Bed bugs in rented homes: Whose responsibility is it – tenant or landlord?
There has been a surge in bed bug reports since the deputy mayor of Paris sombrely announced “no one is safe” from the blood-sucking creatures.
Paris is grappling with a well-documented outbreak as experts warn things could be just as bad in London.
Luton Council said it is fielding an “alarming number” of calls to tackle bed bugs, while one pest control company told Sky News call-outs had risen by 17% in one month.
But if you rent a property and you’ve got a bed bug infestation at home, whose responsibility is it to deal with? Can you pass it on to your landlord or are you left picking up the bill?
Here’s what you need to know.
Who must deal with bedbugs – the landlord or tenant?
Bedbugs are not covered by a specific piece of legislation in the UK.
But landlords must deal with the bed bugs if the property was infested when a tenant moved in, Blago Manov, director of Bed Bug Hunters, told Sky News.
If a tenant brings the bugs into the house – whether that’s on luggage, clothes, secondhand furniture or via a visitor – it’s down to them to deal with the problem.
Al McClenahan from Justice for Tenants told Sky News bed bugs present “a more complex situation” than larger pests such as mice.
But the general rule is that bed bugs in the property at the start of the tenancy are the landlord’s problem, and those introduced later are the tenant’s responsibility.
There is another scenario where the landlord may be responsible: “If the rental property is in an area that requires a licence from the council, then the licence may require that the landlord keep the property pest-free, in which case they would have an obligation to get rid of the bed bugs.
“You can tell if a property is licenced, as a certificate will likely be hung in the entrance hallway,” he added.
Pest control treats an apartment against bed bugs in Paris
What if the landlord and tenant disagree over who is responsible?
These disagreements are common, Mr Manov said.
Pest control companies are able to determine how long the infestation has been there – and therefore who is responsible.
They do this by looking at the number of eggs and bugs there are. Because there is a pattern to the creatures’ reproduction, they can work out by the numbers how long they have been there.
“If we determined that the bed bugs were there for more than five or six months, and the tenant moved in a week or two weeks ago, our report could be used by the tenants to claim the money for the treatment from the landlord,” Mr Manov said.
Disagreements can also be addressed by going to the local council who can send someone to investigate. If they find the landlord is responsible, they will be forced to pay.
Sometimes it is not clear-cut who should take responsibility, Mr Manov said. It is possible to pinpoint the age of the infestation “plus or minus one month” and sometimes it will not be obvious if that falls before or after a tenant moved in.
In those cases, sometimes the tenant and landlord will split the bill – but other times the dispute ends up in court.
Mr McClenahan said if you need advice on what you can do if your landlord refuses to act, or want clarification on whether your property is licenced, it is best to contact your local council’s private rented sector enforcement team.
Read more:
Sniffer dogs used to detect bed bug infestations
Eurostar on alert as Paris grapples with infestation
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Inside a home infested with bed bugs
What about council properties?
Most councils will provide bedbug treatment, and if you are a council tenant it may be free – this varies by local authority but should be listed alongside pest control prices on their website.
Councils, like private landlords and housing associations, are obliged to make sure properties are safe and clean when tenants move in, and this should include checking for bed bugs.
While councils offer free or cheaper pest treatment than private companies, Mr Manov warned it’s also less effective as they use insecticides, which slowly poison the bugs and often need more than one treatment.
What should you do if you’re moving into a rental property?
Check for bed bugs – particularly if you’re moving into a furnished place.
Bed bugs like wood, so inspect the bedframe and headboard closely, Mr Manov said.
Checking for bugs is also important if you are moving into a houseshare where other people already live.
If the current tenants don’t react to bed bugs – and 30% of the population doesn’t – there may be an infestation they don’t know about.
In a shared house, if all the tenants are on the same contract and bed bugs are introduced partway through, it would be the joint responsibility of the tenants to get rid of them, Mr McClenahan said.
But in a shared property where each tenant has an individual contract for their room, if one tenant introduced bed bugs and they spread to another person’s room, it would be the landlord’s responsibility to resolve, he said.
UK
Mohamed al Fayed: Former royal security head says he warned Royal Family before Diana went on holiday with businessman
The former head of royal protection says he warned the Royal Family about Mohamed al Fayed’s reputation before Princess Diana took her sons on holiday with him.
The former Harrods owner, who died last year at the age of 94, was described as a “monster” earlier this week by lawyers representing 37 alleged sexual abuse victims.
The women say he raped and sexually assaulted them while they worked at the luxury department store, prowling the shop floor and “cherry-picking” women to be brought to his executive suite.
Now, Mr Davies says people were aware of the Egyptian businessman’s reputation as far back as the 1990s, and that he raised concerns about him to the Royal Family.
Princess Diana on the quay of the residence of Mohamed al Fayed in Saint Tropez on 20 July 1997. File pic: AP
“This was a man who I would be concerned [about] if a relative of mine was going on holiday with him, let alone the future king and his brother and their mother, Princess Diana,” Dai Davies told Sky News.
