Dilemna - Rats in Flat - Should I move?

[Chocolate18]

We live in the ground floor flat of a busy area that contains business units and we have a small baby.

We recently discovered that there is a rat problem in our house. Overall, I have seen about 5 rats - I am not sure if they are the same ones (but definitely at least more than one).

We have called in pest control, who have laid down traps but nothing has caught the bait. I don't think thet pests stay in our flat but come and go via the bathroom and holes in piping. Pest control have also filled in holes with metal wool and I have not seen any since.

Our baby will soon start to crawl and walk and will start on solid food. I am so sad that I wont be able to enjoy these experiences wholeheartedly as I will be constantly worrying about the rats and if our baby is coming into contact with them and the cleanliness and hygiene around it. I am also worried that things will get more difficult as I return to work full time. My husband although helpful is very busy at work and doesn't have enough time to dedicate to this.

What would you do? Should we move given above or should we stick it out and hope they don't return. FYI if we move, our rent will obv be higher and we were trying to save up to buy a house!

Just mop the floors with bleach water, and do normal cleaning from there if the problem is solved. If there's no more getting in there's no need to worry over it.

Rats could be in your next rental.
Ask the landlord to pay for a cleaner to clean the carpets etc. now that the rats have been treated.

Get the pest exterminator back whenever you need to and set traps and poison in safe ways about the house. Therefore, you will know if they come back and when to get the rat exterminator again.

To not attract new rats. Keep all food in tight lidded containers or the fridge. Scraps from the table need to be composted, bagged and binned to outside bin every day; cans and jars needs to be washed before storing for rubbish collection.
Try not to have stacks of paper near a source of heat. Try not to eat in rooms other than the kitchen and wipe up crumbs. Bag your used nappies and put in outside bin. Keep a lid on your compost.

There will always be rats living where humans live. Do all the right things to keep them out of your home..

User14.. has the right idea. I’d add to that to make sure you do the dishes before going to bed.

I'd also get a cat!

But also, moving is a possibility. Nothing to stop you looking out for what's available, if moving will make you feel better.

If all the access points have been sealed up then the problem is effectively solved, and moving seems to be a bit of an overreaction. I know (from experience) that it's not a pleasant thing to go through but it could happen anywhere - I lived in a fairly quiet residential street when I had rats and you could quite easily have the same problem somewhere else if you moved. Give everything a good clean and stay put, I would.

I agree with user14 but also get a cat. Even if you just borrow one for a week it will be enough x my dad's cats used to catch huge rats near the railway lines so it definitely will work. We had field mice coming in via the conservatory so I locked the cat in there overnight and they never came back.

Hi OP, sorry to hear of your plight. Had a similar experience myself when we moved in to our house. Thankfully rats never got in the living space but were in attic/cavity walls.
Hopefully the steps taken have deterred them, it turner out ours were coming from a collapsed sewer which was (eventually) fixed by the water company.
second everything @user1492757084 says, also peppermint oil. They can’t stand the stuff. I used to add a few drops to the water when cleaning the floors.
The electric sonic repellants won’t help if they have already nested, but may deter them if they are scoping out new digs, I used this one: https://www.primrose.co.uk/advanced-rat-and-mouse-repeller-whole-house-by-pestbyer

To answer your question I would stay put for now, but if they make a further appearance and your landlord won't address the underlying issues, I would move.

Getting a cat might invalidate the lease and force them to move as well, though.

It sounds like the problem has been addressed and if you haven't seen any since then it's probably sorted.

We live in an old house and periodically have to deal with mice or rats.
Dd has never been bitten or caught anything from them.

I wouldn't move. You don't know what you would be moving into. You know how bad the problem was in your current flat and you know that it has been dealt with.

Most cats do not catch rats Link (yes, some do, but they are the minority).

Do what @user1492757084 says.