Urgent pest control

19/09/2021

Landlords' legal responsibility
Landlords, including Housing Associations and Registered Social Landlord, (RSL's), have a legal responsibility to deal with any pest proofing that is required. They may also have a duty to employ a pest control contractor to treat infestations of rats, mice, cockroaches, bedbugs and tropical ant species. The Pest Control Service works in co-operation with Environmental Health’s Private Sector Housing Team to ensure landlords comply with legislation relating to pest infestation. The Council can serve an enforcement notice on landlords who do not deal with pests in or on their land or premises. If the Council has to take enforcement action, including carrying out works in default of an enforcement notice, the landlord will be responsible for paying all costs incurred by the Council, including legal and administration costs.

The Council has no statutory obligation to provide pest control treatments to tenants of private landlords, Housing Associations and RSL's regardless of whether they receive Council Tax Benefit or Housing Benefits.

Reporting an unresolved pest problem to the Council
Tenants of private landlords, housing associations and RSLs who contact the Council for help with pest infestation will initially be referred back to their landlord.

If this has been done and the landlord/housing association or RSL does not take action, the tenant can ask the Council’s Pest Control Service to investigate the circumstances of the infestation. We will first ask you what steps you have taken to get your landlord to resolve the problem and to forward any correspondence to us. If we consider that the infestation is likely to exist because of a building defect, then we will contact the Landlord and ask them to carry out proofing to block any holes. The landlord has a legal responsibility to carry out proofing. We will also ask them to carry out baiting for rodents, if appropriate, but their agreement is likely to depend on the terms and conditions of your lease. Please make sure you know the details contained within your lease.

Where appropriate, the Council can consider serving an enforcement notice on landlords who do not deal with pests in or on their land or premises.However, tenants should also be aware that Notices can be served on occupiers, depending on the circumstances (if the Landlord is deemed not to be held responsible). The Council will try to work with both parties to resolve informally in the first instance.

19/09/2021

Pest control
The local authority's pest control or Environmental Health team can give you help and advice in dealing with problems with pests and vermin.

Some local authorities have a pest control service which you might be able to use, although there'll probably charge for it if you're not a local authority tenant. Independent pest control companies can also help, but they may be more expensive than the local authority's service.

In some cases, there's also action that you can take yourself, such as using traps and insecticides.

19/09/2021

Who's responsible for dealing with infestations
It's not always straightforward working out who's responsible. An Environmental Health Officer might be able to identify the cause of an infestation, which in turn might help work out who's responsible.

Your landlord will probably be responsible for dealing with an infestation if:

your tenancy agreement says they’re responsible - or it says they will keep your home in a “good and habitable state” or something similar

the infestation was caused by your landlord not making certain repairs to your home - for example, not fixing holes in the walls

Your landlord might also be responsible for dealing with an infestation if it means your home isn’t safe for you to live in - for example if it’s making you or your family ill.

Check what repairs your landlord has to make if you rent your home from:

19/09/2021