Fishing, freezers and frozen ponds. Ups and downs of house clearance
One of our instructing solicitors called us to come urgently to their offices in Chichester. A gentleman had been admitted to hospital earlier in the week following a minor fall at his bungalow in Midhurst. He was a bachelor and spent his working life as a science teacher in top London schools. In retirement he still worked giving private lessons and teaching at an adult education centre in Petworth. Although he had never married and had no children, he had a large supportive family, all from Yorkshire where he originally came from.
Following his fall, and with underlying health conditions, his condition had deteriorated. His family had all attended the hospital – his condition was very poor, and the family had given the solicitor his final wishes. The property was owned by a family trust and had been bought for the gentleman some thirty years ago. It was the gentleman’s wishes, along with his family, that the three-bedroom bungalow after clearance would be given to a local family with children at a reduced rent to enable the children to continue their education at the local schools.
The family in question were due to be evicted from a property in Cocking in six weeks’ time. Obviously, the bungalow needed to be cleared so the family had removed all personal effects taking many books to a teaching colleague in Arundel. After clearance it was to have a cosmetic paint throughout in time for the family to move in.
The solicitors then told me the bungalow was very full. The gentleman had been a passionate fisherman and I was instructed to keep everyone informed of progress. Two rooms were completely full of brand-new fishing equipment from rods to clothing, survival tents and all manner of other fishing related equipment. Not being a fisherman myself I contacted a man in Selsey who attended, along with a fantastic fellow from West Wittering whose knowledge was amazing. Following a consultation with the family and solicitor, it was agreed that we would store the fishing equipment in Sidlesham on the Selsey Road until the new year when we can decide how best to move it on. I do know that when I sell at Ford Market near Arundel fishing equipment is always very popular and easy to sell. It was a busy job, and we got the bungalow completely cleared and hoovered throughout. It was a pleasure as we handed the keys back to the solicitor in Chichester to know that the bungalow will soon be providing a safe home for a family in need. We are looking forward to sorting through the fishing equipment.
The bungalow was very different from a garage and garden we had to clear for a local estate agent in Bognor Regis. The property had been rented for several years and the garage was in a block. I think it must have been unused by the tenants and other people used it as a dumping ground. The garage was completely full of rubbish including gas bottles, two fridge freezers which now cost £90 each to dispose of. This is because of the cost of removing the gas from the rear of the unit. Unfortunately, last week driving to Midhurst and returning through Petworth I saw three fridge freezers just dumped – two in lay-bys and one in some poor farmer’s field – this is part of the massive fly tipping problem, especially now in our beautiful West Sussex countryside. We finished clearing the garage which at the rear contained several wooden pallets which I was able to salvage and take to an elderly gentleman in Felpham who will use them in his recently installed wood burner! We then started to clear the garden which unfortunately had old black bin bags with food in, so it was a slow and not very pleasant job of picking up individual bits of rubbish.
Just inside the back gate were three large old sheets of asbestos – this is a real problem to dispose of – the commercial waste facility I use TG Waste in Yapton near Arundel do not accept it. If you ever have a small amount it needs to be wrapped in a thick plastic sheet and can be taken to the public waste facility in Chichester. This had obviously been fly tipped as no building nearby has this type of asbestos roof –it was the type from an old garage. We informed the estate agents and arranged a specialist asbestos removal company from Emsworth to attend and remove it. They invoiced the estate agents direct so I don’t know how much it cost. Some years ago, in Bosham a huge old shed had about 20 large asbestos sheets as a roof. The shed was falling down, and part of our instructions was to remove it. I remember even then it cost thousands for a specialist company to remove it. So, if you’re about to clear a property it is worth getting advice as sometimes these homes contain some nasty surprises.
A right old pickle – the stinky side of house clearance
Only a few weeks ago in Lavant near Chichester, whilst clearing a small, terraced property, the old couple had been very keen gardeners belonging to a club in Easebourne near Midhurst. The quite large garden shed contained nothing but jars of pickled foods all manner of things: onions, beetroot etc. The problem was that there was so many – it was difficult not to break some and the smell was awful! It took absolutely ages to carefully put the old jars in thick boxes and remove them. Even on the journey to the waste facility many jars got broken, I expect with age they became very brittle. My poor old van smelt of vinegar for days.
I do get some funny requests. A gentleman who some years ago downsized from a property in Southbourne near Emsworth to a still quite large property in Hunston on the Selsey Road. We had cleared his unwanted furniture and general rubbish then and he now wanted us to empty and, if possible, remove a large plastic pond and take it to his sister’s house in Littlehampton. Well, the weather is freezing, the pond was frozen over, so I suggested that we wait until the summer or at least until the weather was warmer. He was very agreeable!
We have a few jobs to finish this week: a bungalow in Boxgrove near Chichester, a garage in Slindon and helping two ladies, one in Storrington and one in West Chiltington. They have both lost their husbands of many years and need to start the process of decluttering as they both intend to move to a property together in Rustington to be near friends and family.
If you need and advice or help with the clearance of any property, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time we can attend and offer a complete non obligation quote.
Thank you for reading my blog. Happy Christmas!
