Mice infestation valid reason to terminate tenancy?

[apn8keh]

Hi Guys,

A colleague has been renting a house for approx 3 months. The house is a gatehouse in the middle of a field. He has trapped 7 mice in the kitchen. It has been reported to landlady, who has filled in holes (inadequately) to stop the mice, but they keep digging through into the house. He wants to terminate the tenancy but has been told he cannot leave before the end of the tenancy agreement as the letting agency don't like it.

Can he demand the tenancy be ended & threaten to inform environmental health if they don't allow him to leave? Any ideas?

[demon_x_slash]

AFAIK, most tenancy agreements will state that infestations of any kind are the tenant's responsibility; kindly, the landlord has already attempted to effect a solution to the problem. Field mice are not really much of a problem when it comes to 'infestations' anyway, as they carry far less disease than brown and black rats; as long as food is stored properly then there shouldn't be an issue with health and safety. He needs to check his inventory for a break clause usable after the first six months; if there is no break clause, then he is liable for the complete run of the tenancy unless he can find a tenant to replace him.

As an aside, did he not expect a certain amount of wildlife, living in 'a gatehouse in the middle of a field'? Field mice and dormice seek out warm places in cold weather as any living creature does. What has the landlady filled the holes with? The only thing that will keep rodents out is steel wool, but they can get in through the tiniest of cracks. There are several methods to get rid of the ones in the property, involving certain foods, but they are so cruel that I refuse to post them here on principle. A search on Google will provide you with the information.

[MrShed]

Agree with demon - this is the tenants responsibility really.

[Michael Browne]

There are several methods to get rid of the ones in the property, involving certain foods, but they are so cruel that I refuse to post them here on principle.

Or a cat, although they can deter/clear mice from inside the house, they will often catch them outside and bring them back in!!!

[apn8keh]

I'm surprised that this falls as the tenants responsibility when it has been a problem for previous tenancies. I suggested a cat but your not allowed a goldfish with this letting agent!

[demon_x_slash]

Many of us on here agree that a blanket prohibition of pets, with no reason given, may be considered an unfair term in a tenancy agreement...

[MrShed]

It is the tenants responsibility for a couple of reasons:

- It falls under the responsibility of the tenant to act in a "tenant like manner".
- It is not something, apart from certain extreme circumstances, that the landlord can prevent(note I am NOT saying resolve, just prevent).
- Most importantly, pest infestations often require an element of day to day "maintenance" over a period of time in order to resolve (ie place traps/check traps daily, etc). It would clearly be unreasonable, for both landlord and tenant in fact, to expect the landlord to do this.

[Monty2007]

In my opinion, the infestation is not allowing the tenant to enjoy the property and is potentially an environmental hazard, as such it is the responsibility of the Landlord to resolve.

Incidently, eradicating a mouse infestation is hardly encompassed within the definition of behaving in a "tenant like manner"?!

I would suggest that your friend thanks the landlord for trying to eradicate the problem and suggests a pest control agency is employed to remove the mice.

On the termination point, I do not believe that he has grounds given that the landlord has made reasonable attempts at solving the problem, though it depends what is in the agreement?

[MrShed]

Monty the important thing to note is that LEGALLY it is not the landlords responsibility. Although you make a decent case for them morally being responsible, you still cannot force the landlord to resolve it, as it is not legally their responsibility.

[PriorityOne]

For a humane method of deterring the little critters.... B&Q/Homebase, etc. sell a sonic device (around £30) that emits a low pitched sound that they hate. It also places some kind of magnetic field around your home to stop more coming in after they've left, or something lilke that.

I stuck one in the loft some time ago and all my visitors left. Unfortunately, they then found their way downstairs , so I needed another one (one for each floor, apparently).

I have 2 cats... one brings them in (presents) and the other catches them (eventually) and takes them back out.... so the downstairs lot could have come in courtesy of the 1st cat and may have had nothing at all to do with the lodgers in the loft.

Blinking nuisance though.... ... but one of the pitfalls of living in the country.

[Joa]

Bunny! House trained? How many?
Sorry for off topicism, but c'mon, bunnies rule

[MrShed]

I;m actually going to do a complete about turn.

It would appear that, in fact, the landlord IS responsible for the costs of infestation resolution if the infestation has not been caused due to negligence by the tenant. In addition, there is evidence that "case law" (kind of!) shows that this has been successfully argued at least once(albeit in a county court, so it does not set a precedent.

I apologise for being wrong!

[Joa]

Nah, darling, you are not wrong. In vast majority of cases I dealt with re: infestation the judges have decided that it was a tenant responsibility. The rest, where it was decided that it was l/lords' responsibility rested on a fact that there was an infestation prior to the tenancy, known to the landlord, due to landlords' negligence or, in one case, l/lord who used to occupy, breeding insects for pet food purposes


PS; sorry, I made it look like y colleagues or I've attended lots of these type of cases, whilst in reality there were very few in our office in last 5 years.

[apn8keh]

Thanks for your help guys. It's a weird one & hopefully not a problem I will ever encounter. The tenant has trapped a number of mice with a humane trap, but was a bit freaked out when a much larger rodent was found dead wedged in the door of the trap! He had hoped the landlord covering over the holes had stopped them coming in under the stairs but has been finding they've still been nibbling away at his cereal & biscuit boxes! He definately hasn't been negligent the mice were apparent within a week of moving in.