Rat in holiday rental

[Celosia]

Hi.. we have a 6 month ‘luxury rental’ whilst house hunting. We found a property through a ‘luxury’ website. Very long horrible story but, at the end of the day we have a full on, big fat rat in the kitchen.

do we have rights to leave early out of the contract?

owner is not caring. Agent on our side.

thank you.

Well you have found that rats don’t discriminate between luxury and povvo accommodation

Presumably you have had professional pest control in to deal with it / prevent reoccurrence?

What do you expect the owner to do?

As to leaving, that will depend entirely on your contract terms. But you can’t guarantee any other property won’t have pest issues so you may be cutting your nose off to spite your face

Why not ask agent …

Do you think the LL has been negligent in some way? A rat infestation because the LL hasn’t dealt with a blocked waste outlet (for example) is going to put you in a different position from a well-maintained property where you’ve got a rat that’s come in because of the cold weather and it’s just bad luck.

IANAL but I was looking up who is responsible for pest control yesterday for my job so I've got recent articles to hand. I also have personal experience of this happening to me so you have my sympathy, it's awful.

The crux of the matter is "is the landlord responsible for pest control?" and the answer is in some cases yes, in some cases no. Here is a good explainer:
https://lawhive.co.uk/knowledge-hub/landlord-tenant/are-landlords-responsible-for-pest-control-uk/
In your situation, I think you might have a case if the infestation was there before you moved in or if the landlord was negligent and left holes in the wall that the rat got in through.

Usually issues where the landlord breached the contract don't mean you can leave the contract (or even stop paying them. Batshit but true and many years ago, I found myself in court when I refused to pay the landlord who rented me a flat that was so infested with rats before I moved in that I ended up having to bin all my possessions, so I advise caution because it's one of the most unjust laws I've ever come across that you have to pay for uninhabitable accommodation).

They should take care of professional pest control (not their mate turning up with some glue traps, a proper company needs to sort this out) and they should put you up in alternative accommodation if the infestation is so bad that the property is uninhabitable (but accommodation is not deemed automatically uninhabitable just because of pest infestations).
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repairs/is_your_home_fit_for_habitation

I should add that environmental health eventually deemed the flat uninhabitable in my case, but only due to fire regs violations, not the rats in every part of the property. At the time there was no provision at all for pest infestations in the law about habitability, and they couldn't get involved in that aspect, which was frustrating. Still, once EH served notice on the LL it meant I was able to use that to get out of the contract, but only because the LL agreed for an easier life rather than having to find me alternative accommodation.

Thank you. I was merely saying when you see ‘luxury’ rentals you assume that it would be clean, without mould, damp, with working facilities etc.. as I said a long history. It appears that there is a history.. bait, burrows, open access into one room
Etc

We have. Agent helpful. Owner reluctant to acknowledge the issue.

Absolutely. With many other issues aswell. The rat is the final straw. I suppose I was just looking for kind advice whilst listening to the awful rustling.

Thank you

Ring environmental health at the council. They can enforce action and if necessary fine the landlord.

I live opposite an air BnB (another story, utter nightmare) and from time to time, because I’m a nosy cow, peruse their reviews. It’s a big property, expensive. Their last review complained bitterly about rats.
As much as it pains me to admit it, it’s not the owners fault and I’m fairly sure they are coming from a house that backs on to their property that has an extensive pigeon loft in the garden which is presumably attracting vermin..
Must admit though, there’s a little bit of karma in the fact another neighbour is seemingly causing her problems. She’s getting a taste of how it feels.

Thank you. The owner absolutely knows about the problem .. evidence of old traps etc. ..just playing arse status of not doing anything.

really sorry I don’t know how to copy and reply to certain people!