I have a little pest problem

thepcbloke

Hi all, I am currently renting a 3 bed property from a private landlord, during the past month or 2 I have noticed that we have now got bed bugs (gross i know), I have tried to get rid of them myself by using smoke bombs, etc... nothing has worked.

I have no idea how they came into my home as per covid, we have been no where and we have had no visitors.

I have spoken to a couple of exterminators and they are not cheap.

Is my landlord responsible for getting rid of this problem, as I said in the above post this is nothing of our doing as a family, we just want to live peacefully.

All advice and help welcomed

Stay safe and thanks for reading

Skiddaw1

Bedbugs can lie dormant for prolonged periods. Had the house been empty for a time before you moved in?

Can't help on who has responsibility for paying for the treatment but they're almost impossible to exterminate without professional intervention so little point in taking a DIY approach.

HampshireH

No you will be responsible almost 100%.

Unless a pest was present on moving in of your tenancy says your landlord will be responsible for all pest control.

It isn't a repair.

Unless you moved it in the last month or two your landlord won't be responsible.

They don't appear to have let you a property with bedbugs. You seem to have acquired them

They need specialist heat treatment normally to be effective. But you will need to act before you get infested with them

tealady

Hi
Have you tried your local Council.
Some provide a chargeable service, but at least they should be a member of a professional body.

thepcbloke

Skiddaw1 said:

Bedbugs can lie dormant for prolonged periods. Had the house been empty for a time before you moved in?

Can't help on who has responsibility for paying for the treatment but they're almost impossible to exterminate without professional intervention so little point in taking a DIY approach.

As far as we were aware the house was empty for some time before we moved in, we still get post for previous tenants, but thats expected. Not sure how long the house was sat empty

thepcbloke

HampshireH said:

No you will be responsible almost 100%.

Unless a pest was present on moving in of your tenancy says your landlord will be responsible for all pest control.

It isn't a repair.

Unless you moved it in the last month or two your landlord won't be responsible.

They don't appear to have let you a property with bedbugs. You seem to have acquired them

They need specialist heat treatment normally to be effective. But you will need to act before you get infested with them

when we moved in there was a wierd smell in the back bedroom but we put this down to the house sitting empty for a while.

HampshireH

thepcbloke said:

Skiddaw1 said:

Bedbugs can lie dormant for prolonged periods. Had the house been empty for a time before you moved in?

Can't help on who has responsibility for paying for the treatment but they're almost impossible to exterminate without professional intervention so little point in taking a DIY approach.

As far as we were aware the house was empty for some time before we moved in, we still get post for previous tenants, but thats expected. Not sure how long the house was sat empty

Had you just moved in? 

They thrive in warmer months but they are unlikely to lie dormant in a lived in house with heating on. 

thepcbloke

no we have been here since august 2020 but have only noticed them since end of feb 2021

Redwino222

It seems unlikely the bad bigs pre dates you on that case.  Six months is a long time for them to lie dormant - particularly if you were hearing the house through the winter.

You need to act quickly to get rid of them.  

Apodemus

The smell when you moved in is the give-away.  The bed bug smell is quite distinctive, so it sounds like they might already have been in the property when you moved in.

HampshireH

I genuinely think you won't get very far with the landlord accepting responsibility but there is no harm in asking.

It's so unlikely that they would lie dormant through the winter months with he heating on.

I think you would have had a problem much sooner. They like the summer months so August/September would have been ideal for them to be active.

Your landlord if switched on will do a quick Google, identify prime bed bug conditions and dormancy and probably come to the same conclusion.... It's likely they stayed dormant of hey we're there during the summer months and hen winter when you heated the house 

Whilst a smell can be indicative it could also be various other things. You say it was there but not that it continued when you moved it. It would be very apparent consistently and getting worse.