Mouse in student house-share kitchen. Tell landlord?

[heddayk]

My student son has seen a mouse and has asked my advice. He needs to check the contract, but is pest control normally a landlord or tenant responsibility?

Don't think there's any such thing as normal. FWIW when I was a student we were billed when we needed an emergency plumber. Then it turned out my house mate had been pouring roasting fat down the sink so probably fair enough!

If they've been a bit messy in the kitchen, or taking food to bedrooms, it could be more bother than it's worth notifying the landlord. It won't cost much to buy a couple of traps and a bit of chocolate to go on them. (And I've tried all the humane routes in the past and sorry to say it's only a quick snap that works).

Main thing is to ensure no food or dirty dishes left out.

• go through food cupboards, getting everything in sealed containers and chuck contaminated stuff
• look for where it might be getting in... block any holes (steel wool is good)
• clean everything
• set traps (chocolate or peanut butter)

Probably quicker to sort themselves than contacting landlord.

It's usually the landlords, but student housing management are notorious for blaming the tenants habits for it and taking all costs from the deposit or billing as an additional cost.