is on the register of waste carriers and to choose the upper tier. The Environment Agency register of waste carriers, brokers and dealers can be searched by business name or registration number, with a postcode for a distance search. The upper tier covers carriers of construction and demolition waste, and the lower tier covers businesses carrying only their own waste, and charities.

Right Turn Removals holds waste carrier licence CBDU621046, and you can check it on that register. Our guide to choosing a licensed house clearance in Brighton goes through the full check, including what a waste record should show.

What to send for a price

Send wide photos of every room, the postcode and any access notes, and Lewis will come back with a clear price before booking.

Send photos, the Shoreham or Lancing postcode and a note on stairs, parking and anything you want kept. Message on WhatsApp, use the contact page, call or email, whichever suits. If you are still deciding between the council, the tip, a skip and a clearance, the list of what Right Turn does shows the other jobs it covers, including home removals if you are also moving. For a Brighton comparison, see the house clearance cost guide for Brighton and Sussex. Right Turn cannot take hazardous or flammable materials, gas bottles, chemicals, asbestos, clinical waste or illegal items, so mention any you are unsure about.