Loft Clearance Barnet

The Brief · Barnet

Loft Clearance for Barnet

In Barnet the housing changes from one street to the next, and so does whatever sits above the top floor. In the High Barnet ward at the 2021 Census, 23.7% of households lived in a detached house, 24.7% in a semi and 20.2% in a terrace. Next door in Barnet Vale, 37.2% lived in a purpose-built flat. A family house there may have a boarded loft full of toys, suitcases and furniture from the last move. A top-floor flat may have only a small hatch, but the carry down the stairs is longer. A loft clearance in either needs to start with what is actually up there and where each part of it can go. North London has some useful free options for reuse and recycling, plus one firm rule about asbestos.

The local reuse and recycling centre is on Summers Lane in North Finchley, run by the North London Waste Authority. It is open from 9am to 4pm every day of the week. A car can turn up without booking. A van, a trailer or any vehicle with its back seats taken out must book a slot in advance using the authority's van booking system.

Old timber, tiles or bricks found in a loft do not have to be thrown away. Summers Lane runs a free DIY materials scheme. Good-condition offcuts handed to staff are passed on to other residents, and the stock changes every week. Hardcore, rubble and stones are rationed. Each north London household may bring two 50 litre bags of DIY waste, four times in any four weeks.

Asbestos is the one item Summers Lane will not take. The authority sends it to the Hornsey Street centre in Islington, by pre-booking only. As another route, the City of London runs a free asbestos collection for London residents. This matters in an older house, because the Health and Safety Executive says any home built or refurbished before 2000 may contain asbestos. Its diagrams include cement water tanks in roof spaces.