Household Skip Hire | Absolute Environmental Solutions
Skip hire is simple: a skip arrives at your home, stays for an agreed number of days, and is taken away for proper disposal once you have filled it. It suits a project that makes waste steadily over several days, such as clearing a house, stripping out a bathroom or tidying an overgrown garden.
What household skip hire is
We are a waste management company, not a skip firm with a yard full of lorries. We arrange a licensed local contractor to supply and collect the skip, and we manage the job from the first phone call to the final paperwork.
If you would rather have no skip standing on your drive, household waste removal is the alternative: a crew comes once, loads everything by hand, and the job is done the same day.
Which skip size do you need?
Skips are measured in cubic yards. As a rough guide:
- Mini skip, 2 to 3 yards. Roughly 20 to 35 bin bags. Good for a small garden clear-out or a single room.
- Midi skip, 4 to 5 yards. Roughly 35 to 50 bin bags. Suits a bathroom rip-out or a loft clearance.
- Builders skip, 6 to 8 yards. Roughly 40 to 80 bin bags. The most popular size in the UK, and the usual choice for a full house clearance or a renovation.
Heavy waste reaches the weight limit long before the skip looks full. If you are throwing out soil, bricks, concrete or tiles, a smaller skip is usually the right answer.
Where the skip goes, and when you need a permit
If the skip sits entirely on your own drive, you do not need a permit. If it has to stand on a public road, verge or pavement, your council has to issue a skip permit first. The cost varies by council and is normally a few tens of pounds for a week or two. The skip also has to be lit and marked at night, usually with reflective markings, a lamp and cones.
In most cases the contractor applies for the permit and the cost is added to your quote. We check whether you need one before anything is booked.
What can and cannot go in a skip
Most household waste is fine: timber, garden waste, rubble, bagged rubbish, old kitchen units and packaging. Some things cannot go in a mixed skip at all, and a few carry an extra charge because they need separate handling.
- Not allowed: asbestos, fridges and freezers, gas cylinders, paint, oils and other liquids, batteries, tyres and fluorescent tubes.
- Kept separate: plasterboard, which has to go in its own bag or skip rather than mixed in with everything else.
- Sofas and armchairs: these cannot go in a mixed skip. Upholstered seating usually contains fire-retardant chemicals, so the rules require it to be kept apart and destroyed by incineration.
- Often surcharged: mattresses and sometimes carpet, because they need their own disposal route.
Tell us what you are getting rid of when you enquire and we will flag anything that needs a different route.
How long you can keep it, and what it costs
A household hire is typically one to two weeks, and longer by arrangement. If the skip is on the road, the hire period is tied to the council permit, often seven, fourteen or twenty-eight days.
Prices vary, and we will not pretend otherwise. What you pay depends on the skip size, where you live, how long you keep it, whether a permit is needed and what goes in it. We quote the whole job up front, permit included.
Where your waste ends up, and why that matters to you
The full skip goes to a permitted waste transfer station, where it is tipped and sorted so timber, metal, rubble and card can be pulled out for recycling. What is left goes for energy recovery or disposal.
In the UK you have a legal responsibility, called a duty of care, to make sure your waste is taken away by someone properly registered. If a rogue collector dumps it and it is traced back to you, you can be fined, even though you paid to have it taken. You can check any collector on the Environment Agency public register.
Absolute Environmental Solutions is a registered waste broker and dealer with the Environment Agency, registration CBDU309472. We arrange a licensed carrier, make sure the waste goes to a permitted site, and give you the paperwork showing who took it and where it went.
Book a skip
Tell us what the job is and where the skip can stand. We will size it, check the permit position and come back with a fixed price. Running a business or a site rather than a home? See our commercial skip hire.
Skip Hire — common questions
For a full house clearance most people end up with a 6 or 8 yard builders skip, which holds roughly 40 to 80 bin bags. A single room, a loft or a garden tidy is usually fine with a mini or midi skip of 2 to 5 yards. If the load is mostly heavy material like soil, rubble or tiles, go smaller, because the weight limit is reached long before the skip is full. Tell us what the job is and we will size it for you.
Only if the skip stands on a public road, verge or pavement. If it fits entirely on your own drive, no permit is needed. Where one is needed, your council issues it, the cost varies from council to council, and the skip has to carry lights and markings at night. In most cases the contractor applies for the permit and the cost is included in your quote.
A sofa or armchair cannot go in a mixed skip. Upholstered seating contains fire-retardant chemicals, so the rules require it to be kept separate from other waste and destroyed by incineration rather than reused or recycled. Mattresses can usually go, but normally attract a surcharge because they need their own disposal route. Mention both when you book and we will price them properly.
A household hire is typically one to two weeks, and we can extend it if your project runs on. If the skip is on the public highway, the hire is tied to the period on the council permit, commonly seven, fourteen or twenty-eight days. Just let us know before the end date rather than after it.
Prices vary and we will not quote a figure we cannot stand behind. The cost depends on the size of the skip, where you live, how long you keep it, whether a road permit is needed and what you are putting in it. We quote the whole job up front, including the permit and any surcharged items, so there is nothing added afterwards.
The full skip goes to a permitted waste transfer station, where the load is tipped and sorted. Timber, metal, rubble and card are pulled out for recycling and the rest goes for energy recovery or disposal. You get the paperwork showing which licensed carrier took it and which permitted site received it.
More questions are answered on our FAQs page.
Get a price for skip hire
Tell us what is on site and we will arrange a free survey, then put a written proposal in front of you with the compliance route set out in full.