Rats in our house, what are my rights?

MrJester

So there's rats in the house I'm currently living in. I'm planning to move out on the 18th November, but I want to know what I can do about it right now.

I've been told I can escalate to some living safety procedures by the council? And possibly get rent back, there's been nothing but constant issues since I moved into this room in this property, the agency are ridiculous (you may have seen my many other topics of anguish at them).

The longest tenant in this property is nearly a year, and of all that time they have said there has been rat problems in the property. The property agent has been notified multiple times, most recently someone came round and put some black boxes all over the house which I can assume has rat poison in them.. in the kitchen these boxes move around every night, the rats have just eaten whats inside and carried on enjoying their life. Yesterday I saw two of them TWICE run past my feet, a shiver down my spine!

What can I do whilst I'm still technically a tenant?

Pixie5740

Have you still got rats after all this time?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5063880

What did the LA say when you reported the issue to them? If they've done nothing you can go to the council's environmental health department.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/common_problems/pests_and_vermin

In your shoes I'd just have paid some pest control outfit to take care of the problem by now though. The thought of dirty city rats rats running over my feet in my own home gives me the dry boak.

MrJester

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Have you still got rats after all this time?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5063880

What did the LA say when you reported the issue to them? If they've done nothing you can go to the council's environmental health department.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/common_problems/pests_and_vermin

In your shoes I'd just have paid some pest control outfit to take care of the problem by now though. The thought of dirty city rats rats running over my feet in my own home gives me the dry boak.

Ha yes! Saw them twice yesterday. And got a pic of the rat droppings tonight.

Last we reported, they sent someone round and put small black boxes around the house, I assume they contained rat poison, they did nothing I am pretty sure they just eat the poison like yummy food and continued because this is the first time Ive seen two together like this.

Right I'll look at that shelter link.

I'm afraid my rage at this property agent and the problems outweighs my desire to spend silly money on fixing something I shouldn't have to pay for. I bought some rat poison tonight, I'll be handing over the receipt to the PA.

anselld

Unfortunately, if there is a significant population of rats they will consume a lot of rat poison before they are eliminated. Steps must also be taken to prevent their route of entry into the property otherwise they will keep sending reinforcements!

booksurr

they are there because there is a source of food nearby, either food in the house or something outside and they find sleeping indoors rather more comfortable than being outside

either way what did the pest control person say when he came round?

what else do you expect to happen?
- Pest controllers put down bait boxes
- depending on what level of service they are contracted to provide they will return once or more to a) refresh the bait and b) collect carcasses and c) remove the boxes and anything else on their final visit. You may be lucky and have them come out 3 times, I doubt they will do a 4th visit unless you pay then for a further round

complaining to the council will result in the council telling you to call in pest control. It depends on your council if the council pays for the first round of visits or not, many councils no longer provide this for free for obvious reasons

by the sound of it you live in a shared house, if your house mates are dirty then the rats are still there because they have decided it is a "nice" home for them too. Not sure why you think the agency or LL is responsible for the rats arriving? The agency has done what it can in calling in a pest controller, the rest is down to the rats who will take the bait over a period of time and will be killed by it slowly over a period of time. The rats may die somewhere convenient for picking them up, or they may not, if they die under the floorboards for example the smell of rotting will be their parting gift

basis of my comments:
a) dead fox in his earth at bottom of my garden, neighbour screaming her head off as rats very visible her side of the fence. Pest controller found no bait taken but said with absolutely correctly that the rats would leave once they had eaten the fox

b) rats in the loft. Pest control said they will always choose a loft if possible. They were nesting up there but food source was not in my house (never did find out where that time). Pest control said they would be easy to get rid as they would prefer bait put down close to home instead of having to commute to work. 3 visits in all. Massive amounts of bait taken by visit 2, none by visit 3. All rats died in inconvenient places meaning recovery of carcasses was impossible without lifting floors - smell lasted a few days. Point of access never established as they were under the floorboards and accessed the loft via the boxed in soil pipe. To this day have no idea how they got under the house to come in under the suspended floor - pest control reckoned they may have squeezed in via the air bricks or dug a tunnel from a broken sewer pipe somewhere underground.

