landlord has some responsibility<\/a> for resolving the problem.<\/p>\nFurnished Properties<\/h2>\n
Another exception is furnished properties where the landlord does give a warranty that the property is free from pests at the beginning of the tenancy. If the tenant then finds that the property has pests, the landlord needs to take measures to deal with the infestation. If he doesn\u2019t, the tenant could declare the tenancy repudiated, move out and sue the landlord for damages.<\/p>\n
HMOs<\/h2>\n
If the property is an HMO, the Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation Regulations come into play. This means a landlord could be prosecuted if the property is not clean (and free from pests) at the start of a tenancy.<\/p>\n
The Tenant\u2019s Responsibilities<\/h2>\n
If pests infest a property during a tenancy, it is usually the tenant\u2019s responsibility to deal with them. If, for example, fleas or bugs come into a property due to the behaviour of the tenant, this could be seen as a breach of the tenant\u2019s implied obligation to use the property in a tenant-like manner.<\/p>\n
Common Sense<\/h2>\n
At the end of the day, common sense should prevail. A landlord should do all they can to ensure their property is free from pests at the beginning of a tenancy which could mean using a professional company to clean the property. And if a property becomes infested with insects or vermin at any point during the tenancy, we would always advise having it dealt with quickly by a professional. Whoever is at fault, the problem needs to be tackled \u2013 it\u2019s your property and it\u2019s ultimately you who needs to look after it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rats, mice, fleas, bed-bugs, cockroaches, wasps \u2013 they\u2019re definitely not the sort of \u2018tenants\u2019 you want in your rental property. But if your property does become infested, who is responsible \u2013 you or your tenant?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[58,57],"class_list":["post-894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-landlords","tag-hmo","tag-pest-control"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27654,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894\/revisions\/27654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benhams.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Exterminator](\"https:\/\/www.benhams.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Exterminator-spray-for-Pest-control.jpg\")
<\/a>As the landlord, you are responsible for ensuring the rental property is habitable at the start of a tenancy. That means you are responsible for the building itself, sanitary provision and utilities as well as heating and ventilation, lighting and insulation.<\/p>\n