Bedbugs - can landlords really charge tenant for treating whole building??

[Butterfly1975]

My friend is in a rented room which she has been in for 2 years. Recently she found bedbugs in her divan bed which she had actually been trying to get landlord to replace since moving in.

She reported these to the agency and they arranged for pest control to come out and treat the room. Subsequently bedbugs have been found in other rented rooms in the house and now the landlord is say my friend will have to pay to have the whole house treated. She's on a very low income and in a complete state about receiving a bill which could be into the thousands.

CAB haven't given her a clear answer about who is liable and we can't get through to Shelter for any advice.

Anyone here work for housing or been through similar that can help. She's so upset and I'm really concerned for her well-being over this

Firstly the landlord needs to show on the balance of probability, that she introduced the bedbugs into the building and that will be very difficult for him to do because they can be brought in on infected bedding, mattresses, people, suitcases etc. Secondly, there probably needs to be a clause in the tenancy agreement saying the tenant will be liable for full costs of ridding the entire building of the bb or pests and even if that were in the tenancy agreement it would be considered an unfair contract term therefore highly unlikely to be enforceable. Thirdly, if it's an HMO it's difficult to see how that isn't the landlords responsibility. Unfortunately it's a cost the landlord will have to bear, the same way if it were rats or mice. Your friend is not legally responsible, she can refuse in writing to the landlord stating the above. Basically he's just trying it on.