How much does garden clearance cost in the UK?
Garden clearance costs £300 on average in the UK. Most jobs fall between £150 and £1,000 for a typical clearance. Garden size: Small garden or yard £150 to £350; Medium garden £300 to £600; Large or badly overgrown garden £550 to £1,000. Prices reviewed July 2026.
Garden clearance usually costs between £150 and £1,000 in the UK, with most homeowners paying around £300 for a medium overgrown garden. The price depends mainly on the size of the garden, how overgrown it is, and how much green waste has to be taken away.
Garden clearance cost calculator
Use the calculator to price your garden clearance in 2026. Adjust the options and area for a UK cost range. Nothing is sent anywhere.
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Garden clearance cost breakdown
Typical garden clearance costs, by option:
| Garden size | Typical UK cost |
|---|---|
| Small garden or yard | £150 to £350 |
| Medium garden, overgrown | £300 to £600 |
| Large or badly overgrown garden | £550 to £1,000 |
What's included in the price?
Typical garden clearance prices include:
- Cutting back overgrown grass, weeds, brambles and shrubs
- A team, usually two people, with strimmers, loppers and a van
- Clearing borders, paths and patios of green waste
- Bagging and loading all the waste
- Taking the green waste away and disposing of it
- A tidy, cleared garden ready to replant or landscape
What changes the price?
The things that move garden clearance prices most:
The size of the garden and how overgrown it is
How much waste there is to remove and dispose of
Access, and whether waste has to be carried through the house
Whether trees, stumps or rubble are involved as well as green waste
Green waste tipping and disposal fees
Your region and how far the team travels
These are why two quotes for the same job can differ, and the only way to know your price is to get prices from local firms.
How the price is built up
The price comes from the time on site, the size of the team, and the volume of waste to remove. Firms usually quote by the size of the garden or by the number of van or skip loads of waste, so an overgrown garden that fills several loads costs more than a light tidy-up. Garden clearance is nearly all labour; there are no materials to buy. The main non-labour cost is disposing of the green waste, either at a green waste tip or in a hired skip.
Ways to keep the cost down
- Do the cutting back yourself and pay only for the waste to be taken away
- Book in autumn or winter when clearance firms are quieter and often cheaper
- Keep green waste for your council garden bin or home compost to cut disposal fees
- Get a few quotes, as prices for the same garden vary widely
Does where you live change the cost?
In London, garden clearance typically costs around £360, about 20% above the UK average of £300. In the North, Scotland and Wales the guide figure is nearer £290.
| Region | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midlands / East (UK average) | £150 | £300 | £1,000 |
| London | £180 | £360 | £1,200 |
| South East / South West | £160 | £320 | £1,100 |
| North / Scotland / Wales | £150 | £290 | £970 |
Guide prices for a typical clearance, scaled with the same regional multipliers as the calculator. Not quotes.
Garden clearance cost in major UK cities
| City | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | £140 | £290 | £950 |
| Birmingham | £150 | £300 | £1,000 |
| Bristol | £160 | £320 | £1,100 |
| Cardiff | £150 | £290 | £970 |
| Edinburgh | £150 | £290 | £970 |
| Glasgow | £150 | £290 | £970 |
| Leeds | £150 | £290 | £970 |
| Liverpool | £150 | £290 | £970 |
| London | £180 | £360 | £1,200 |
| Manchester | £150 | £290 | £970 |
| Newcastle | £150 | £290 | £970 |
| Sheffield | £150 | £290 | £970 |
City guide estimates, scaled by local labour costs. Indicative averages for garden clearance, not quotes.
Clearance teams in London and the South East charge the most, often £250 to £400 a day; rates in the North, Wales and Scotland are typically £180 to £300 a day.
Compare this with a real quote
The figures above are guide prices. Two or three quotes for your garden clearance tell you what it costs where you live.
Common questions
How much does garden clearance cost in 2026?
Most UK homeowners pay around £300 to clear a medium, overgrown garden. Prices run from about £150 for a small yard or light tidy-up to £1,000 or more for a large, badly overgrown garden that fills several loads of waste.
What changes the price of garden clearance?
