Skip Hire Cost

Intorduction to Skip Hire

For instance, if you decide that you’d like to install artificial grass in your garden, you may decide to hire a skip to dispose of the old turf. Skips are also often hired by those who want to get rid of a large mass of household items.

A skip is a large waste unit with no covering on its top. Its purpose is to contain and transport large quantities of waste. Often hired by homeowners, skips are generally kept temporarily at the front of a property so that material and objects can be added to it until a truck comes by to pick it up.

Hiring a skip entails having this kept on or by your property for a specific time period before being collected. The vehicle which performs the collection will then take away the skip, to dispose of the waste. Once the skip is emptied, it’ll be free for reuse by other customers.

How Much Does Skip Hire Cost?

So, how much does skip hire cost in the UK? Firstly, the size of the skip and how long you need to rent it out for will both influence the total cost.

If you’d like to hire a skip for one week, you’re looking at paying around £60 to £100 for a mini 2-yard skip, £100 to £150 for a 4-yard mini skip, £120 to £180 for a 6-yard mini skip, £150 to £400 for a mid-sized 8-yard skip, £170 to £400 for a 10-yard skip, £250 to £450 for a large 12-yard skip and the average cost for hiring an 18-yard skip is around £275 to £500.

Beyond that, you may hire a roll-on/roll-off skip for around £300 to £400. This cost too will depend on the size of the skip with 20, 30 and 40 yards being common scales. Many companies also provide a set charge for a two-week rental which may or may not be double that of a one week hire.

The cost does not necessarily increase proportionately as time passes, and it will really depend on the company. Beyond that, some companies offer fixed charges for different rental periods and then additional charges for any days that the skip is required after that. On the other hand, some companies are more flexible and may not charge you extra if you need to keep the skip for another day or two than initially planned.

The total cost of hiring a skip depends mostly on the charge set by the provider for renting the skip itself and the labour cost (for dropping off and collecting the skip). Other cost-affecting factors are the type of skip, whereabouts in the UK you live and ease of access.

While it’s commonplace to hire a skip for a week, it’s also possible to hire one for a fortnight. Hiring a skip for ten days is another popular rental period. As for your location, this can impact on the overall cost because labour rates vary for different parts of the UK. Due to this fact, most skip hiring charges will be higher in the southeast of England and London in particular. On the contrary, the north of England tends to come with the lowest rates nationally for hiring a skip.

Choosing a Skip

There are many skip sizes to choose from, and it’s vital that you select the right option in order to avoid either spending more than you need or not having a large enough skip for the waste you wish to dispose of.

Overall, it’s better to have a skip that is too large than too small. In each of the following subsections, we’ll discuss some of the various sized skips that you could hire as well as discussing aspects such as how they differ, how much they cost and what their pros and cons are. The prices mentioned refer to how much it costs to hire each skip for one week.

2-Yard Skip

In most cases, 2-yard skips are the smallest available and are of course generally the cheapest. This small container is ideal if you wish to dispose of a low amount of waste. It’s a particularly popular choice among those who are performing garden cleaning and clearance during the autumn months. You’ll probably get around 20 to 30 bin bags in this type of skip. On average, it will cost about £60 to £100 to hire a 2-yard skip, meaning that it comes with the lowest mini skip hire cost.

Pros:

✔ The lowest cost of skip hire

✔ Easier to collect

✔ Ideal for autumn garden waste removal

✔ Perfect for small skip hire

Cons:

✖ Won’t hold much

✖ Not suitable for most waste removal situations

✖ There’s a risk that it won’t be large enough for everything you need and that a 4-yard skip is actually more suitable

4-Yard Skip

If you’re looking for a small skip but one with a bit more space than a 2-yard skip, then a 4-yard skip might be for you. You’ll likely fit around 30 to 40 bin bags in this sized skip. 4 yard skips generally come with a rental price tag of approximately £100 to £150.

Pros:

✔ Slightly bigger than a 2-yard yard skip

✔ Generally, an ideal middle-ground option if you need a small skip

✔ Another option for relatively cheap skip hire

Cons:

✖ You may end up paying for a 4-yard skip, only to realise that a 2 yard was all you needed

6-Yard Skip

While still considered a small skip by most standards, a 6-yard skip can generally hold somewhere in the range of 60 to 75 bin bags. It is one of the most commonly used skip sizes and is especially popular with builders. You can expect to pay somewhere around £120 to £180 to hire a 6-yard skip.

Pros:

✔ One of the most popular skip sizes

✔ An option that lands in between small and mid-sized skips

✔ An excellent choice for construction work or removing old facilities, appliances, etc.

