to think that the landlord should take responsibility for mice?

[lill72]

Eek we have a mice problem. We are unsure how they are getting in, but they are gnawing through closed packets of pasta etc on top shelves of closed pantrys. No evidence in bins etc.

The estate agents have told us it is our problem. But if they are getting through a hole in the house, surely it is the landlord who is repsonsible.I dont want to have to pay for the council to come look (£136) but this will be the only way to establish the source of the problem and how bad it is. We are currently laying traps and the estate agent told us to put wire worrl in holes. We cant see any holes, but I dont think this is our responsibility.

I have written t the agents and told them they landlord should pay for the council to have a look.


anyone clear on the law?

[mausmaus]

yabu

mice come in through incredibly small holes (if you can stick a pencil through a mouse can get through)
you need to put up traps and store any foods in safe containers.

clean the toaster daily, just the crumbs are enough to feed a (mice) family.

[ReallyTired]

I am quite a soft landlady, but I must be doing something right as I have two sets of excellent tenants who pay a good level of rent on time. Sometimes giving a little results in long term loyal tenants.

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

My landlord said that mice were our problem, but did agree to come and block up holes as these were part of the fabric of the building. I got a sonic thingie and the kitchen at least is mouse-free now. The garage is utterly infested though and will remain so short of burning it to the ground.

[SisterMoonshine]

I agree with the majority here.
The landlord could end up paying £136 every few weeks if you don't stop feeding them.

[500smiles]

You are unlikely to be able to stop mice getting in - you need air vents etc to allow circulation around boilers etc and as others have said, a mouse can get in the tiniest of gaps.

They are attracted by food - either food in your bin, crumbs on the floor, packets left open etc. It's not the landords fault.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

You need to get rid of them, it's not rocket science. Clear ALL food away every single day including all crumbs and fruit bowl. Tidy up and keep the place pristine so there's nothing for them to gnaw for bedding. Put down traps and poison. The council might have a free service so it's worth ringing to find out. You can get rid of them in a week but you have to go at it full force.

[TheCraicDealer]

My landlord said that mice were our problem, but did agree to come and block up holes as these were part of the fabric of the building.

That would the line I would take too. If the mice are getting in through fissures in the pipework or bricks then, yes, it's the LL's responsibility. I would ask for a rebate for the cost to find where the mice were coming from if it was found to be something related to poor maintenance of the building, but otherwise I'd suck it up.

[lill72]

Notyournaan - they are gnawing through sealed pasta packets on top shelves of closed pantrys. how is this something we left out?

[thecatneuterer]

OP. If you have mice then you need to put anything edible in tupperware as mentioned above, rather than leaving it in the packets, as mice can get into cupboards as you have discovered.

[weeblueberry]

Notyournaan - they are gnawing through sealed pasta packets on top shelves of closed pantrys. how is this something we left out?

Because they came in initially because of something else, not the sealed pasta packets. They just happened to have found them once they came inside. If the landlord has never previously had a vermin problem but suddenly has now you're tenants, you've got to understand why he might think that something you're doing is causing it?

I'm a tenant and still think it's a tenant issue.

[cheesecakemom]

Definitely a tenant's responsibility unless the mice were there before you moved in.

[WaltzingWithBares]

Just posted same thing on the other thread about mice at the moment!

OP, get one of these - I used to have awful problems with mice - old stone house, not pointed in a long time so plenty of holes to get in I expect. Anyway, the mouse went the instant I plugged it in, and they haven't returned. Thoroughly recommend.

[Jackiebrambles]

Yeah they will eat through the plastic pasta packets to get to the dried pasta, same with rice, same with cereal. Once they are in, they'll eat the lot.

Tupperware is your new best friend. Annoying as it is I know!

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Blocking up holes is neither here not there really as mice can get in through a gap small enough to put the end of a biro in. You need to remove the attraction which is food.

[Smurfingreat]

I'm a landlord as well and the standard contracts I use state that pest control is the tenants responsibility. If there was a problem before tenants moved in I would of course pay for it, but if the infestation happens during a tenancy it is up to the tenants to sort out.

Second everyone else's suggestions about tupperware etc, but with a couple of extra warnings. Mice will eat anything, I've known them eat soap, water colour paints and conkers, they can also survive just by licking work surfaces that haven't been thoroughly wiped down - just boxing up food may not get rid of them. Mice are also incontinent, they have no bladder and just release urine as they produce it, please call in pest control now and if you wish to continue arguing with your landlord do so later.

Pest control where I am costs around £90 for a private contractor who will come 3 times for that, and if the problem still isn't fixed will keep coming until it is.

[pinkandpurplebottle]

I also had a mouse problem earlier this year and like you OP, was a bit dismayed to learn that my landlord considered it my responsibility. They told me to call the council and if they felt there was something in the building that needed fixing then they would send a report to the landlord, and that would be the only way the landlord would do anything about it. It turned out this was indeed stated in my contract, so perhaps it would be worth having a look through yours to see if there is a clause regarding pests. In the end, 3 visits from the council pest control totally wiped out the problem.

All the council did was put down little trays and boxes filled with poison filled seeds. They put them under the kitchen cabinets, behind the fridge, behind the sofa in the living room and under my bed. You leave the boxes/trays for a week and if the seeds are everywhere it means the mice have been at them. It might be cheaper to buy the poison/trays/boxes online rather than getting pest control to come in. I think clearly different councils have different tarrifs for pest control as I only paid £36 for the council to come 3 times (I didn't see a mouse following the first visit, the other 2 visits were part of the package for them to ensure they were all gone).

I'd also like to point out, that prior to getting the council to come (they had a long waiting list) I decided to be proactive and try and sort the problem myself. I spent a small fortune on humane traps, snap traps (the mice were too small to set the damn thing off), peppermint oil, wire wool - the works basically. Nothing worked. Bought the sonar thing someone upthread recommended - fair enough if it worked for them - but it didn't for me (I consider it a massive waste of money actually).

So I recommend the only way to get rid of the little bastards is poison. If you can afford the council or another pest control service, get them in. Otherwise buy the poison yourself.

[pinkandpurplebottle]

I also think that although it is of course sensible to keep your kitchen clean and not leave food out etc, once you have a family of mice move in, they will stay. They can just go and find their food elsewhere but still come back 'home' when they need to. I consider my home to be fairly clean and tidy, and I made sure it was spotless with all food locked up in glass containers etc when I had them but it didn't seem to deter them.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

That's why you put poison down so they take it back to the nest. We've got rid of an infestation of mice-we were catching 5 a night! and rats too, the rats took 6 weeks to get rid of though.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

I agree about humane traps and electronic things being a waste of money. Traps and poison are all you need.

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

The sonar plug-ins apparently need to be on for a couple of weeks, because if there is a nest of babies then the mother will not abandon them. They will, however, move out when they are old enough, so give it two or three weeks.

I had poison from Homebase. The bastards ate the blue poison, dragged the little tray all the way around the back of the cooker, ran blue footprints over the worktops and generally did everything apart from drop down dead as they were supposed to. Proper snappy traps on the other hand...

[Jewels234]

It's a grey area in tenancy law, if it's your fault (food left out etc) then you should pay...but if not it's your landlord's responsibility.

I had this problem and just wanted them gone so split the cost

[Jewels234]

Also, if you're in London, they are par for the course and impossible to get rid of. Keep things clean, get a sonic thing (worked for me!) and learn to live with them

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Thru aren't impossible to get rid of in London. You might have to do it a few times over the years but you can get rid of them.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

They

[26Point2Miles]

All this angst over who is responsible.... Just solve it yourself?