Every clear-out starts with the same question, and the honest answer is: it depends how much you have and where you live.
What a skip really costs
A four-yard skip in most London boroughs runs £220–£320 for a week. If it has to sit on the road rather than a driveway you also need a council permit, which is another £30–£60 and takes a few working days to arrange. Then you load it yourself.
What a van costs
A half-van load — roughly the same capacity as a four-yard skip — is around £180 including labour, loading, disposal and VAT. Nobody needs a permit and nothing sits outside your house for a week.
When the skip wins
If you are running a long refurbishment and generating waste every day for a fortnight, a skip on a driveway is genuinely cheaper. For a one-off clear-out, it almost never is.
The bit people forget
An open skip on a London street collects other people’s rubbish overnight, and you pay for it. It also collects fly-tipped mattresses, which carry a surcharge.