Help! Private Rental House Has Mice

Mallotum_X

Given everything you have said about the house and landlord, why do you want to stay? would it not be easier to move on to somewhere a little less grotty?

[Deleted User]

lol.., I appreciate your advice, honest, and see where you are coming from totally.., but have u read the rest of my post that explains why I have to live here. I live in a place just outside London, properties are in high demand. Consequently landlords can do what they like, whatever the law says, with tenants on benefits like myself.

The landlord managed to force me to sign a two year tenancy agreement. He said he'd evict me if I didn't. I was very lucky to get this place at all.., and the council said he was 'within his rights to expect me to sign a tenancy agreement, if he evicted me they'd find I'd made myself intentionally homeless'. I don't have another deposit. Landlords who will accept HB tenants are rare. They don't have to.., there are more tenants who work than there are properties to rent lol.

[Deleted User]

Just to update (which I should have done earlier), I did manage to get rid of the mice within about two weeks. It was gross, I bought snap traps and a couple of the mice were caught by the leg (even though I won't have mice in my house, I didn't want to cause them this kind of situation) and then had to drown a couple. But I did catch 12 of them and then the problems stopped.

It turned out that an alleyway at the back of the houses had been cleared of rubbish (yeah, wonderful), and I suspect some homeless mice decided to move in.

But they have not reappeared thank god. I felt like a murderer.

But have updated to let people know that mice can be gotten rid of relatively easily without extensive searches for nests etc. I suspect I acted relatively soon after they'd moved in and they were coming out in the house only in my older son's bedroom (he became almost on first name terms with one of them) and the kitchen.

Problem solved though. Numerous snap traps bought in pack of 10 cost me 13 pounds. They were an awful problem to reset but I usually managed it in the end with only one snapped finger lol. You are well advised to walk around in slippers or shoes though to protect toes against snap accidents. Traps always seem to need to be placed where you need to stand in a kitchen!

PS Peanut butter or chocolate spread works very well as bait.., only a little bit though. If you have dogs, they work as an alarm when a trap has been snapped lol. they bark.

I'm still in this house.., its a real struggle to manage financially so still haven't saved a second deposit and 1st month's rent. I do budget aggressively, very careful with what I spend but I'd have to save 2k to be able to move (1500 for rent and deposit at least, 500 for removal as I can't drive) so bad as it is, I still dread having to move out of here. Even this roof is better than no roof. I have started a voluntary job so hopefully our prospects will improve long term and I'll be able to find work.

Old_Git

it does amaze me how tenants complain they have mice but home owners just deal with them .
In my last house I heard a mouse ,I purchased the glue and in 24 hours I caught 5 mice ,problem solved .
It is amazing the things we can do for ourselves without asking the council or LL for help.

I have a tenant who asked me to get an electrician out because the light bulb was flickering , um change the light bulb first.

Pixie5740

Old_Git wrote: »

it does amaze me how tenants complain they have mice but home owners just deal with them .
In my last house I heard a mouse ,I purchased the glue and in 24 hours I caught 5 mice ,problem solved .
It is amazing the things we can do for ourselves without asking the council or LL for help.

I have a tenant who asked me to get an electrician out because the light bulb was flickering , um change the light bulb first.

I would say that in the OP's case, the mice were the straw that broke the camel's back. If mice are getting into a property because of a hole in the wall wouldn't a landlord want to know so that they could repair the fabric of their property?

Glad to hear the OP has managed to get rid of the mice.

Any chance of moving out of London where your money would go further?

System

Fraise wrote: »

I've read reviews where people say the electronic deterrents are hopeless.

I never had any luck with them at all. They had no effect on the mice at all - they would even walk past them!

G_M

1) electronic /sonic devices never worked for me

2) Tried 'humane' trap and after catching them, drove them away and released in field. Experimented with one: tipex on its back. It walked half a mile to come back!

3) these are by far the best traps: easy to re-set without catching your fingers. £3.95 for two.

4) peanut butter!

Velvet_Glove

Our mice had very expensive taste - we discovered we had them when I found little bite marks in my Hotel Chocolat chocolate! Which we then used as bait - worked like a charm.

bouicca21

Sadly my furry visitors are still around, though only occasionally. I have just discovered that the flat downstairs from me has an electronic gadget that turns the circuit wiring into a deterrent. The occupier swears by it. I swear at it, since that is presumably why they avoid her and climb up the wall to mine.

Kathy535

I've just found evidence of a mouse in my kitchen. I hope it's just the one and I suspect that one of my four cats brought it in to play with and lost it. With four cats you'd think the damn thing wouldn't last long but it's been hanging around for about a week now (that I know of). It's got another week to get caught by cats and then I'm off to B&Q for a trap, much though I hate the idea. Having had a mouse die under the built in fridge last year I'm not keen to put up with the smell again, it was vile.