Landlord won't pay for pest control??

[485bantuknots]

On Christmas Eve I woke up during the night because I heard an unusual sound coming from the kitchen. I went to investigate and saw a squirrel in my kitchen😳 (still no clue as to how it got in the flat). Anyway I let my Landlord's agent know who are always super helpful. Because I sent the email during the Christmas period I hadn't received a response up until now.

One of the estate agent's have emailed saying that the Landlord has refused to pay for pest control to resolve the issue. They've said that they can send pest control out if I'm willing to pay for the service but unfortunately he won't be covering the costs.

I private rent and moved into the flat in the summer. I'm also pregnant and have a 8 month old DD and I explained that I had to pack my bags and stay with my mum for a few days. I'm not sure why/if the Landlord is just being stingy but I also have no clue why he's refusing to pay for pest control, it's his bloomin house!!

Can someone tell me if this is allowed and if so, how?!

What happened to the squirrel?

Squirrels aren't like mice in that they'll live in your sorting boards - if it's left the house you probably don't need pest control, just like if a bird had got in.

Was it just one squirrel. Could it have got in through a window, door or the garden.

I wouldn't think you'd need pest control for a squirrel. I don't think people's houses often get overrun with squirrels, do they? More likely it just got trapped inside while being nosey.

You don't need pest control for a squirrel. I can understand why they wouldn't pay for it.

Have you only seen one squirrel? Is there any signs of an infestation? I'm not sure the rules around squirrels but you don't normally hear of a squirrel infestation so I wonder if your landlord is assuming it got in through a window or something and there's no need for pest control. If it's a continuous thing and you can hear them rattling about/can see evidence that there's an infestation going on you'll have more of an argument to get the landlord to get pest control in.

I have no clue what happened to the squirrel!
I went straight to my mum's house but DD's dad came to the house to check when I wasn't here and said that he saw the squirrel in the kitchen too. It's all very bizzare tbh but even if I had mice, could the Landlord just refuse to pay for pest control to come out?

Are you uk or America?

The house needs looking at to see how the squirrel got in and if structural repair is needed they can be incredibly destructive

Sorry, you just left your house with a squirrel in it and you don't know if it's still in there or not?

Tbf I never asked for pest control, I just sent an email to the agent asking what could be done about this.

If I had an infestation of any sort (which I don't think is the case with the squirrel), could the Landlord just refuse to pay for Pest Control? He doesn't seem like the nicest guy as I've had problems in the past and he makes things quite difficult so just wondered if he could potentially do this in the future?

I'm also in the UK for the poster that asked

You left the house for one squirrel? Just leave a trail of nuts to the door. It doesn’t want to be inside. This is madness

I wouldn’t think to call pest control if I found one random squirrel in my house, so your LL is probably thinking that it’s an over reaction at this point. It’s not just the LL being stingy.

If you continue to find squirrels in your kitchen and it’s clearly not just a one off, then you have a reason to expect your LL to pay for pest control.

What the hell?

Let the squirrel out (if it hasn’t already dehydrated or starved to death) and get on with your life.

YABU and a bit cruel to be honest.

Please feel free to come to my house to try and get the squirrel out🤷‍♀️

Sorry but I'm not one of those people that are going to try and catch a squirrel/a mouse or any sort of rodent of the kind. I'm the sort of person that will hyperventilate if I see a spider (I do have a phobia so that's my excuse) so there's no chance I'm going to try and leave a trial for a squirrel for it to get out

You’re massively overreacting.

If you are in the UK, pests like mice are generally the tenant's responsibility (case law precedents going back many years). I'm not sure about the squirrel as that's really unusual: I suspect it would depend how it got in to the house. If there is a hole in the roof or walls then the landlord would need to pay for this to be fixed.

You left a house because of a squirrel? And didn’t even try to shoo it out?

Just chase it out, or get someone else to? Your DD’s dad?

What does your rental contract say about pest control - does the responsibility lie with your landlord or with you? That is your starting point if it’s a recurrent problem.

Don’t assume that it’s down to your landlord to fix.

So the poor squirrel might still be in there?!

Is anybody going to actually answer the question on whether the Landlord can refuse to pay for pest control in future if I was to ever have an infestation?

Awww, squirrels are soooooo cute!!!

Poor thing has probably gotten trapped in your house, open a window and let it out. It's nothing that your landlord needs to get involved in.

Is it still locked inside your flat or has someone let it out. Do you have windows or exterior doors. They are very agile and can climb up walls, roofs.

My tenancy says pest control is my problem

It's been a week since you first saw the squirrel, surely it's made it's own way out by now?

I'm really not sure what you expect your landlord to do, that you're not able to do yourself.