Mohamed al Fayed during a match at Craven Cottage stadium in 2013: File pic: PA
In July 1997, a month before she died, Princess Diana went on holiday with Fayed and his wife to their residence in St Tropez.
She took the two young princes with her – a holiday Prince Harry described as “heaven” in his 2023 memoir Spare.
“I was horrified because I was aware of some of the allegations even then that were going around,” said Mr Davies.
“I was aware that he had tried very hard to ingratiate himself with the Royal Family and obviously knowing, as I did, the reputation he was alleged [to have] then, I was concerned, and I took the opportunity to inform the Royal Family.”
Princess Diana, Prince William (right) and Prince Harry (left) in Saint Tropez on 14 July 1997. File pic: AP
Mr Davies says he was told: “Her Majesty is aware.”
“The rest is history,” he said.
Buckingham Palace told Sky News it had no comment on the allegations.
Fulham ‘deeply disturbed’ by allegations
Fulham FC, a football club that was owned by Fayed between 1997 and 2013, has said it is “deeply troubled” by the dozens of “disturbing” sexual abuse allegations against the businessman.
The Premier League club also said it is “in the process of establishing whether anyone at the club is or has been affected” by this alleged behaviour.
Mohamed al Fayed waves a Fulham scarf in front of supporters in 2012. Pic: Reuters
However, Gaute Haugenes, who managed the club’s women’s team between 2001 and 2003, told the BBC extra precautions were taken to protect female players from Fayed.
“We were aware he liked young, blonde girls. So we just made sure that situations couldn’t occur. We protected the players.”
Read more from Sky News:
Body found in search for missing TV chaplain
Four arrested after ‘concerns’ about prison staff conduct
Woman, 70, admits causing death of baby girl
‘The door was locked behind me’
A former Harrods employee told Sky News she was summoned to Fayed’s apartment when she began working for the department store at 19 years old.
She was told the meeting was a “job review” before “the door was locked behind me”.
“I saw his bedroom door partially open – there were sex toys on view,” she said.
“I felt petrified. I perched myself at the very end of the sofa and then… my boss, the person I worked for, pushed himself onto me.”
Read more: ‘One of the worst cases of corporate sexual exploitation’
Harrods said in a statement on Thursday it was “utterly appalled” by the allegations of abuse and apologised to Fayed’s alleged victims.
The department store has also set up a page on its website inviting former employees to come forward if they have allegations.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The legal team involved in a civil claim against Harrods for allegedly failing to provide a safe system of work for its employees said they aimed to seek justice for the victims of a “vast web of abuse”.
Lily Allen says she had her children “for all the wrong reasons,” at a “high pressure” point in her career when she felt “overwhelmed”.
The singer and actress had her two daughters, Marnie, 12 and Ethel, 11, with her ex-husband Sam Cooper when she was in her mid-20s.
By the time she became a mum, she’d already had hit singles including Smile and The Fear, released two studio albums and received a Brit Award for best British female solo artist.
Speaking about motherhood on the BBC podcast Miss Me?, which Allen hosts with her long-time friend Miquita Oliver, she said: “I think I had children for all the wrong reasons, really.
“Because I was yearning for unconditional love, which I haven’t felt in my life since I was a child.”
The now 39-year-old star added: “And also, my career was at such high speed, high pressure, and I felt like very overwhelmed by what was happening. I just didn’t get much respite you know?
“And I felt like the only way to stop people hassling me was to say, ‘It’s not about me, actually this is about this other person that’s inside me’.
When asked by Oliver if it worked, Allen says: “Yeah, they did leave me alone. I don’t think I really understood what was happening, what I got myself into.”
The daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen, she went on to discuss her own childhood.
“My mum, bless her, had children really early as well, and she really struggled. But she doesn’t really talk about the struggle. And so… She inadvertently gaslit me into thinking it was, you know, easy.
“You just sort of throw the kid over your shoulder and you get on with it.
“Her job was very static, and in one place and went to an office and mine wasn’t like that at all. It wasn’t easy. It just wasn’t easy.”
Allen is married to Stranger Things star David Harbour
The ‘nasty scars’ caused by absent parents
Allen previously told the Radio Times podcast that while she loves her children, having them “ruined her career”.
She said her decision to prioritise them over her pop career was a decision she made so as not to inflict the “nasty scars” of being an “absent” parent onto them.
She also said the myth of having it all “really annoyed” as it simply was not true.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Allen, whose younger brother is Game Of Thrones actor Alfie Allen, married Stranger Things star David Harbour in 2020.
Away from her music career, Allen has branched out into acting over the last few years, starring in two plays in London’s West End, and winning a role in Sky drama Dreamland last year.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports6 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports11 months agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Environment1 year agoTesla advances Powerwall pilot project with German electric company