House clearance in Dagenham

When it was finished in 1935, the Becontree estate was the largest public housing estate in the world, about 25,000 homes, and it is still most of what Dagenham is: short terraces of cottage-style houses with front gardens, short drives and gardens at the back, many now privately owned, with flats and maisonettes between them. They are compact houses, which makes them quick to clear in one sense and awkward in another, because the stairs are narrow, the hall is short and the front door opens almost onto the pavement. A lot of our Dagenham work is a family clearing a parent's house before a sale, or a landlord between tenants, and in both cases what they want is one visit, one price agreed first, and the rooms left swept so the house can be photographed. Whole houses start from £349 for one bedroom, and the London zone charge is a separate £12.50 line. Barking and Dagenham charges most residents for its large item collection, and the Frizlands Lane centre checks a council tax bill or a driving licence at the gate, with a booking needed for a van, a trailer or DIY waste. A clearance takes the whole house at once, priced in writing, paid when it is done.

• From Great Dunmow

  38.4 miles by road, about 50 minutes without traffic.

• Becontree

  en.wikipedia.org, read 22 October 2026

• Bulky waste collection

  lbbd.gov.uk, read 22 October 2026

• ULEZ

  tfl.gov.uk, read 22 October 2026