Mainly the size of the garden and how much waste comes out of it. Most firms quote by garden size or by the number of van or skip loads, so a jungle garden that fills several loads costs far more than a light clear-up. Poor access, and having to carry waste through the house, adds time and cost, as do trees, stumps or rubble on top of green waste.
Is it cheaper to hire a skip or a clearance firm?
A skip is cheaper if you are happy to do the cutting and loading yourself; a builder's skip is roughly £250 to £350 including the permit. A full clearance firm costs more because you are paying for the labour to cut back, load and dispose of everything, which for an overgrown garden is the bulk of the work.
Can I clear my own garden to save money?
Yes, and it is the biggest saving. You can strim and cut back yourself and then pay only to have the waste taken away, or hire a skip. The catch is the time and effort of dealing with brambles and thick growth, and the disposal, which is where a firm earns its fee.
How long does a garden clearance take?
A small garden is usually cleared in half a day. A medium garden takes a full day for two people, and a large or seriously overgrown garden can take two to three days depending on how much has to be cut back and carried out.
How often does an overgrown garden need clearing?
A full clearance is normally a one-off to reset a neglected garden. After that, a light maintenance visit once or twice a year, or regular gardening, keeps it under control and stops it becoming an expensive clearance job again.
Who is responsible for the waste from a garden clearance?
Whoever produces it. Government guidance says that when a trader carries out work on your property, the waste they produce is theirs to transport and dispose of, and the cost should be in their price. If you cut the garden back yourself and pay someone only to take the waste away, it is your household waste, and in England and Wales section 34(2A) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires you to hand it only to an authorised person, such as a registered waste carrier. In England you can check a firm on the Environment Agency's public register first.
Can an overgrown garden be cleared in the bird nesting season?
Yes, but not at the expense of an active nest. In England and Wales, section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence to intentionally take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built, and government guidance names trimming or cutting trees, bushes, hedges and rough vegetation as work that can harm birds, particularly in the breeding season. The penalty can be an unlimited fine and up to six months in prison. A careful crew checks brambles and hedges before cutting and leaves an occupied nest alone.
Check they are registered before they start
Anyone taking waste away from your home has to be a registered carrier. Your duty of care does not end at the gate, so if it is fly-tipped the failure traces back to you. Checking takes about a minute and it is free.
- Check a waste carrier is registered Environment Agency · The public register. If waste taken from your home is fly-tipped and it was not handed to a registered carrier, the duty of care failure is yours
- Check a waste carrier is registered in Wales Natural Resources Wales · The Welsh public register. A registration with Natural Resources Wales, the Environment Agency or SEPA is valid in all three countries, so check the one the carrier names
Official guidance and sources
The rules and schemes referenced on this page come from these official UK sources. The price figures are Costwise's own; see how we price.
- Waste duty of care: code of practice GOV.UK (Defra and Environment Agency) · The statutory code for England and Wales: a householder must hand waste only to an authorised person, the code names skip hire and house clearance as cases to check the firm's upper tier registration, and a trader who does the work owns the waste it produces.
- Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, Schedule 1 legislation.gov.uk · Classifies waste from a home, including construction and demolition waste from your own DIY work, for the duty of care and for what councils may charge at the tip.
- Wild birds: protection and licences GOV.UK (Natural England and Defra) · Cutting trees, bushes, hedges and rough vegetation can harm nesting birds, and the penalty can be an unlimited fine and up to 6 months in prison for each offence.
- Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1 legislation.gov.uk · Makes it an offence to intentionally take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built.
Cite this data
These figures are free to use in articles, reports and research under a CC BY 4.0 licence. All we ask is a credit to Costwise, and online a link. Where your style allows, please make "Costwise" the linked word so readers can check the figure for their own region.
Costwise (2026): Garden clearance typically costs £300 in the UK, ranging from £150 to £1,000. Reviewed July 2026. costwiseuk.co.ukSource: Costwise (costwiseuk.co.uk)Costwise (2026). Garden clearance cost. Costwise UK cost data, version 2026-10-12. https://costwiseuk.co.uk/garden-clearance-cost/2026-10-12 (158 jobs)Dataset DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21159943 · also on Kaggle, Hugging Face and Figshare. Method: how we price. Downloadable CSV.
These are independent guide prices based on typical UK jobs in 2026. Your actual cost depends on your property, spec, access and where you live. Always get at least three written quotes before committing.