Mice!!! Ending tenancy early

jay-chill

Hello,

My flat mate and I are students and are currently renting a flat. We moved in, in November and the lease takes us up until the end of July.

When we moved in the flat was a disgrace. The landlord admitted that the previous tenants had been a nightmare - punching holes in walls and leaving a mess everywhere, however to our knowledge the flat would be clean by the time we moved in. However this was not the case.

We've just noticed we have mice! Of course these little creatures aren't the scariest of animals, however neither of us want to live with them. We don't want to kill them and we can't afford the ultra sonic pulsar which repels them. Also I've noticed my health has downturned and I'm ill a lot. I'm worried about living here seeing as it's detrimental to our health. We have cleaned the place (to a better standard to than it was) however it is difficult to get it perfect without professional help.

We contacted the landlord who said he would send exterminators around. That was three weeks ago, he still hasn't done that. Enough is enough - we want out our tenancy. As one months notice is required, we will tell him this week that we intend to move out at the end of May 2008. We don't foresee a problem with this, he may ask us to get new tenants for the place - however I was wondering if I am in a position to leave incase he attempts to tell us we can't leave. Surely he is not providing habital living conditions.

This is also all rather embarrassing so I hope no one is too critical with me! Thank you.

tbs624

So you moved in last November and you’ve just noticed that you have mice? You possibly need to check the terms of your Tenancy Agreement, because many agreements will specify that if pests/rodents become a problem after the tenancy has been taken up then it is the tenants’ responsibility to deal with it. However, the LL is obliged to keep the property in good repair and you, as tenants, need to make sure that you keep the property free from rubbish or inappropriately stored food. Have you contacted the Environmental Health Department at your local council? They will often deal with mice and rats free of charge, and usually come out to a property pretty quickly.

If you’ve signed a contract through until July, without a break clause, then you are liable for the rent for the full period, unless the LL is able to find other tenants and both you and he agree to an early ending of the contract. You say that that the property wasn’t clean at the start of your tenancy -did you sign an inventory when you moved in or take any photographs? If you have any problems with rented property always deal with it via letter and keep a copy for your own records. If you make the initial contact by phone, always follow it up with a letter setting out your understanding of what course of action was agreed.

You could try writing to your LL, giving him a list of what else you think needs to be done and suggesting a firm time span (7 days) and see what his response is – you could mention that you will be contacting EH as that often acts a spur towards action. Does your Uni have a Welfare or Accommodations Adviser, or could you arrange an advice interview with the local Council’s Private Tenancies Officer? (may have slightly different title but will be in Housing Dept)

neas

you sure you haven't caused the mice? :P I rmember rightly as a student I was a mucky !!!!!!... not washing up for weeks and leaving food in the main room... perfect opportunity for mice/rats..

Thats student rents... take away their food... no mice...


Also agree 5 months... probably means you caused the mice with a dirty house (but hey i was a student I know Foooorr shoooo your house is a lil dirty :P).

SquatNow

Buy some traps you muppet.

You can get humane traps if you want and drop the mice 10 miles away.

And put all your food in sealed containers like everyone else.

Your health has gone downhill because you live on junk food, drink too much, smoke too much, stay up too late and do too much dope. Your a student, that's normal, live with it dude...

seven-day-weekend

Or get a cat.

jay-chill

Jeez!

Thanks for taking the time to read my thread guys, tbs624 your comments were very helpful and I'll make sure I get onto the points you listed. I knew to check my terms of agreement, and the landlord is pretty laid back and when we moved in he said that he rents the property as a whole - we would need to find two people to replace us. Therefore I do not foresee a problem with ending my tenancy early, if we do this. Especially seeing as the tenancy we have looks as the it was copied and pasted from one he obtained from the internet! We weren't given an inventory at the beginning of the tenancy as the previous tenants had stolen everything so the landlord had only provided us with the obvious furniture (beds, chairs etc) and we had to buy our own utensils.

Oh and yes - we noticed we had mice in March. Thank you very much for the generalisation of a student, however I'm doing my Masters and my flat mate is doing medicine - therefore we do not have time to drink, smoke and I certainly do not take drugs. All of our food is in sealed containers "like everybody else" however I will make sure to double check this, as not to tempt the mice.

Bungarm2001

Some of our students contacted us once a couple of years ago and told us they had mice, so we went round to check and sure enough, the signs were all there. They certainly weren't there at the start of the tenancy which was about 3 months before that.

We also found bags of rice and pasta spilled in the floor standing cupboards, and old greasy chip pan full of congealed fat under the sink along with other bits of waste food and stuff lying around all over the house that you really don't want to read about, so the mouse population was entirely down to them.

Mice and/or rats won't go or stay anywhere unless there is a constant supply of food nearby and somewhere undisturbed for them to sleep. They could I suppose be coming in from a neighbours place, but I seriously doubt it.

Have a seriously bluddy good clean up, don't store food of any description in the lower cupboards or anywhere in the place where they can get at it unless it's in tins. Get some humane mousetraps or borrow a cat for a couple of days (you can have mine for a few days for a small fee!! :rotfl: )

Failing that, get the local council to come and get rid of them. They might charge to get rid of mice, but they do get rid of rats for free usually.

Generali

I lived in a place that had mice when I was a post student - living the student dream but holding down a job so had some cash. It turned out that one of their sources of food was a couple of sets of juggling balls filled with seeds! Another was that one of the little fckers had gnawed their way into the fridge.