How Long Can You Keep a Skip? Standard 14-Day Hire Explained

At EZ Skip Hire, standard skip hire is 14 days from delivery - which covers almost every household and trade job comfortably. But there are a few wrinkles worth understanding, especially if your project is likely to run long or you need the skip picked up early.

Counting the hire period

Day one is the day the skip arrives. If the skip is delivered on a Tuesday, your standard hire runs until the Tuesday two weeks later. You don't get time credit for weekends or bank holidays.

We aim to collect by the end of day 14. If we can't make it that day (weather, vehicle availability), there's no surcharge - you just get a day or two of extra hire for free.

Need it collected earlier? Just ring us

If your job finishes in four days and the skip is full, there's no benefit to leaving it sitting on your driveway. Ring your local depot and we'll usually fit in an early collection within 24-48 hours. There's no extra charge for early collection under the standard 14-day term.

Extensions: when the job runs long

If you need the skip for longer than 14 days, ring the depot before day 14. We'll quote an extension fee based on:

• Standard extension: £10-20 per extra week (private land)
• Road-placed extensions: require a permit extension from the council (£30-50 extra, plus the council's own fee)

Extensions are granted subject to availability - if we need the skip back for another customer, we can swap it with a fresh empty one (see exchanges below).

Exchanges: when the skip fills up before the job ends

If you fill the skip halfway through the project, we can exchange it for a fresh one. This is a second full-price order, but everything else (permit, access, delivery logistics) is already set up, so it's usually cheaper and faster than booking from scratch.

A typical Leeds or Stockport builder on a 6-week job might go through 3-5 skips via exchanges.

Can I keep a skip for months?

Technically yes, on private land. But it's rarely economic:

• At £15-20/week extension, a month-long extension adds £60-80 to your bill
• A full 3-month hire adds £180-240 - often more than a second full skip hire at the end
• Road-placed skips can't typically be kept for months - most council permits cap at 28 days

For long-running builder jobs, the cheaper route is usually an exchange cycle - book a maxi, fill it, swap it, repeat. You pay per skip rather than per week.

What about if I need to leave early (holiday, illness)?

Ring us and we'll arrange either an early collection (free within the 14 days) or, if the skip is barely used, a "collection today" with no refund. We don't charge for the extra notice.

Bank holidays, Christmas and collections

We don't deliver or collect on:

• 25-28 December (Christmas period)
• 1 January (New Year's Day)
• Good Friday and Easter Monday
• May Day and Spring Bank Holiday
• Summer Bank Holiday

If your 14-day period ends on one of those dates, we'll collect the next working day for free.

Road permits and hire period

If your skip is on the road, the council permit sets the hard upper limit on hire time - most permits are 14 days and some are 28. You can't keep a road-placed skip longer than the permit allows. For long jobs where road placement is unavoidable, we'll apply for a fresh permit at extension time.

See our permits article for full details.

To check hire terms for your area, enter your postcode and click through to your local depot's booking page - the exact terms are shown before payment.