Landlord's obligation to remove wasps nest?

CMCC90

I'm renting a property on farmland where the landlord (and farmer) lives next door to me.

This summer has been pure hell, we haven't been able to set foot outside our door without being attacked by multiple large wasps, these guys are aggressive as they come and WILL attack on sight. We have not been able to have our windows open, even leaving them open a crack results in 5-10 wasps in our house per day. This has been compounded by the fact that we have adopted a puppy, meaning every time he needs the toilet we have to guard him with an electric swatter and constantly duck and flail around.

At first we just thought it was due to the hot summer we've had, but on mentioning it to the landlord he casually said "oh yeah, we have a large nest in our eaves". We had a look today and I could not believe how indifferent he was about this, there are literally 100's hovering around the eaves, indicating a nest of thousands. It doesn't bother the farmer and his wife because they are out of the house all day (leaving the windows shut), and I guess being a farmer makes him less concerned about such things.

We are going to ask them to have it removed because it is not only destroying our enjoyment of the property (which we've been at for years and never made any demands of them), but it presents a clear danger our health and that of our puppy. As some of you may know, when a wasp attacks it releases a pheromone calling it's friends to attack, so it's not just 1 or 2 stings we are risking here, we are risking attack by enough to kill a fully grown adult and easily kill our puppy.

My questions are:

1. Does the landlord have any obligation to remove it? It's on his house, but our house is attached on one side so it's essentially on the building we rent for all intents and purposes.

2. Would it be in breach of anything if we paid to have an exterminator come out without their permission? The nest is external and so an exterminator would be able to get to it without entering their property, and we could have it done whilst they are out for the day. I'm pretty sure that they don't have any sentimental attachment to the little !!!!!!s!

Obviously the best solution would be for them to agree to remove it, they are nice people and I'm not anticipating outright rejection, but what I am anticipating is them just brushing it off and never getting around to it, hoping that they can fob us off until winter kills them off. They are typical laid-back southerners and tend to take ages to do anything, and this is an emergency as far as my family are concerned.

pinklady21

It is nearly the end of the season, the wasps will vacate the nest soon. Wasps are very unlikely to come and re-use an existing nest.

Merlin139

If you call the council they will deal with it. My local council charges £46 to deal with a Wasp Nest.

No need to remove it they just need to kill of the wasps. Once they are killed the nest will not be used again. The man that came out for ours said that they would be gone by the end of September if he did nothing.

In the end he used a form of industrial Ant Powder. Different base ingredient to the one you can buy in shops.

ReadingTim

I can't imagine they'll have an issue with you sorting out the removal of the nest, especially if you foot the bill and manage it without any inconvenience to them - why would they complain or withhold any aspect if your deposit?

With regards to winter killing them off, that's true, as this article explains. The nest won't be reused, so it's a one-off problem, and given we're coming to the end of summer, I'd drop the exaggeration and hyperbole about 'dog murdering killer wasps', chill out for a few weeks and the problem will indeed sort itself out. If you want to pay money to accelerate the process, however; that's your choice.

CMCC90

pinklady21 wrote: »

It is nearly the end of the season, the wasps will vacate the nest soon. Wasps are very unlikely to come and re-use an existing nest.

This is what I'm afraid the landlord will be thinking.

A brief bit of research indicates that the nest will likely be somewhat active until November, or longer if it's a warm winter, particularly as it's a large nest.

That's at least 65 more days of being trapped in our house, the puppy needs the toilet around 8 times per day during daylight hours, that's 520 more occasions where we have to risk harm to ourselves and our dog. I've been stung at least 5 times per week, sometimes more, and I'm reluctant to put up with this a second longer than we have to. It was different when we thought it was just the heat, but now we know it's a totally fixable problem.

CMCC90

ReadingTim wrote: »

I can't imagine they'll have an issue with you sorting out the removal of the nest, especially if you foot the bill and manage it without any inconvenience to them - why would they complain or withhold any aspect if your deposit?

With regards to winter killing them off, that's true, as explains. The nest won't be reused, so it's a one-off problem, and given we're coming to the end of summer, I'd drop the exaggeration and hyperbole about 'dog murdering killer wasps', chill out for a few weeks and the problem will indeed sort itself out. If you want to pay money to accelerate the process, however; that's your choice.

No idea, they might see it as intrusive considering the guy would have to climb a ladder against their wall and deal with it. See my response to PinkLady re them dying off.

'Dog murdering killer wasps' is entirely your invention, I'm not exaggerating. The effect from wasp stings is cumulative, 30 can pose a serious health risk for humans, far less for a tiny puppy. There are 100's or 1000's within 10 meters of where the dog uses the toilet, and it is factually accurate that one wasp can encourage all nearby wasps to attack through pheromones, it is a legitimate concern.

CMCC90

Merlin139 wrote: »

If you call the council they will deal with it. My local council charges £46 to deal with a Wasp Nest.

No need to remove it they just need to kill of the wasps. Once they are killed the nest will not be used again. The man that came out for ours said that they would be gone by the end of September if he did nothing.

In the end he used a form of industrial Ant Powder. Different base ingredient to the one you can buy in shops.

Thank you, I will give them a call.

Cost is not an issue and we are happy to pay for it, anything to get rid of these !!!!!!!s.

G_M

Seems strange you are raising this now, having already got through the height of the summer. As others have said, they'll be gone soon and won't return.


But if you want action taken, ask the landlord. Given the circumstances I would not simply arrange removal yourself. Yes, it sounds like you have an AST, but you are living in close proximity to the LL, and you say the ladder would have to go against his wall, not yours, so....... discussion time.


Hopefully he'll simply agree to either remove the nest, or allow you to do so.

pinklady21

If the problem has been as bad as you say, I find it difficult to understand why you didn't spot such a large nest sooner? Anytime I have had wasps nesting, it has been very obvious where they are coming and going.

You need to ask the landlord very nicely. Some folks do not have an issue with wasps, so might be better not to go in all guns blazing!

Davesnave

My neighbour had a hornets' nest destroyed two weeks ago. They didn't get them all though. Now, each day, I have displaced hornets ranging around the eaves of my barn and going inside, looking for their former home.



Just saying....

CMCC90

G_M wrote: »

Seems strange you are raising this now, having already got through the height of the summer. As others have said, they'll be gone soon and won't return.


But if you want action taken, ask the landlord. Given the circumstances I would not simply arrange removal yourself. Yes, it sounds like you have an AST, but you are living in close proximity to the LL, and you say the ladder would have to go against his wall, not yours, so....... discussion time.


Hopefully he'll simply agree to either remove the nest, or allow you to do so.

Like I said, we didn't know it was a nest until the landlord told us and only saw the extent today - obviously we wouldn't raise vague complaints of there being too many wasps in the area to our landlord, but now we know what's causing it.

I'm heading over there this evening when they are back, I just wanted to know whether we have any rights in asking this, and if I'm likely to get in some sort of trouble for having it removed without permission. We get on well with them, so fingers crossed it all goes smoothly.