Bed bugs in a rented home: your landlord's duty

In short

It depends on the cause. An infestation born of a disrepair problem, or already present when you moved in, is usually the landlord's to deal with. One clearly brought in after you arrived can be yours. Either way, report it in writing straight away and keep a record.

Bed bugs are small insects that feed on human blood, usually at night. An infestation brings skin reactions, lost sleep and real distress. So who deals with them in a rented home? We answer that below.

What are bed bugs?

Bed bugs are flat, reddish-brown, about the size of an apple seed. They hide in mattresses, bedframes, furniture, behind wallpaper, and in cracks in walls and skirting. They neither fly nor jump, but they travel easily between rooms and homes: through walls, along pipes, on furniture and belongings.

Signs of bed bugs include:

• Small red, itchy bites, often in lines or clusters
• Tiny brown or rust-coloured stains on bedding
• A sweet, musty smell in the bedroom
• Shed skins or eggshells in mattress folds or furniture

Is the landlord responsible for bed bugs?

This depends on how and when the infestation started.

If the property was infested when you moved in

Bugs already present at move-in, or arriving from a neighbouring flat through shared walls or pipes, may well be the landlord's problem. No landlord should let an infested property, and one who manages a building must deal with pests spreading from shared areas or other flats.

If the infestation started after you moved in

Bugs you or a guest carried in, say in luggage after a trip, make the position less clear. Report it in writing anyway. If the infestation spreads through the building, or the building's cracks and gaps make treatment hard, the landlord may still owe help.

In a house in multiple occupation (HMO)

In an HMO the landlord's duties run stronger. Bugs spreading between rooms, or from a shared area, are very likely the landlord's to control.

What the law says

Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 a home must be fit to live in. A serious infestation can make it unfit, and then the landlord must act.

Under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 the landlord must repair the structure and outside of the home. Cracks, gaps or shared walls letting bugs in from next door may be the landlord's to close.

What you should do

1. Report it in writing at once: what you found, and where.
2. Do not bin the mattress or furniture yet. It may come to that, but throwing things out before the landlord has seen the problem can hurt your claim.
3. Photograph the evidence: bites, stains, shed skins, live bugs where you find them.
4. Keep records of medical advice you seek about the bites.
5. Ask for professional pest control. Bed bugs rarely die without it.

What if the landlord does nothing?

Reported in writing, and met with silence or refusal? You can:

• Tell the council's environmental health team, which can serve improvement notices making the landlord act
• Get legal advice on whether the infestation breaches a duty you can claim on

Can I bring a disrepair claim?

An infestation, above all one present at move-in or spreading from a shared part of the building, can feed a disrepair claim. The distress, lost sleep and any health effects, skin reactions included, can all count in the compensation.

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

Landlord failing on a bed bug infestation, leaving you in an unfit home? Call us.

Call us on 0800 030 4669. No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.

Sources

• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Section 11 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)
• Environmental Protection Act 1990, Section 82 (legislation.gov.uk)