Council or Private? What Milton Keynes Council Actually Does

The starting point

There Is No Council Treatment Service

A lot of articles on this subject compare council prices with private prices. For Milton Keynes that comparison does not exist, because Milton Keynes City Council does not provide pest control treatments for domestic properties. Its own guidance recommends contacting a professional pest controller to carry out the work.

That is worth knowing before you spend an afternoon looking for a cheaper council option. It is not that it is expensive; it is that it is not offered.

The law

What You Are Responsible For

Under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949, if rats or mice are on land you own or occupy, it is your responsibility to arrange effective treatment. That applies to owner-occupiers and, for the inside of the home, to council tenants as well — the council's guidance is explicit that its tenants are responsible for treatment costs within their own homes.

Landlords and tenants in the private sector should check the tenancy agreement, because the split varies. As a rule of thumb, a problem arising from the condition or fabric of the building tends to sit with the landlord, and one arising from how the property is being used tends to sit with the tenant. Where a property is in poor condition, environmental health has powers, which is the next section.

When to ring the council

Three Situations Where They Are the Right Call

The council's role is enforcement and public land rather than treatment, and there are real situations where they are exactly who you want.

• Public land. Rats on a verge, in a park, along a redway or on other council land are the council's to deal with.
• Communal areas of council property. Shared areas of council-owned blocks are handled by the council, even though the inside of the flat is not.
• A neighbouring property causing it. This is the important one. If the problem is coming from next door — accumulated rubbish, hoarding, food left out, a derelict garden — environmental health can investigate and can require the food source or harbourage to be removed. That is a power a pest controller does not have.

Milton Keynes City Council's environmental health team can be reached on 01908 252398.

Worth being realistic: enforcement is slower than a treatment. If rats are coming under your fence from a neighbour's garden, the sensible course is usually both — report it, and treat your own side meanwhile, because a notice takes time and the rats do not wait.

Choosing a contractor

What the Council Tells You to Look For

The council points residents at the trade associations — the British Pest Control Association and the National Pest Technicians Association both publish find-a-contractor directories — on the basis that membership indicates standards for training, qualifications and insurance. It also says something sensible about money: prices vary, so make sure you know the charge and what is included at that price before you agree to anything.

That last point is the one to hold on to whoever you ring. Ask what the figure covers, whether follow-up visits are included, and whether there is a call-out fee on top. We do not charge a call-out fee, the price is agreed before work starts, and for wasp nests it is a fixed £90.

Short answers

Questions, Briefly

Where to go next

The Pages That Answer This