Birmingham City Council ignored a tenant who had been ‘living with rats’ for 18 months in her high rise flat. The council has been ordered to compensate the tenant for the distress they endured.
The infestation of rats in the two-bed flat in Ashford Tower in Salop Street, close to Highgate Park, was first alerted to the council in November 2021. Vermin were running riot inside the walls and pipework of the high rise, she told them.
But it then took the council 18 months ‘to take its responsibility seriously to actively address the concerns,” said a report now published by the Housing Ombudsman about the shocking case. Even then it only acted on the day the complaint was escalated, despite having had weeks to comply.
“This was not reasonable and caused distress and inconvenience which could have been reduced had it acted sooner to investigate the infestation. This is evidence of a service failure.”
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In its damning ruling, the Ombudsman found the landlord’s handling of the reported infestation was unreasonable and “below the standards (the Housing Ombudsman) would expect of a landlord.” The delay in investigating and dealing with the issue ran to 18 months.
“It failed to address the issue of rodents reported in the walls of the building or inspect the resident’s property. It also failed to consider the risk to the resident and other tenants in the building. It was likely the delayed response caused the infestation to worsen. This caused the resident significant distress and inconvenience.”
This amounted to maladministration, the ombudsman ruled. In a separate complaint, the landlord also failed to adequately respond to concerns raised by the same resident about outstanding repairs to a broken window which potentially created a fall hazard, also amounting to maladminstration.
Shabana Mahmood and her team pressed the council to act over the rats issue
(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
The case was only dealt with because of persistent complaints from Ladywood MP Shabana Mahmood on behalf of the tenant, but even then it took multiple approaches and the council failed to properly record those interventions, the ombudsman added.
The initial complaint in November 2021 was dismissed by the council without even sending out a pest control expert, because no other immediate neighbours had similar experiences. The following year, in May 2022, pest control investigations confirmed there WAS a rat infestation outside the block and they ‘blocked up holes in the communal areas’. There was no evidence of further inspections in the months afterwards, nor of the council investigating if rats were inside the block.
The council’s actions suggest they ‘did not take the complaints seriously’, said the ombudsman. It was another year before the landlord confirmed the presence of rats inside the block and ordered pipework to be ‘proofed’ against them.
Separately, it took the council 31 months to deal with a broken window complaint. The council did offer some compensation to the tenant as a result of its failings but this was deemed inadequate by the ombudsman.
The council was ordered to apologise and to pay a total of £1,700 compensation including £250 for the distress and inconvenience caused to the resident by its poor record keeping; £500 for the distress and inconvenience and time and trouble caused by its handling of the pest infestation; another £500 caused by its handling of the window repairs; and £450 for its complaint handling failures.
The council was also ordered to contact the resident within a fortnight of the report to ‘rat proof’ pipework and take any other additional actions to ‘protect access from rodents’ and either fully repair or replace the broken window. It was also told to produce an action plan setting out how it intended to complete further investigations and monitor the infestation in the block.
We have contacted the city council for comment.
What to do if you have a rats infestation?
Contact the council’s pest control service for advice and help. There are charges however for many of the services provided, as follows:
- Rats in garden – £24 per visit (free for Birmingham City Council tenants)
- Rats in home – £24 per visit (free for Birmingham City Council tenants)
- Mice – £95 per visit
- Wasps – £65 per visit (seasonal service)
- Bedbugs – £95 per visit
- Cockroaches – £95 per visit
- Fleas, treatment per property – £95 per visit
Alternatively try the British Pest Controllers Association which provides details of its members. These can be found on the British Pest Control Association website, where you can search for pest control companies in your area. The National Pest Technicians Association (NPTA) members cover the whole of the United Kingdom and can advise and deal with any pest control problem, whether it be small or large.
Are rats running loose in your home or neighbourhood? Get in touch. jane.haynes@reachplc.com