Guides · Watford

Landlord or Tenant: Who Pays for Pest Control?

Infestations in rented homes turn into disputes more often than almost any other pest problem, because both sides usually believe the other should pay. The law is clearer than most people expect, and it mostly turns on one question: did the infestation arise from the condition of the building, or from how the property is being used? This page explains where responsibility sits and what to do if a landlord will not act.

The general rule

If the infestation results from a defect in the building - gaps in brickwork, damaged roofline, broken airbricks, holes around pipework, a defective drain - responsibility sits with the landlord. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 obliges landlords to keep the structure and exterior in repair, and pests entering through disrepair fall under that. If the infestation results from how the property is being lived in - food waste left out, bins overflowing, poor hygiene - responsibility usually sits with the tenant.

What the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act changed

Since March 2019, rented homes in England must be fit for human habitation for the whole of the tenancy, and infestation by pests is one of the factors used to judge fitness. This matters because it gives tenants a direct route to court without needing the council to act first, and it applies regardless of what the tenancy agreement says. A clause making the tenant responsible for all pest control does not override the landlord's statutory duty where the property is genuinely unfit.

Where it gets contested

Two situations cause most disagreements. The first is an infestation that was present before the tenancy began but only became obvious afterwards - mice in a cavity, for example, or bed bugs in a converted flat. Responsibility here sits with the landlord, but proving the timing is difficult, so document what you find and when as soon as you find it. The second is a shared building. In a converted house or block, rodents move between flats through shared voids, and no single tenant caused the problem. Responsibility then usually rests with the freeholder or managing agent, and treating one flat alone will not solve it.

What to do if your landlord will not act

Report it in writing - email is fine and creates a record - describing what you have seen, where, and when it started. Give a reasonable period to respond. If nothing happens, contact the environmental health team at your council: Watford Borough Council for addresses in the town, Three Rivers District Council for Croxley Green, Rickmansworth and Abbots Langley, Hertsmere Borough Council for Bushey and Radlett. Environmental health can inspect and serve notice on a landlord where an infestation makes a property unfit, and that notice carries more weight than any number of unanswered messages.

If you are the landlord

Dealing with it quickly is almost always cheaper than the alternative. An untreated rodent infestation causes structural and wiring damage, and an infestation that reaches the point of a fitness claim or an environmental health notice costs far more than the original treatment. Get the property surveyed, treat it, and proof the entry points - proofing is the part that stops you paying for the same problem again with the next tenant.

Common questions

My tenancy agreement says pest control is my responsibility. Is that valid?

Only up to a point. A tenancy clause cannot remove the landlord's statutory repairing obligations or the requirement that the home is fit for human habitation. If the infestation is caused by disrepair, the clause does not make you liable for it. If it is caused by how you are using the property, the clause is likely to be enforceable.

Who is responsible in a block of flats?

Where pests move through shared structure - voids, risers, communal bin stores - responsibility generally sits with the freeholder or managing agent rather than any individual leaseholder or tenant. Treating a single flat rarely works, because the population simply relocates within the building and returns.

Can I withhold rent until it is dealt with?

Withholding rent is risky and can put you in arrears, which creates grounds for possession. The safer routes are a written report to the landlord, then environmental health, then a fitness for habitation claim. If you are considering withholding rent, take advice from Citizens Advice or Shelter first.