Rats and Pests

Hi All,

I've been under a lot of stress over the past few months because we have a rat problem.  Our apartment block is a victorian terrace in Oxford and there is a major rennovation project to the houses on our street.  This seems to have forced rats into our property.  We are really clean people, my husband and I are both professionals and we have two small children, one 3 and the other 9 months old.  Besides the mess the kids make (which we clean immediately or right after they're in bed) the place is spotless and we keep all the food in containers or in the fridge/freezer. 

Yet every night we can hear rats scurrying around which keeps us awake and when we go into the kitchen in the morning the place is trashed basically.  It's affecting our family life and work.

We keep telling the letting agent about the problem but they say that it is our fault because we are dirty people.  I'm really offended, we both have 2 degrees each and we clean the place constantly.  The agent is not doing anything about it though and I think that they want us to feel bad about the problem even though it clearly isn't our fault considering it only started when the construction project started on our street.   

Please could you give me some advice, it's hard enough sleeping with a 9 month old but the rats keep me up all night. 

Also before anyone says anything we can't use rat traps because of the kids (I don't want any broken fingers) and I really know nothing about rat poison and don't want to risk it because of the kids again. 

Any help anyone can give would be much appreciated.

Jeni

Hi Jeni

We have a pretty similar problem.  I grew up in a new build but have spent just over a year living in London in an old house too.  I never knew that there were so many sash window houses still standing.  The problem is that the houses are so old there are so many holes for the rats to get in that you'll constantly be battling to keep them out and getting paranoid about sealing them up. And it's amazing how small a hole rats and mice can crawl through, even the size of a one pence piece. 

If they are such a problem I'd push with the council. They'll also be able to send out an exterminator if you need one but often they're not the best.  Have you contacted the landlord directly or have you always gone through the agency? 

If you guys look it up on the internet, there should be dedicated, special protecting deviced for using rat poison in houses where children live, too.

Indeed, there is a specialized device, it's a deratisation box, to which no child should have access...