Clearance before renovation for refurbishment companies and developers

A refurbishment programme runs on sequence: clearance, then strip-out, then first-fix, then everything that follows. If clearance slips, the whole chain slips with it, and trades booked for a fixed week end up standing idle or being rescheduled at cost.

We work with developers and refurbishment companies to remove that risk, treating a clearance instruction as the first task on the programme rather than a favour fitted in around other jobs.

• Full clearance of furniture, belongings, carpets and fixtures ahead of strip-out
• Scheduling fixed to your build programme, including early morning or weekend access
• Removal of sheds, garages and garden waste where a site clearance is also needed
• Sorting for reuse, donation and recycling before general waste disposal
• Broom-clean handover confirmed in writing, ready for the next trade on site

Fitting into a build programme

Developers and refurbishment companies plan against a programme with named weeks for each trade, and a clearance that runs late affects everyone booked after it. We ask for your target strip-out date early and build backwards from it, confirming access arrangements, parking restrictions and any requirements from your site manager or main contractor.

Where a property is in a controlled parking zone or has restricted loading access, common across much of inner London, we sort permits or loading arrangements in advance rather than discovering the problem on the day. If your programme moves, tell us as early as you can and we will move the slot rather than holding a date that no longer works for you.

For developers running several properties through refurbishment on a rolling basis, we can work as a standing supplier, quoting and booking new instructions quickly once you have a completion date, without needing to re-explain your requirements for every project.

Working alongside your site team

We are used to working around a main contractor's site rules, including signing in, wearing appropriate PPE, and coordinating skip positioning with whoever is managing waste on site more broadly. If you are running your own skip for construction waste, we can either use it for suitable material or bring our own transport for household items and separate it out, whichever suits your waste management plan and any recycling targets you are working to.

We liaise directly with site managers or foremen where that is more efficient than routing every detail through a project manager or office.

Where access is via a site that is not yet secured, such as a property mid-strip with hoardings not yet up, we agree security arrangements in advance so nobody is left responsible for an unsecured property overnight.

Salvage and reuse before demolition-stage works

Older inherited properties sometimes contain fittings, fireplaces, doors or timber that have reclamation value, particularly in period conversions common across London boroughs. Where a refurbishment scope involves stripping these out anyway, we can separate genuinely reusable material rather than sending everything to general waste, which can reduce disposal costs and supports any sustainability commitments a development has.

We flag anything of this kind before removal so you can decide whether it is worth retaining, selling on, or simply clearing with everything else.

Multiple sites and portfolio developers

For developers acquiring multiple probate or inherited properties for conversion, HMO creation or resale, we can quote across a portfolio and sequence clearances to match your acquisition and programme dates, rather than treating each property as a one-off enquiry. This usually works out more cost-effective than instructing separately for each site and gives you one point of contact across a pipeline of properties rather than several.

Cost control and waste transfer documentation

Developers working to a fixed refurbishment budget often need clear waste documentation for their own records, particularly where a scheme is subject to building control sign-off or where a main contractor requires evidence that a site has been cleared through licensed routes rather than informally. We can provide confirmation of how waste has been handled following a clearance, which sits alongside your own site paperwork rather than replacing it.

This is a small addition to the job but one that saves a query later if a funder, building control officer or main contractor asks how a property was emptied before works began.

Properties acquired in poor condition

Some inherited properties bought for refurbishment have been left in a difficult state, sometimes because an elderly occupant lived there for many years without significant maintenance, or because the property stood empty for a period before sale. These jobs often involve more than furniture: expired food, damaged carpets, damp-affected belongings and general deterioration that needs a more thorough clearance than a straightforward household.

We are used to this kind of instruction and will always visit or ask for detailed photographs before quoting, since the volume and nature of items in a neglected property can be very different from a well-maintained one, and this affects both price and time on site.

Health and safety on live sites

Once a property becomes a live construction site, our attendance needs to fit within your site's risk assessment and method statement expectations. We can provide our own basic RAMS documentation on request, sign in as a visiting contractor, and follow whatever site induction process your main contractor runs, so our visit does not create a gap in your own health and safety records for the project.

How the work runs

You provide the address, your target date for handover to trades, and any access or site restrictions we should know about. We quote based on photographs or a walk-through, confirm a date once your programme is fixed, and carry out the clearance in line with your site's access rules.

On completion we confirm in writing that the property is cleared and ready for strip-out, with photographs if useful for your own project records or to demonstrate to a main contractor that the site is ready. Invoicing can be arranged to fit your business's standard terms, including monthly accounts for developers instructing us across multiple projects.

Common questions

Can you work to a fixed date tied to our build programme?

Yes, this is how most of our developer instructions run. We treat the confirmed date as fixed once your programme is set and will flag immediately if anything on our side risks that date.

Do you remove floor coverings and fixtures, or just furniture?

We can do either, depending on your scope. Some developers want carpets and fittings left for their own trades to strip as part of first-fix; others want the property stripped back to bare floors and walls.

Tell us which you need when you request a quote.

Can you coordinate with our site manager directly?

Yes, we regularly liaise directly with site managers or foremen on access, parking and skip arrangements rather than routing everything through a project manager, provided that is confirmed as the preferred approach.

What happens to salvageable materials like fireplaces or timber?

We flag items with reclamation or resale value before removal so you can decide whether to retain them, sell them separately, or include them in the general clearance.

Do you offer terms for developers with multiple properties per year?

Yes, we can arrange standing quotes and monthly invoicing for developers who instruct us regularly, which speeds up booking new properties as they come through your pipeline.