Flat clearance

Most blocks of flats are run by a managing agent or a residents' management company, and many have rules about moving and clearance work: permitted hours, booking the lift, protecting walls and floors in the corridors, and where vehicles can stop. Ask the managing agent before booking and pass the rules to the clearance firm. Damage to a lift car or a freshly painted stairwell can end up on your service charge or your deposit.

Measure the lift and check its weight limit. Sofas, wardrobes and mattresses often do not fit and have to go down the stairs, which takes longer and needs more people. In a converted Victorian house, the stairs may be narrow with tight turns, and some furniture was built in the room and has to be taken apart.

It is tempting to leave an old chest of drawers next to the communal bins. Unless the council has booked a collection for it, that is fly-tipping, and residents or the managing agent usually know which flat it came from. The council's bulky waste collection or a registered clearance firm are the legal routes.

When a firm takes the contents, check its waste carrier registration before the work, keep the invoice and make sure it names the company. If the items later turn up dumped, that record shows that you took reasonable care.

• the floor, lift size and whether the stairs are communal
• the managing agent's rules on times, lift booking and protection
• parking or loading space near the entrance
• every room, cupboard, balcony and storage cage included
• items for reuse, recycling and disposal, including sofas and electricals
• whether the flat is swept or cleaned afterwards
• the firm's waste carrier registration number

The tenancy agreement usually says that the property must be returned empty, apart from the landlord's own furniture, and clean. Anything you leave can be cleared at your expense from the deposit. Check the inventory from the start of the tenancy so the firm does not take the landlord's furniture by mistake. A cooker, fridge or bed that belonged to the landlord must stay.

Book the clearance a few days before the tenancy ends rather than on the last day, so there is time for cleaning and for a second trip if needed. Take photographs of the empty rooms and read the meters before handing back the keys.

Landlords who find a flat full of a former tenant's belongings face a legal question as well as a practical one. Goods left behind still belong to the former tenant, and disposing of them too quickly can lead to a claim. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 contains a notice procedure for uncollected goods that landlords often rely on, but whether the tenancy has actually ended and how the notice must be given are questions to take legal advice on before any clearance.

Once the position is clear, a clearance firm can list and photograph the contents, store items of value if needed and dispose of the rest. Ask the firm for an itemised record, which helps if the former tenant later disputes what happened.

Source: legislation.gov.uk

When a flat is sold with vacant possession, it must be empty on completion day. Furniture and rubbish left behind can lead to a dispute with the buyer and a claim for the cost of clearing it. Arrange the clearance well before completion and tell the estate agent when it is done, so any viewing or final check shows the flat as it will be handed over.

If the flat is leasehold, the lease may say what must be removed from storage cages, bike stores or loft spaces that come with it. These are easy to forget because they are not inside the flat itself.

Describe the flat, the floor, the lift and what needs to go, ideally with photographs. After confirming your phone number and email, we offer the request anonymously to clearance firms that work in your area. One firm buys it. Before that firm sees your name and number, we email you its name, address and phone number so you can look it up on the waste carrier register. Offrano is free for you and does not guarantee a quote.