Cons:

✖ Always a risk that it’s a little too big or small for waste removal

✖Highest small skip hire cost

8-Yard Skip

One of, if not the most popular choice is that of an 8-yard skip. This mid-sized option is also a common choice for building projects. It’s great for landscaping projects in particularly large gardens or if a household clearance is taking place for a large property. An 8-yard skip can generally hold around 75 to 85 bin bags. The cost of hiring an 8-yard skip could land anywhere between £150 and £400.

Pros:

✔ Great for large garden clearance work

✔ Perfect for large household clearance

✔ Good mid-sized choice

Cons:

✖ Can be expensive

12-Yard Skip

For a larger option, there is a 12-yard skip. Standing at almost average person height, this is not suitable for most projects. In fact, it is generally used for commercial and industrial clearance and is mostly employed as part of major projects. It will probably cost between £250 and £450 to hire a 12-yard skip.

This skip is a reasonably popular choice. You can expect a 12-yard skip to contain around 100 to 120 bin bags.

Pros:

✔ Great for large clearances

✔ Particularly suitable for commercial and industrial cleanups

Cons:

✖ Could be quite expensive

18-Yard Skip

This large skip is perfect for particularly large waste removal. It can be employed to store bulky objects as these skips generally feature high sides. Most 18 yard skips are about as tall as a person.

18-yard skips often cost between £275 and £500, making it the most expensive conventional yard skip offered by most companies. An 18-yard skip can generally contain a whopping 200 bin bags.

Pros:

✔ Great for very large projects

Cons:

✖ One of the highest skip hire costs

What Does Hiring a Skip Involve?

Let’s take a look at what hiring a skip entails. We’ll now break down each of the steps involved in the process, from obtaining your skip to having it collected.

1. Choose Your Skip

Before hiring a skip, it’s essential that you choose the right size. The best approach to figuring this out is by estimating how much you’ll need to throw out (preferably in terms of full bin liners if possible).

You should then take a look at the websites of different providers to check out whether they have the skip size you’re looking for, what prices they offer and whether they meet any additional requirements you have (e.g. they will recycle your waste).

While most companies will have all the details you’ll need access to on their website; you may find that in some cases, it will be necessary to give them a call for further information. As soon as you’re satisfied with your choice of skip and company, you can go ahead and book one out.

2. Receiving Your Skip

Once you’ve ordered a skip, if all goes well, it will arrive on the day as agreed to with the provider. They’ll probably drop it off with a truck. In many cases, a skip is placed right outside a property or in its front driveway. Afterwards, the skip will be available to use for a specified time period as given by the provider.

3. Collection

Once the rental time period has passed, the company will send by a truck or other large vehicle to pick up your skip. The waste will often be sent to a recycling centre although in some cases it may end up in a landfill.

In some scenarios, skip companies even have their very own waste facilities. The company may state on their website where the waste will be taken to if not; you should be able to find out upon request. This may be particularly important to you if, for environmental reasons, you’d rather the waste is recycled.

4. Additional Work

You may wish to have more work undertaken at the same time as hiring a skip. For example, if you’re clearing items from within your home, it might interest you to hire a gardener to clean up your garden at the same time, thus increasing the utility of the skip. To have garden maintenance undertaken will cost you about £10 to £50 per hour.

Alternatively or in addition, you may decide to have some old appliances removed. In the case of having a radiator removed, it costs around £80 to £120. On the other hand, you’ll probably face a charge of somewhere between £50 and £200 to have an old shed disassembled.

Potential Problem and Pitfalls

In most cases, hiring and using a skip is generally free from too much stress, but there is no guarantee that things will go smoothly. As discussed earlier, there is always a danger of hiring the wrong sized skip, which is why it’s so important to think things through in advance and figure out what type of skip you’ll need. There is also a risk of hiring a low-quality skip, whether from a cowboy contractor or even a company.

Here are some further disadvantages of hiring a skip:

• You may need council approval to have a skip placed outside your home if you do not own the actual property the skip will be dropped off at (this can often apply to those who do not have a driveway)
• Unless the waste disposal job is small, a lot of heavy lifting will be involved on your part with putting objects in the skip
• There is a possibility that others will add their items to your skip, leaving you with less space to work with
• Skips are unsightly

Of course in laying out the downsides of hiring a skip, this would mean nothing to you if you need large amounts of waste removing and believe that you’ll need a skip no matter what.

However, there is a popular alternative. Some decide to contact a man and van service instead of hiring a skip. In this case, you can pay for someone to come out and collect what needs to be removed, and they’ll put it in the back of their van before taking it away. With most prices ranging from £40 to £100, this process is generally cheaper than hiring a skip. Also, with skips being reused time and time again, there is a risk that it could arrive with previously unnoticed damage.