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What happens during a hoarding clearance
When a case is approved, practical work is carried out carefully by experienced partners. Here’s what that may involve, and what it doesn’t.
Every home is different
No two situations are the same
When a case is approved for support, practical work is carried out by suitable experienced clearance partners. What that work looks like depends on the home, the person living there and what matters most for their safety and daily life.
This page describes the approach. It isn’t a description of a standard service, because there isn’t one.
Before anything starts
An agreed scope
Before any work begins, everyone involved agrees what will be done, in which areas and in what order. That might be a single route through the home, one essential room, or something larger. The scope is shaped around safety and the person’s wishes, and it’s written down so everyone knows what to expect.
Involvement
The person living in the home stays involved
Wherever possible, the person living in the home is part of the process, not a bystander to it. Decisions about belongings are talked through with them, and they can say what matters to them before work starts.
Belongings
Respectful handling of belongings
Belongings are handled with care. Personal papers, photographs, money, documents and keepsakes are set aside rather than discarded. Items are usually sorted into things to keep, things to discuss, things that can be reused or passed on, and things that need recycling or disposal.
Not everything can always be kept if the home is to become safe, but those decisions are made carefully and, wherever possible, together.
Priorities
Safe access first, then essential rooms
Safe access
Clearing routes to doors, windows, stairs and the main living areas comes first.
Essential services
Making sure the boiler, fuse box, meters and stopcock can be reached.
Essential rooms
Restoring the kitchen, bathroom and somewhere to sleep, where possible.
Agreed next steps
Anything further follows the agreed scope and what funding allows.
Reuse and recycling
Giving things another life
Where appropriate, reusable items are recovered rather than thrown away, and materials are recycled where possible. Income from reusable items can help support future cases – how funding works explains how.
Pace
Working at the right pace
Some work can happen over a day or two. Other homes need several shorter sessions over a longer period, so the person isn’t overwhelmed. The pace is agreed in advance and can be reviewed along the way.
The goal
The aim isn’t an empty home
Success means a home that’s safer and easier to live in: clear routes, working rooms and fewer immediate risks. It doesn’t automatically mean emptying the property, and it doesn’t mean the person’s belongings stop mattering.
Not an empty house. A home that works.
Wondering whether support might be possible?
Tell us what’s happening, for yourself or someone else, and we’ll talk it through.