BEDBUGS in new rental property

[leporello]

DD moved into a new rental property on Tuesday night with four housemates. It became clear as soon as she went to make up the bed that there was a bedbug infestation in the room. They called out a pest control company who came the next day and confirmed the infestation - thankfully it was limited to 2 of the bedrooms.

The agency acting for the landlord has agreed to pay for extermination but they want to use their own cheaper company, which is reasonable I guess. But is there a timeframe by which they should take action? They are not giving dd any answers and in the meantime she has no room to live in or bed to sleep in. What can she reasonably ask for and what are the landlord's legal responsibilities (obviously I have googled but it's hard to find specifics).

Honestly, I'd move out, ask for cancellation of the lease based on the property not being fit for rental and move on - if that is possible.

Those things are the devil to get rid of and I would NOT be happy with a cheap company. It requires at least 2 treatments - but probably more and you will need to live out of sealed plastic bags and heat treat (drier) everything. If she can get rid of this rental she should.

I speak from experience.

In future she should check beds/frames etc really carefully before taking a lease. Ditto hotels and hostels.

I think they should be able to arrange an initial treatment within a few days, certainly less than a week.
If the infestation was immediately obvious then it must be quite bad and the previous tenants would certainly have known about it.
Was the house professionally cleaned after the previous tenancy? What were the signs of the infestation? Was the mattress stained?

professional cleaning won't sort out bedbugs. Some people don't react to bedbug bites so it is possible the previous tenants weren't aware - but not likely.

honestly she should do everything possible to walk away from this place.

Professional cleaning won’t get rid of bedbugs but the landlord would have had the opportunity to check the condition of the property. Also, a decent inventory service would have spotted issues like the mattress staining that bedbugs cause, even if the bedbugs themselves weren’t visible.

Very difficult to walk away as they don't really have anywhere else to go in this city, which is new to them all. As they all lived in a different city while they house hunted, only 1 of them had the opportunity to look at the house in person before agreeing to let it. I suspect it was just a quick head round the door of each room and no more than that. It seems the place had been empty for quite a while, and the state of the place suggests no real effort to clean up after the last tenants. Think typical dilapidated studenty house (some of them are postgrad students but others have jobs).

First pest control experts - that the agents don't want to use - wanted to get rid of all the beds/mattresses, which is probably the sticking point for the landlord. I really just need to know the legal position. How long can they prevaricate? What can we insist on?

Do they have house insurance with legal cover? Or do you - often covers student family members living away from home. If so, worth speaking to them to see if any way out of their contract. I know you said they have nowhere else to go but this could go on for months so they’ll need somewhere to stay in the interim anyway (and I’d rather sleep anywhere than with a bedbug infestation).

So would I! I've just seen that they can ask for the contract to be ended with refund of rent and deposit as landlord is in breach of the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act so that's the nuclear option. Also we can threaten Environmental Health. But - they need somewhere else to live, and some of the other housemates might be reluctant, which gives rise to more problems.

If the agency fails to communicate with her I will call them and demand they find dd another place to live in the meantime, as is her right. I have little confidence in this agency, they didn't come across well during the contract stage and I personally would prefer them all to find somewhere else better and leave this nightmare behind. But it's not up to me unfortunately.

Leporello have your dd google about bedbugs - especially american sites. They are soul destroying to get rid of and soul destroying to live with. The landlords are mad to think they can keep the mattresses and beds. mad.

We got bedbugs because my ds was in a student rental that had them (and he had his own new bed and mattress - didn't matter). It nearly killed me to get rid of them and we had plenty of money to throw at the problem.

If your dd stays there and comes home to stay you have to be SO careful. search it up,