Are Landlords Responsible for Pest Control?

Pest infestations at home are at best unpleasant and at worst a problem that can cause serious property damage and health issues. In a privately owned property, the solution is rather straight forward, call a Pest Control company and take preventative measures to stop a recurrence of the issue. In a rental property, however, it can be a little more complex. Quite often tenants will ask whether the landlord is responsible for pest control or whether they are. The answer is that it depends!! What does it depend on though?

The first port of call is always the rental agreement to see whether pest control is mentioned in there. That would make things pretty simple, but it is not mentioned in tenancy agreements. So where does that leave the situation?

When is a landlord responsible for pest control?

Typically, it will depend on what the cause of the infestation is. This isn’t always easy to determine so you might need to bring in a specialist pest control company to diagnose the issue and when it started.  A landlord will be responsible for sorting out the problem if it can be proved that:

• The pest issue is being caused by a structural flaw in the property such as a hole in the wall or a gap in the roof (unless the structural issue has been caused by the tenant)
• The pest issue was present before the tenancy began
• There is a history of pest problems and measures to control them have not been effective
• The pests come from neighbouring properties through shared roof or floor voids
• Pest problems in any communal areas

In all these cases it has to be clearly proved that the infestation would not be present if the landlord had taken measures to eradicate them before the tenancy began and sorted any issues with the fabric of the property.

When is a tenant responsible for pest control?

A tenant will usually be responsible if:

• they caused damage to the fabric of the property which allowed the pests to enter and did not report it to the landlord or take steps to fix the problem.
• if they do not keep the property clear of rubbish and food debris which attracts the pests in the first place. Tenants should ensure that the inside of the property is kept in a clean state and that any rubbish is put into sealed bins properly.
• if the infestation was brought into the property via furniture, bedding or clothes that they have brought into the property. This is especially likely with bed bugs for example.
• The tenant was aware of an issue with the property and did not raise it with the landlord to sort it in a timely manner and this delay led to the infestation.

If it is not obvious where the infestation came from the local environmental health officer or a professional pest control company should be consulted to make an informed decision as to the most likely cause of the infestation.

Pest control and who is responsible for it is not always a straight forward matter, the most important thing is that both the landlord and tenant work together to prevent any issues in the first place as prevention is always better than cure.