Skip Hire and Site Setup for Extensions

Your garden is about to stop being a garden. For the duration of your build, it's a building site: mud, rubble, noise, deliveries, and a skip that will become the most important object on your property. Getting the site set up properly before work starts prevents damage to your home, arguments with neighbours, and costs you didn't budget for.

Most of this is straightforward. But there are a handful of decisions that catch people out, and some alternatives to the standard skip that can save you serious money on heavy waste.

Skips: Sizes, Costs, and How Many You'll Need

A 6-yard builder's skip is the standard choice for domestic extensions. It holds roughly 50-60 bin bags of waste, fits on most driveways, and costs £200 – £400 depending on where you live. London and the South East sit at the top of that range. The Midlands and North are closer to the bottom.

An 8-yard skip holds more (60-80 bin bags) and costs £250 – £500, but it's physically larger and heavier. Check that your driveway can take the weight, especially if it's block paving or tarmac rather than concrete. A full 8-yard skip weighs several tonnes and will crack or sink into surfaces that weren't designed for it.

3-5 skips

The number of skips a typical extension generates over the full project. One at the start for demolition and clearance, one or two during the build for packaging and offcuts, and one at the end for final site clearance. Budget accordingly.

The waste doesn't all arrive at once. You'll need your first skip when demolition starts (removing existing structures, stripping out the old kitchen), but the last one won't come until the final clearance months later. On one build, waste costs spread across fifteen months, from the initial site clearance right through to a final skip for kitchen waste and front garden rubble at the end.

The Permit Question

If the skip sits on your driveway or in your garden, you don't need a permit. If it goes on the public road or pavement, you do. Your skip hire company usually handles the permit application, but the council charges for it: anything from £20 per week per week in cheaper areas to over £100 per week per week in London boroughs. Some skip hire companies fold the council permit fee into their quoted price rather than passing it on separately. Ask yours whether the permit is included or charged on top.

External resource

GOV.UK - Apply for a skip permit

Official GOV.UK service for the skip permit (licence) you need to place a skip on a public road. Links through to your local council, who set the fee.

gov.uk

A skip on the road also needs lights and reflective markings at night. Again, the skip company should handle this, but if they don't, the liability is yours under Section 139 of the Highways Act 1980.

What Can't Go in a Skip

This trips people up. A skip looks like a big metal box that takes everything. It doesn't.

Plasterboard must be kept separate. Since 2009, it's been banned from general skip waste because the gypsum produces hydrogen sulphide gas when it decomposes in landfill. Bag it separately or use a dedicated plasterboard skip. Many skip companies charge £50 – £100 extra if they find plasterboard mixed into a general skip, and some will refuse to collect entirely.

Electrical appliances (anything with a plug) fall under WEEE regulations and can't go in a skip. Take them to your local recycling centre or arrange a separate collection.

Upholstered furniture has been classified as hazardous waste since January 2023 because of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the fire retardants. That old sofa from the room you're knocking through? It can't go in the skip.

Gas cylinders and aerosols can explode if crushed during skip compaction. Even empty ones.

Click to enlarge

Grab Lorries: The Better Option for Heavy Waste

Here's something most homeowners don't know: for heavy waste like excavated earth, concrete, rubble, and demolition hardcore, a grab lorry is almost always cheaper and more practical than a skip.

A grab lorry is an 8-wheeled tipper truck with a hydraulic arm and clamshell bucket mounted on the back. It drives up, reaches over your fence or wall with the grab arm (roughly 6-metre reach), picks up whatever you've piled in the garden, and drives away. The whole process takes 15-30 minutes.

The numbers make the case. An 8-wheel grab lorry carries 16-18 tonnes per load, roughly the equivalent of two large builder's skips. A single grab lorry load costs £150 – £420 depending on waste type and region. Two 8-yard skips holding the same weight would cost £500 – £1,000. For bulk removal of earth and rubble, the grab lorry wins every time.

When to Use a Grab Lorry

Foundation excavation is the obvious one. Your groundworker digs out the trenches and piles the spoil in the garden. A grab lorry comes in, scoops the lot, and removes it in one visit. Trying to shovel several tonnes of clay into a skip by hand is miserable work, and the skip will be full long before you've shifted it all.

Demolition rubble is the second big use case. If you're knocking down a porch, conservatory, or garage wall, the broken bricks and concrete are heavy. A grab lorry handles this in a single visit. The waste just needs to be piled within reach of the arm.

Clean hardcore (broken bricks, concrete, rubble with no contamination) is the cheapest category, often from £180 per load. Mixed inert waste costs more: £258 and upwards. The price difference matters, so keep your waste types separate if you can.

When a Grab Lorry Won't Work

Not all waste suits a grab lorry. Large, awkward pieces of concrete or steel that won't fit in the clamshell bucket need breaking down first or removing by hand. On one build, waste removal hit a snag when large pieces weren't suitable for the grab lorry, adding time and cost. Discuss waste types with the removal company before they arrive.

A grab lorry also needs road access wide enough for an 8-wheel truck, and the waste pile needs to be within about 6 metres of where the lorry can park. If your garden is down a narrow side passage with no direct line of sight from the road, a skip in the garden loaded by wheelbarrow is your only option.

Grab Lorry Sizing

Grab lorries come in three sizes. A four-wheel grab carries 7-9 tonnes and suits smaller clearance jobs or streets where a full-size truck won't fit. A six-wheel grab carries 12.5-14 tonnes. And the standard eight-wheel grab carries 16-18 tonnes, which is what most waste companies will send unless you specify otherwise.

For foundation excavation on a typical extension, one eight-wheel load usually clears the spoil. If you're also demolishing an existing structure, you may need two loads. At £150 – £420, even two grab lorry visits costs less than the three or four skips you'd need for the same volume of heavy material.