Six councils, six sets of permit rules
Berkshire has had no county council since 1998. Instead, six unitary councils each run their own roads and issue their own skip permits: Reading, Wokingham, West Berkshire, Bracknell Forest, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Slough. Each sets its own fee, notice period and conditions, so a skip on the road in Newbury is a different application from one in Bracknell, even with the same supplier.
The permit comes from the council covering the address where the skip will stand, which is not always the one the postcode suggests. Earley and Woodley, for example, have Reading postcodes but are in Wokingham. The skip company applies for the permit for you; ask whether the cost is included in their price. A skip on your own drive or private land needs no permit. See the skip permit guide.
Find skip hire by town
For Reading, Earley, Woodley and Tilehurst, see skip hire in Reading. For the rest of the county, see Bracknell, Wokingham, Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead and Newbury. For anywhere else in Berkshire, search your postcode to see which suppliers cover your site.
Choosing a size
Many Berkshire homes have driveways, which avoids the permit and makes a larger skip practical for a clearance. For heavy waste like soil or rubble, most suppliers limit you to a smaller skip, often 6 yards or less, because weight rather than volume is the limit. The size guide works it out from what you are clearing.