Landlord or Tenant: Who Pays for Pest Control in the UK?

In most cases the landlord pays. If pests get in because of the condition of the building — holes, gaps, broken drains, defective doors or windows — that is the landlord’s responsibility, and a clause in the tenancy saying otherwise does not change it. If the infestation was caused by how the tenant lives in the property, the tenant pays.

That is the short version. The detail matters, because this is one of the most common disputes we are asked to put in writing.

The law in plain terms

Legislation	What it means for pests
Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, s.11	The landlord must keep the structure and exterior in repair, including drains, gutters and external pipework — the usual ways rodents get in.
Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, s.12	A clause trying to contract out of those repair duties is void unless a county court has authorised it.
Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018	Amended the 1985 Act so a home must be fit for human habitation at the start of the tenancy and throughout. A serious infestation can make a property unfit.
Environmental Protection Act 1990	A severe infestation can amount to a statutory nuisance, which the council can act on.

The fitness duty carries an important exception: a landlord is not liable where the unfitness is caused wholly or mainly by the tenant’s own breach of their obligations. That is the hinge the whole question turns on.

Who pays, situation by situation

Situation	Usually
Infestation already present when the tenancy began	Landlord
Rodents entering through gaps, holes or defective brickwork	Landlord
Rats from a damaged or defective drain	Landlord
Pests arriving from communal areas or a neighbouring flat	Landlord or freeholder
Birds nesting in guttering or under the roofline	Landlord
Infestation caused by waste left to build up, or food left out	Tenant
Fleas brought in by the tenant’s pet	Tenant
Bed bugs	Depends — see below

Bed bugs are the genuinely difficult one

Bed bugs do not come through holes in the wall and they are not a hygiene problem. They arrive on luggage, second-hand furniture, clothing, or from an adjoining flat. That makes cause very hard to establish, which is why they produce more disputes than every other pest put together.

In practice: if they appear within the first few weeks of a tenancy, the usual inference is that they were already there and it falls to the landlord. If they appear two years in, shortly after the tenant returned from a trip, the picture is different. In a converted block where several flats are affected, it becomes a building-wide problem for the freeholder or managing agent.

What settles these arguments is evidence, which is why a written report from whoever treats it matters more here than anywhere else.

What a tenant should do

1. Report it in writing — email, not a phone call. Date it.
2. Photograph everything. The pests, the droppings, the damage, and any hole, gap or defect you can see.
3. Give the landlord a reasonable chance to act. What counts as reasonable depends on severity; rats in a kitchen is days, not weeks.
4. If nothing happens, contact the council’s Environmental Health team. They can inspect and, where there is a statutory nuisance or serious hazard, require the landlord to act.
5. Keep every receipt if you end up paying for treatment yourself.

You cannot be evicted simply for reporting a disrepair or pest problem, and retaliatory eviction protections exist precisely for this situation.

What a landlord should do

1. Act quickly. A mouse problem left for a month becomes a fitness-for-habitation argument.
2. Treat and proof. Treatment alone deals with the symptom. If you do not seal the entry point you will pay for this again next autumn, and the tenant will have a stronger case each time.
3. Get it in writing. A report setting out what was found, what was treated and what caused it protects you if the cause is disputed.
4. Do not rely on a clause. A tenancy term making the tenant responsible for all pest control does not override sections 11 and 9A. It can set day-to-day expectations; it cannot transfer a statutory duty.

HMOs are different again

In a house in multiple occupation, shared kitchens, high turnover and communal areas mean problems spread between rooms fast, and the manager’s obligations over common parts are more extensive. Most HMO landlords we work with move to scheduled visits rather than waiting for a callout, because it costs less overall and keeps the licensing file clean.

Common questions

General information only, correct as at November 2026, and not legal advice. Law and guidance change. For a specific dispute, contact Citizens Advice, Shelter or a housing solicitor.