Mouse damage in rented house - whose responsibility?

Optimist

Getting the council pest control officer involved would be a good move. Plus I suggest keeping a copy of your correspondence with the agents.Its always good to be able to put give chapter and verse if it comes to blows.

Debt_Free_Chick

Definitely get the Council out. They have a duty to deal with rats in order to control the spread of Weil's Disease.

merlinthehappypig

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Definitely get the Council out. They have a duty to deal with rats in order to control the spread of Weil's Disease.

Great, thanks - I just thought I might lose a toe or two in the night. Now I've got to worry about them sharing the bath!

lynzpower

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Definitely get the Council out. They have a duty to deal with rats in order to control the spread of Weil's Disease.

DFC,
i know that you are usually very reliable indeed, do council HAVE to call out to rats? Only I have had experiences as a social worker where there was a rat infestation, teeming with them in an estate next to a mankiy stagnant canal in central london (gross)

Even tho I "was" the council , pest control would not come out as and I quote " that its the LLs responsibility to pay pest control" ( the flat was a BTL in a council estate, estate managed by the council :wall:) therefore the private individuals have to pay? i thought council had a duty to too, after all what if no one can afford it and rats start running wild down the streets ( like I saw in Gateshead :eek: ) as well, but I couldnt find any proof of this. Id love it if I was wrong and the councils have to deal with. If its a DUTY to deal with infestation, then thats fab and Id love to knoiw where, but if its only a power, they can restrict "access to the service" or "gatekeep" as they say in the "trade"

Does that make any sense after a long day lol

Debt_Free_Chick

To be accurate, Local Authorities have a duty under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 to ensure that their district is kept, as far as practicable, free of pests. Fairly sure that there are sections of the Public Health Act that apply, too.

Everyone in the Country has a statutory duty to tell the local authority if there are "substantial numbers" of rats or mice on their land. Once the LA is told, they then have to investigate in order to discharge their duty under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act.

To be honest, this doesn't necessarily mean that the LA must deal with them - they can simply insist that the property owner/occupier takes certain steps to eradicate them. But if you report the existence of pests - rats in particular - they MUST investigate; they have a statutory duty to do so. Whilst they are there ..... they'll give practical advice and will usually deal with them.

The relevant Act is here - and it's been updated with subsequent changes.

HTH

lynzpower

Thanks, very helpful as ever :beer:

Sunny2

Doesn't your agreement say something about being able to 'peaceably hold and enjoy the property... etc., and/or the LA/LL will keep the structure and exterior in sound condition... or words to that effect? Also they should be covered by building insurance too. I would push for the LA to sort it out or suggest in writing that you will arrange for the work to be done, provide them with quotes and withold that amount from the rent.

John_Pierpoint

Are we talking about a "suspended" ground floor with damaged air bricks or a broken sewer pipe/cover?
Do you have bird loving neighbours feeding your rats?
Rats cannot eat steel or concrete - so screw something made of steel firmly over the holes.
(Glass reinforced resin - car body repair kit - works pretty well too for filling holes)
Make the house rat and squirrel proof if you don't want it to catch fire due to an electrical fault.

merlinthehappypig

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Are we talking about a "suspended" ground floor with damaged air bricks or a broken sewer pipe/cover?
Do you have bird loving neighbours feeding your rats?
Rats cannot eat steel or concrete - so screw something made of steel firmly over the holes.
(Glass reinforced resin - car body repair kit - works pretty well too for filling holes)
Make the house rat and squirrel proof if you don't want it to catch fire due to an electrical fault.

It's a wooden floor in a listed building (16thC). I'm not sure about the construction, but there is a deepish hole when you look through the rat holes so I'm guessing it's suspended. No air bricks in the property that I can see and no sewer pipe near the room (septic tank in the garden).

No neighbours for a mile and we don't leave any food, pet, bird or otherwise lying around as we have always lived in the country & had rats (just not in the house before).

Unfortunately, from experience, we know that rats can actually eat through concrete. We filled in some holes in the floor in the barn at our last house and the rats dug back through. I was thinking about filling the holes with concrete, but have held off for that reason. Your idea about metal is a good one though, but I suppose there is nothing to stop them chewing through somewhere else.

As it's not ours, and listed, we can't actually do anything to vermin proof the house. I have worries about the electrics as well, but other than keeping the smoke alarms working and the contents insurance up to date, there isn't much else that I can do, apart from keeping my fingers crossed!

No poison eaten last night, so it's possible that these rats have fallen ill. It's a little soon for them to have died.

John_Pierpoint

Following the Plague and the Great Fire in 1666 people were forbidden to build houses like that in London, because they are a fire risk and a rat trap.

Rats cannot eat proper Portland cement concrete mixed at (say) 1:4. Put some broken glass in it. However in winter temperatures is takes over a week to harden into rock. (Accelerator admix might help)

.Spend a fair sum poisoning the rats (and most of the wild life in the food chain) and then block the holes?

If you can find a trap that works, let me know. I can catch the young ones with a break back traps, but the clever old rats wait to see what happens and then won't touch them.