MrJester

anselld wrote: »

Unfortunately, if there is a significant population of rats they will consume a lot of rat poison before they are eliminated. Steps must also be taken to prevent their route of entry into the property otherwise they will keep sending reinforcements!

Makes sense. Place needs some proper infestation prevention. Doubt they will do anything like that.

I'm off to see a room tomorrow night for a new rental, desperate to get out of here, the room is supposedly available immediately, if I like it I'm going to put the dosh down for it straight away and move in immediately. Then, demand a refund of rent (I've paid up until the 18th) or I take further action.
Can I push for compensation, otherwise advise I will take further action?

That shelter link wasn't really all that helpful, is there some laws about this kind of thing it doesn't quite say for this specifically..

anselld

booksurr wrote: »

Not sure why you think the agency or LL is responsible for the rats arriving?

The L is responsible for repairing any building defects which may give entry to the rats. It tends to be difficult to prevent rats entering the loft and floor voids in terraces for example, but in a decently maintained building they should not have routes easily to enter the living accommodation.

sandsni

anselld wrote: »

The L is responsible for repairing any building defects which may give entry to the rats. It tends to be difficult to prevent rats entering the loft and floor voids in terraces for example, but in a decently maintained building they should not have routes easily to enter the living accommodation.

Even a door left open for a few minutes (to put the rubbish out for instance) can allow access for rodents. My mum is always warning me, particularly at this time of year when they're looking for winter b&b (although in my case it's mice rather than rats).


Make sure there are no nice hiding places or food lying around (including in any outside spaces like gardens or alleyways) to attract them.


Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on your perspective) rats tend to have a "fixed pad" that they use, unlike mice. It makes them easier to track down but possibly more persistent until the source of the problem is sorted. But removing all temptation from your place should at least deter them.


Could you borrow a friend's cat for a couple of weeks? I guarantee it'll sort out your rodent problem.

[Deleted User]

I lived in a HMO property..,there were lots of tiny additional residents. The LL was completely iffy (things like he'd turned fire alarm off, blocked fire exits, no rent books, leaking shower so we couldn't use it with no attempt to repair it etc). Reported him to the council and he ended up having a full inspection and being told he'd got to enclose the entire outside of the building with wire gauze or something to stop the additional residents getting in the house.Plus lots of other things. I have to admit, I grinned when I heard. By then we'd left. I am pretty sure they threw the HMO regulation book at him. I just hope it was heavy.

Pixie5740

JoeJester wrote: »

I'm off to see a room tomorrow night for a new rental, desperate to get out of here, the room is supposedly available immediately, if I like it I'm going to put the dosh down for it straight away and move in immediately. Then, demand a refund of rent (I've paid up until the 18th) or I take further action.
Can I push for compensation, otherwise advise I will take further action?

That shelter link wasn't really all that helpful, is there some laws about this kind of thing it doesn't quite say for this specifically..

You will have to give proper notice for the room you are currently renting. The LL won't have to listen to your demands and refund any of your rent. What kind of tenancy agreement do you have? Are you in a fixed term?

I also doubt you can push for compensation either. What exactly do you want compensated for? The rats? According to your last thread the longest standing tenant had been living there for 10 months and the rats had been present all that time, so now the rats have been there for at least a year. The rats should have been reported to the address given in your tenancy agreements for the serving of notices promptly but it seems none of the other tenants bothered to report this matter. You could try phoning Shelter for further advice on that though.

You were advised in September to report this matter to environmental health but it doesn't sound like any of you have done so yet. Why not?

I understand you not wanting to spend any money on this property but my desire to live in a rat-free home would be greater than my desire to be right so I would have clubbed together with the other tenants to buy traps and poisons, tried to find the nest and point of entry, and encouraged everyone to store their food properly.

I hope you find another room to rent soon as I wouldn't like to share with people who did SFA about rats living there for months.

Cissi

Have you actually given notice? If you only moved in in September, presumably you're in a fixed term AST? The LL would have every right to come after you for the rent for the remainder of the fixed period so make sure to get their agreement of early surrender in writing...