You heard them in the wall first, then found the droppings behind the cooker. Or the kitchen comes alive when you flick the light on at night. You have told your landlord, and the reply was that pests are the tenant's problem. That answer is sometimes right and often wrong, and which one it is depends entirely on the cause.
Unlike a leak or a broken boiler, an infestation is not automatically your landlord's responsibility. There is no general rule that the landlord must deal with pests. This guide explains when the law does put it on them, when it falls to you, and how to get a serious problem sorted.
Is my landlord responsible for pests, or am I?
Start with the cause, because that is what the law turns on. An infestation on its own is not disrepair, so your landlord is not responsible simply because pests have appeared. Your landlord becomes responsible when one of a few specific things is true.
Your landlord must fix
- Pests get in through disrepair the landlord must fix, like a hole in the brickwork, a broken air brick, gaps around pipes or defective drains
- The infestation comes from shared parts of the building the landlord controls, like service ducts in a block
- The infestation is bad enough to make the home unfit to live in
- Your tenancy agreement contains a clear promise that the landlord will deal with pests
Usually down to you
- An infestation caused by your own waste, food left out, or hygiene
- Bedbugs you brought in on second-hand furniture or from travelling
- A one-off problem with no link to the state of the building
- Not reporting the problem or not giving access to treat it
The leading case on this drew the line clearly. Where cockroaches infested a flat through service ducts the landlord controlled, the landlord was liable. Where an infestation could not be traced to anything the landlord was responsible for, it was not their problem. So the practical question is always: how did they get in, and is that something the landlord should have fixed.
When does an infestation make a home unfit to live in?
This is the route that gets past the "it's not disrepair" answer. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, your landlord has to keep the home fit to live in throughout your tenancy, and freedom from pests is one of the things that counts. A serious infestation can make a home unfit whether or not anything is technically broken, and you can take your landlord to court over it without waiting for the council.
There is a limit. If the infestation is mainly down to your own conduct, the food waste, the mess, the hoarding, your landlord is off the hook. But a clause in your tenancy that tries to dump all pest control on you, whatever the cause, does not override this duty. That kind of blanket clause has no effect where the real cause is a defect the landlord should have dealt with.
This duty applies to tenancies granted or renewed from 20 March 2019. By now that covers the vast majority of renters. More on it in the Fitness for Human Habitation Act and tenant claims.
Can the council deal with rats, mice or cockroaches?
Often, yes, and it costs you nothing. Your council's environmental health team can inspect, and a serious infestation can be a hazard under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. Where it is a serious one, the council has a legal duty to act and can order your landlord to deal with it.
There is a second route too. A home left in a state that is harmful to health can be a statutory nuisance, which the council can order your landlord to abate, or which you can take to the magistrates' court yourself after 21 days' written notice. And for rats and mice specifically, councils have long-standing duties: tell them in writing if rats or mice are present in numbers, and they can require treatment and works.
The single most useful thing you can do is find and photograph the entry point. A hole in the brickwork, a broken air brick, a gap around a waste pipe, a defective drain. That turns "there are mice" into "mice are getting in through disrepair my landlord must fix," which is what makes it their legal responsibility.
Can I claim compensation for a pest infestation?
If your landlord was responsible and failed to act, you can. Compensation is usually a share of your rent for the time you lived with the problem, scaled to how bad it was. You can also claim for things the infestation ruined, like bedding, a mattress or furniture you had to throw out, and for any treatment you paid for yourself. If anyone in the home suffered bites, infections or stress and you have medical evidence, that can add to the award. The figures are set out in how much you can claim for disrepair.
Keep photos of the pests, the droppings or the damage, any pest controller's report, and receipts. A pest controller's report is especially useful, because it often identifies how the pests got in.
What to do about a pest problem your landlord won't deal with
Report it in writing and describe how the pests are getting in if you can see it. Keep dated photos and video, a diary of sightings, and any reports or receipts. Check your tenancy agreement for a pest clause, but remember it cannot make you responsible for an infestation that is down to a defect in the building.
If your landlord does nothing, your council's environmental health team is the next step, alongside the statutory nuisance and rats-and-mice routes above. The full process is in how to handle a disrepair case and how to report a landlord to the council. Since 1 May 2026 there is no more no-fault eviction, so reporting a pest problem cannot be met with a Section 21 notice.
If you are not sure whether the infestation is your landlord's responsibility, Remedy can work it out from what you describe, tell you what you may be owed, and draft the letter that gets it dealt with. Start a free assessment at remedylegal.ai.
