Persistent Mice in Rental Property – HELP!

Persistent Mice in Rental Property – HELP!

11:52 AM, 3rd November 2014, About 10 years ago 15

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I own a one floor, one bed flat in a matrix of flats across three large victorian houses. My tenant (who has been living in the flat for 10 years) is experiencing frequent and persistent prescence of mice which, so far, Apest (pest controllers) have been unable to extinguish. I have spent thousands of pounds blocking up all obvious entry points in this flat but still they come. We are surrounded by neighbours on all sides they say they do not have persistent mice. They say they occasionally see a mouse and it doesn’t bother them. Persistent Mice in Rental Property

My tenant understandably is agigated and we are both frustrated. We believe the solution to completely clear the mice would be a coordinated effort amongst the neighbours to work with Apest (I have offered to pay for everyone) taking the poison into their flats at the same time as well as making special efforts with hygeine (no food left out on surfaces, bins up off the ground and so on) but they are unwilling to participate, they geniunely believe there is no problem. I think they belivee we are being squeemish.

Is there ANY TOOL or LAW I could refer to in order to politely encourage or ‘lever’ participats to see that if they do not co-operate with a strategic effort to get rid of the mice in our building it could begin to affect them more radically.

The freeholders of the building are one set of neighbours who do not want to participate and do not believe there is a problem. They suggest we are over reacting.

Any help anyone can offer would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Charlotte Black


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Comments

Charlotte Black

12:57 PM, 5th November 2014, About 10 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Laura Delow" at "05/11/2014 - 11:30":

Hello LD. Lucky you I wondered when I would hear from you glad you are having relaxing time hope still sunny in Espagne. Can't wait to get you back have a couple of questions .... not mice related ones. Thanks for serious mice advice which I will take, this website is brilliant. See you when you get bak or at least speak to you then. Charlotte Xxx

Colin Dartnell

15:30 PM, 5th November 2014, About 10 years ago

I would check if any neighbours have pets before you use poison as if a few half poisoned mice make it into their stomachs you might have more trouble than its worth. Also when they crawl off and die under the floor boards they smell awful for days.

Get the tenants to put traps down in the rooms where the mice are and keep the doors shut to stop them spreading.

Colin Dartnell

19:16 PM, 5th November 2014, About 10 years ago

P.S. Did you give them permission to keep pets 🙂

philip allen

11:44 AM, 8th November 2014, About 10 years ago

Although my tenancy agreements state 'no pets', I allow cats. My tenants with cats never report a mice problem.

GP

11:14 AM, 10th November 2014, About 10 years ago

The trick is to set multiple traps in the same area ie 3 or 4. What happens is they avoid the first one that coped it and get caught by the second or third, leaving hopefully one.
Certainly have a professional come in a seal the gaps, also look for the dirty little feet marks on surfaces. Clean the surface and see the marks return.
Tenants can get soppy I had one that complained to me about the mice and then refused to use the mousetraps I provided that killed. They used humane ones which they dropped the blighters outside again.
Neatest end I saw was a glass vase with water in it and a narrow wire across it. We found the drowned mouse inside. Apparently drowning is a better way to go regarding suicide.
After the nooks and crannies were sealed job done.
However in my current house a sliders gap is too difficult to seal up so I use sticky pads.
So that they get used to them I put them down beneath their drop with the cover on. Then after a few days I remove the cover to reveal the stick and thats them caught. Then a bucket of water and oblivion and then bin.

Another is to carefully see where they go we found one nest was accessed by climbing up between the wall and the water pipe so I added a squirt of foam onto a flat surface/ring around the area and that night I heard them falling to the floor as they could not hold on any more. There after catching them was easier

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