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Why Hire a Skip Before Moving House

Author: Samuel Beckingham
Updated: Mar 09, 2023
9 minutes read
  • Why skip hire can cost less than you might think
  • Weighing up the cost to hire a skip vs doing the job yourself
  • What can affect the average skip hire cost

Moving house is already a stressful enough time as it is, but some of the stress can be alleviated with a good clearout at the same time. By taking out useless and no longer needed items from the equation, you’ll find yourself with less to take with you, which can cut down on moving costs. How much skip hire costs depends on a variety of factors, but this initial hire can clear your plate and leave you with a tidier new home.

This article will go through the top reasons for hiring a skip before a move, as well as the cost to hire a skip and how you could potentially save money by going through this process. By having disposal taken off your hands, the skip hire can cost you less than you might think, at least in terms of less hassle.

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Why the Skip Hire Cost Outweighs a DIY Job

If you’re in that grey area before a house move when you’re waiting for sellers to be in a position where they can complete the sale, it can be worth your while to get a skip as soon as possible. Here are our top reasons why skip hire cost shouldn’t be an issue during this time.

Efficient

The process for skip hire can be incredibly quick. While the usual length of hire is for a week, you can always specify when you want the skip to be collected at the time it’s arranged, giving you the flexibility to efficiently clear out your home before you know what to pack. Taking everything with you to your new home is always an option, but it’s probably not the most useful. If you have a lot of waste to sort through, you will find the skip hire cost can be much lower compared to other disposal methods.

Time Saver

If you’re considering removing waste yourself, this will entail multiple trips to the household waste recycling centre. The constant back and forth for car trips will cause you to spend more time on a job that can be done for you. You’ll also be expending fuel to get there and back, as well as the physical effort of moving objects and bags of rubbish. As skip hire costs are fixed, all of your waste can be paid for in one go, saving you any extra disposal fees and money on fuel.

Tidy

Skip hire cost savings also come in the form of less mess. You can avoid the organised chaos of a house move by sorting through your belongings before the big day. Taking the time to go through what you will and won’t need will give you a much tidier place to move into. This also works for leaving rubbish out for kerbside collection as there’s only so much space in your bin alongside your regular weekly waste. Although the cost to hire a skip is an expense, it’s worth it to keep a tight ship.

Garage Clearout Vector

Environmentally Sound

The skip hire cost also comes with a big green tick in terms of sustainability. Unlike other ways of waste disposal, skip waste is recycled as much as physically possible, with any waste leftover used to generate electricity. Items not fit for reuse are broken down into other useful components, like timber being turned into wood chippings. The environmentally conscious choice is to have the skip hire company sort through all your waste for you.

Sized to Suit

The prices attached to skips mainly depend on its size. Fortunately, there are many dimensions available for any need that you have. Some jobs will require a greater budget for an initial skip hire cost if there’s a lot of waste, but smaller skips and smaller clearouts can be done relatively cheaply. The sizes available save you from wasting money on a skip that’s too big.

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How Much Can You Save?

Moving Boxes Vector

The cost of skip hire, especially before you move, is an expense, but it can work out saving you money. A self clearout means plenty of car trips to the recycling centre, but if you don’t have a good tidy up before you move, you could end up spending more on removal fees. The potential money you can save will depend on how much you have to move in the first place, so this will have to be more of an estimate. As outlined in the section above, skip hire may cost a little from the onset, but there are savings that can still be made.

The average skip hire cost varies by geographical location, but is in the region of £100-£200 for a 4-5 yard skip. Providing you order the right size suitable for your home clearout, you can save money by not having to hire an additional skip. Two skips on the trot will cost you more than a single skip the correct size.

Money is not the only saving, though, as it’s your time and effort that will have to be factored into doing the job yourself. When you’re already expending a lot of worry and stress on moving home, why make things worse by adding another job onto your plate? If you think about it this way, the skip hire cost seems more reasonable, at least in terms of savings.

What Affects Skip Hire Cost?

Geographically, skips are more expensive in the south than they are in the north of England. The cost to hire a skip varies by as much as £100 between these regions, but you could be moving to a cheaper area with your next home. Regional competition drives prices down as well, so the more companies that are operating in your area, the more beneficial the skip hire cost can be.

Moving Lorry Vector

Restricted items found in your skip can land you a bigger fine than if you informed the skip hire company of their existence in the first place. Some items need to be properly disposed of, such as upholstered furniture, tyres, plasterboard and TVs, so the skip hire cost will be separate to these items as they’ll need to be charged individually. This reflects their difficulty in being recycled, but ensures that you don’t have to pay out any more for proper disposal or any fines.

Why Not Hire a Skip?

With the useful tips outlined above, it now begs the question: why not hire a skip before moving house? By utilising this service, you can save money on removals, have a clutter-free home and rest assured that all your waste is processed in the best way possible. Skip hire cost savings go way beyond the financial, especially when your time and effort are factored into the mix. From a stress point alone, make your shoulders feel lighter with less clutter to worry about.

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