baz Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Just curious who is to take the cost of the tenant having bed bugs. They have been living at the flat for 2-3 years, and no other flats in the building has bugs. I have never needed to deal with bugs before, so im also curious whats the best way to deal with it, for the tenant or myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bravesocks Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 These little creatures are the worst infestation you can imagine, I had a tenant with them, I turned up to do a mid term inspection and one of the little blighters must have got on me the next thing my home was infested too. If you call the local council they will come round and spray but they need to do it a couple of times at least, they dont normally charge because they dont want them to spread, we had the spray man in three times we threw out the entire contents of the flat left it empty for three months and still found that they came back, they can live anywhere not eat for months on end and breed faster than you can ever imagine. It would be very hard to actually pinpoint the blame, the main thing is to rid yourselves of them and try not to pass the blame because it will be very hard to prove, whoever walks into that flat is a potential carrier, speak to your insurer you may be covered, failing that let the tenants go as soon as and get the flat sprayed as many times as you can, we ended up selling both flats because there seemed no end to them, I wish I can be more helpful but we could find no escape from them, maybe if we had used a company like Rentokil the restults would have been differnt. Your tenants must really be suffering too and would probably appreciate you terminating their contract as these things not only eat anything they drink blood too and leave very itchy painful marks.. I wish you the very best of luck, the thought of those things made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Hi Baz, I am told that bed bugs are on the increase in the UK after declining since the 1950's. They used to live between layers of old wallpaper and in gaps between skirting and floors. Trouble is is if you don't deal with it you will have a major infestation in the building. You could contact your local council for advice or get in a pest control company and they should be able find the major nesting site. Fumigation of some sort will be necessary. I saw an American TV programme on this recently - a tenant who was a student called in a pest control company as she was badly bitten at night and was blaming her landlord for insect problem. The company traced the infestation to her mattress. It was found to be full of these insects and the main breeding site. She later revealled she had found the quite new mattress in the street, abandoned and brought it back to the appartment!! This might give you a clue as to how your problem has ocurred. Get help quickly then decide who to charge. Good luck - I'm itching already.... Mortitia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenners Posted July 3, 2009 Report Share Posted July 3, 2009 I think this is easy to answer ..... the landlord should get rid of the bed bugs because they will remain in the investment property long after the tenant has departed if he does nothing about them. It only costs a few pounds to sort out .... it is absolutely necessary to get it sorted out ..... and Environmental Health will ORDER the landlord to get it sorted if the tenant reports it to the local Council. I wonder how many landlords would tolerate bed bugs (in their own beds) if they were renting their homes from other landlords ....... hmmmm .. let me think ! Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CH1 Posted July 5, 2009 Report Share Posted July 5, 2009 I've experienced bed bugs once in a new holiday apartment abroad in a sunny country which had new furniture. It took me a while to work out I had bed bug bites, as I'm prone to mosquito bites. However, upon return to the U.K. I showed a doctor friend of mine who immediately told me they were bed bug bites. The bites are like boils and really make you itch and come up in red bumps. If it were me I'd seek to eradicate these as soon as possible. I bought various smoke bomb kits like this one http://www.hygienesuppliesdirect.com/products/prod132850 but in the end when I next visited the apartment after 6 months and a Winter period -I wasn't bitten but thouroughly cleaned, vacuumed and air the mattresses and wardrobes so in the end haven't got round to using the smoke bombs. If the council do treat them in the U.K I'd get onto your local council, if not fumigate, air, clean the property using the many products on the market today and any suppliers as above. I spoke to many firms regarding this issue and they all said bed bugs are on the increase in U.K as many bring them back after visits abroad in luggage, clothing etc. I know mosquitos very easily 'survive' a 10 hour+ flight accidentally getting trapped in suitcases, how long they survive in UK climate is a another story but they are adapting... Hope you do get rid of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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