Question

England | Landlord Responsibility for Repairs and Maintenance (England) | Responsibilities and Liabilities (England)

Pest (Rats)

23 Oct 2020 | 1 comment

Hi,

We have tenants a newly built property (6 weeks since they occupied). Since they have moved in the bedrooms in the basement level are constantly having scratching noises in the wall cavities.

Pest control have visited 3 times baiting and setting traps etc. They have caught a couple of rats. They believe it is an issue with the them access via the drains.

Pest control & a the original groundworks team cannot definitively determine the access point into the building.

They advised the only option would be regular baiting/contract service.

Obviously the preference is to eliminate the problem completely. In the absence of this possibility what liability do we have towards the tenant?

Answer

1 Comment

  1. guildy

    From what’s described, you’re doing everything necessary.

    Keep trying to locate the point of entry but whilst it’s not found, continuing to bait.

    A landlord is only liable for repairs if the works are not carried out “with reasonable expedition”. You are currently using reasonable expedition in our view.

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