Landlord Flea Fumigation Cambridge

Landlords and letting agents often ask us to fumigate a property for fleas. The word gets used loosely, so it is worth being clear about what actually happens, because it changes how you plan the job.

What Landlords Mean by Fumigation

Fumigation, strictly, means filling a sealed space with a gas. That is not how fleas are dealt with in a house or flat. We apply a treatment to the floor coverings, the edges of rooms and the places an animal has been resting, and it stays active in the carpet while the remaining fleas emerge.

In practice this means the property does not need to be sealed or evacuated for days. People and pets stay out of the treated rooms until the time we give you, and then the rooms go back into use. The flea control service page describes the treatment itself.

Treating Between Tenancies

An empty property is the easiest place to treat. The floors are clear, nobody has to be moved out of a room, and there is no furniture to work around. It is also the situation where fleas are most likely to catch the next occupant off guard, because pupae can wait in an empty home and emerge when people start walking about again. The flea treatment cost guide explains why.

• Ask at check-out whether there was a pet, including one the tenant looked after for someone else.
• Look at the carpets and skirting in the rooms the animal used, and at any flea dirt in corners.
• Book the treatment before the professional clean is finished, and tell the cleaners not to vacuum the treated carpets afterwards.
• Leave time before the new tenancy starts so the rooms are ready to use when the keys change hands.

Treating With Tenants Living In

When a tenant reports bites or fleas mid-tenancy, the treatment still works, but it needs more cooperation. We tell whoever is arranging the job what preparation is needed, what will be used, where, when rooms can be used again and what to do with any pets. Those instructions need to reach the tenant, and the tenant needs to follow them.

• Floors cleared, so the treatment reaches the edges and under furniture.
• Any pet treated at the same time, on a product their vet recommends.
• Pets, fish tanks and anyone with a health concern mentioned before the visit, not on the day.
• Access agreed in advance, with someone there to let us in if the tenant will be out.

Tenants should report fleas to the landlord or agent in writing as soon as they notice them. Who pays is between landlord and tenant and usually comes down to the tenancy agreement and what caused the problem. If there is a disagreement, tenants can get free advice from Citizens Advice or Shelter. We simply need to know who is booking and who we are invoicing.

Fleas left by the last tenant's cat are far easier to deal with in an empty flat than around the next household.

What It Costs

Flea control is £220 for the first room, plus £60 for each additional room, with no call-out fee. A two-room flat comes to £280 and a three-room treatment to £340. Halls, landings and stairs are not counted as rooms. The same price applies to landlords, agents and tenants, and to homes across Cambridge and the towns we cover.

Every treatment is guaranteed: if the problem comes back within 14 days of treatment, we return and re-treat free of charge. That is worth mentioning to an incoming tenant, along with the instruction not to vacuum the treated carpets for the period we give you.

For bed bugs in a rental, which is a different problem with a different price, see our guide on what to do about bed bugs. For timescales, see how long flea treatment takes.