Pest control in rented flat

lmille38

Hi all,

I'm extremely embarassed but I have just discovered I have an infestation of bed bugs. Please do not think me or my flat dirty as neither are and having searched the internet this has nothing to do with having bed bugs.

I have only been in my rented flat less than 3 months and have had bites since moving in. I have finally discovered what the bites are and have instantly stripped the bed and moved the base to discover 10+ little bugs.

I have contacted rent-a-kill who have advised that treatment can cost upwords of £450, I have yet to inform my letting agent as they closed at 5pm.

My question is this, where do I stand leagally for the landlord to pay for this? Does the landlord have a legal obligation to sort this problem?

Any urgent help would be much appreciated as I will be phoning the landlord first thing in the morning.

Thanks

Careful_with_that_Axe

Could you contact your local Council? I think all Councils have a Pest Control Service and it may be free or at a significantly reduced cost compared with what you have been quoted.

From recent press coverages, there seems to be a massive increase in the problem of bed bugs and it has absolutely nothing to do with cleanliness. You have my utmost sympathy and I'm scratching away here!

lmille38

Sorry I should have been a little bit more specific, it's a private let not council. And yes i'm really really itchy!!:(

lynzpower

In the council I work for, pest control from the councils own services are for those who live in council accommodation.

As you are a private let, the landlord is responsible for pest control. however, of course all tenants must do all they can to prevent pests.

However,the usual prevention tactics tenants might use to prevent other pests ( like keep a clean home, wash your pets if you have them with flea treatment products and removing waste food) dont prevent bed bugs. One can just jump on your clothes from public transport and they are off!

Speak to the letting agent first and see if the landlord would be up for doing it anyway? there may be no argument about it? Put it in writing too eg email, then you have record of when you let them know.

If the landlord isnt up for it, then take advice from your local councils environmental health team who may discuss it with the landlord or offer some other kind of assistance.

does your tenancy agreement refer to pest control at all ?

Careful_with_that_Axe

Admittedly it was many years ago, but I had a private rented flat that had a mouse problem and the Council Pest Controller did the work - free of charge. Of course, times have changed since then, but the service may still be available to you (or your Landlord) at a subsidised cost.

I understand the massive increase in this problem is due to them coming in on imported goods.

oasisfeverish

Couple of points as I work in Pest Control.

Rentokil are normally the most expensive, look in Yellow Pages or google for a local company, you will find them cheaper.

Bed Bugs are on the increase purely because people travel more, you may have recently stayed in a hotel or around a friends house and it only takes one to get caught up in clothing or a bag and you take them home.

Also you mention you have only been there 3 months and had bites since moving in. This would lead me to believe that the previous occupants probably had the issue too, or may have brought bed bugs to the property. Bed bugs can lay dormant for up to 6 months or more.

They are normally situated around the head area of a bed, but check backs of drawers, bedside cabinets, behind picture frames, in curtains, where the carpet meet the skirting boards. As they are flat when not full of blood they can fit into very tight spaces.

As for a Landlord paying for it, you would have to firm with them and advise you were being bit when moved in but didn't realise what the bites were at the time, but know now.

From memory our boss normally charges approx. £65 + VAT per visit and depending on how severe, we do a standard of three visits, to treat initially and then two further checks. Plus after the first treatment, you would need to sleep in the room to activate the bugs so they come in contact with the treatment. You will still be bitten for a while.

With all bedding and clothing including curtains, wash on the hottest wash possible, then black bag the items and place in a room not affected.

Sometimes, the best thing is to chuck the mattress and bed if made of wood.

Good luck, they are difficult to get rid of.

lmille38

Thank you all very much for your replies. After a very long and strongly worded e-mail to the letting I got a one line reply, which said they would contact someone and hopefully have them out within a day.

Thankfully the guy that came was really nice and helpful and completely on my side!! He has now been and sprayed both the bedrooms and will be coming back in a couple of weeks. I'm so glad it's finally getting sorted, I'm just waiting on another e-mail from my s**t letting agent telling me I have to pay!!

Don't think so!!!

Thanks again for your advice.

Careful_with_that_Axe

Glad you got it sorted out - I did feel for you being in that situation. Thanks for coming back and updating.

sharpy2010

lmille38 wrote: »

After a very long and strongly worded e-mail to the letting I got a one line reply, which said they would contact someone and hopefully have them out within a day.

Well why were you rude to the letting agent? It's hardly their fault?

G_M

For future reference )or others with the problem) there are several online suppliers of various treatments. I've used one in thw past (forget which, sorry!) and it did the trick.

A 'fogger' (close windows, light blue touch paper, leave room with door shut for 3 hours)
A 'contact' spray (feet of bed, anywhere they might walk - it stays active for weeks and kills bugs that walk across it)
A 'normal' spray

£15 - £25 depending on number of rooms/foggers etc required.

Just google 'bedbugs' !!

mchale

sharpy2010 wrote: »

Well why were you rude to the letting agent? It's hardly their fault?

Really you should know if your a LL or LA, ANYTHING that goes wrong in your rented property is YOUR fault, so why be nice to them at first just go in all guns blazing its the best way :rotfl: