Skip sizes at a glance
Every skip we sell online, with today's guide price, including VAT.
| Skip | Holds | Measurements | Good for | Guide price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Yard Skip | about 40 bin bags | 8ft 6in × 5ft 10in × 3ft 3in | A small clear-out | from £366 |
| 6 Yard Skip | about 60 bin bags | 11ft 1in × 6ft 2in × 3ft 3in | A small home job | from £438 |
| 8 Yard Skip | about 80 bin bags | 12ft 3in × 6ft 1in × 4ft 1in | A 1-bed flat clearance | from £450 |
| 8 Yard Enclosed Skip | about 80 bin bags | 12ft 3in × 6ft 1in × 4ft 1in | A 1-bed flat clearance | from £438 |
| 12 Yard Skip | about 120 bin bags | 13ft 1in × 5ft 6in × 6ft | A whole-room renovation | from £576 |
| 12 Yard Enclosed Skip | about 120 bin bags | 13ft 1in × 5ft 6in × 6ft | A whole-room renovation | from £564 |
| 16 Yard Skip | about 160 bin bags | 14ft 8in × 5ft 11in × 6ft 7in | A builder's job | from £672 |
Measurements are length × width × height. Bag counts assume full 60-litre bin bags — about 10 to a cubic yard. Bulky items take more room than bags. Guide prices are for a private-property (driveway) delivery with general mixed waste at a London postcode. Get the price for your postcode.
Which skip for which job
Start from the job, not the yardage. Each line is a job that size is a good fit for.
| The job | The skip |
|---|---|
| 1 bathroom strip-out | 4 Yard Skip |
| Light garden clearance | 4 Yard Skip |
| Small kitchen refit | 6 Yard Skip |
| Patio or shed clearance | 6 Yard Skip |
| 1-bed flat clearance | 8 Yard Skip |
| Average kitchen refit | 8 Yard Skip |
| Full kitchen + bathroom strip | 12 Yard Skip |
| Loft clearance | 12 Yard Skip |
| House extension waste | 16 Yard Skip |
| Light construction | 16 Yard Skip |
These assume ordinary mixed waste. If most of the load is soil, rubble or concrete, read the next section first.
Heavy waste changes the answer
A skip is sized by volume, but the lorry lifts it by weight. With soil, rubble or concrete you reach the weight limit long before the skip looks full, so the heaviest waste is limited to the smaller skips: soil / subsoil and hardcore / rubble go in skips of 8 yards or less.
If you have more heavy waste than one skip of that size takes, book a second one, or look at grab hire, where a lorry loads the heap from the road and takes it in one visit.
Check the space before the size
A skip comes off the back of the lorry in line with it, so the straight run matters more than the width. Allow:
- about 12 m in a straight line for the lorry and the skip
- about 3 m of width the whole way in
- 4.5 m clear overhead, with no cables or branches in the way
These are typical figures for UK skip lorries, not a specification. See the access guide.
On your own drive there is nothing else to arrange. On a public road the skip needs a council permit, whatever its size: it is arranged for you and priced as its own line before you pay.
If you are between two sizes
Go up one. A skip cannot be loaded above its sides. An overfilled skip cannot be carried on the road, so the lorry leaves without it, and that wasted journey costs £60 under our terms.
Bigger and smaller than a skip
Roll-on/roll-off containers start where skips stop: 20 Yard RoRo from £636; 40 Yard RoRo from £636, including VAT. They suit a strip-out or a building phase rather than a one-off clearance, and need more room for the lorry. See RoRo sizes.
Cage vans take a light load in one visit and leave nothing standing, so there is no skip permit: Half Load Cage Van from £360; Full Load Cage Van from £504, including VAT. You load it while it waits. See cage vans.
Where these figures come from
The sizes, bag counts, measurements and prices on this page are read from our live catalogue when the page loads, so they are the sizes you can book today. Bag counts assume full 60-litre bin bags — about 10 to a cubic yard. Bulky items take more room than bags. The size limits for heavy waste are the ones the booking enforces. The access figures are typical for UK skip lorries.