Bedbug Control Mile End

If You Are Moving Out

Before you hand anything on, check it. Bedbugs can sit in an empty room over a summer without a host, so a house that looks empty in August is not proof of anything. Go over each piece you are leaving:

• Mattress seams, labels and the corners of divan bases
• Bed frame joints, bolt holes and the slats where they rest
• The underside and seams of the sofa, including a sofa bed mechanism
• Desk chairs with fabric seats, and the gaps in wooden desk drawers

If you find signs, tell the landlord or letting agent in writing before you leave, not after. It gives them the chance to deal with it while the house is empty, which is the easiest time to treat. Who arranges and pays depends on the tenancy and the cause; we are pest controllers, not legal advisers.

Do Not Take Them Home With You

The end of term means boxes going back to a family home or into storage. If your room had bedbugs, that is how they reach a second address. Wash and tumble-dry clothes and bedding hot before packing them, bag them straight away, use new boxes rather than ones kept under the bed, and do not take the old pillow or mattress topper with you. Storage does not kill them; they are still there when the box is opened in September.

If You Are Moving In

Check the inherited furniture before your own things go into the room. The bed matters most, then the sofa. If something looks wrong, keep your belongings bagged, photograph what you see, and tell the landlord in writing on the first day. Our guide on bedbugs in a sofa bed covers the folding frame and cushions, which are easy to miss.

The London guide to bedbugs in student accommodation covers halls and larger managed buildings; a shared house is simpler, but the same rule applies that one room's problem soon becomes the whole house's.

Treating a Shared House Between Tenancies

The empty weeks between tenancies are the best window a landlord gets. With nobody living there, the floors can be cleared and every bedroom done in one plan. Heat treatment is usually one visit per set of rooms and kills eggs, so the house can be handed over clean. Chemical treatment costs less but runs over two or three visits about 10–14 days apart, so it needs to start early enough to finish before the new tenants arrive.

If the problem is found in the middle of a tenancy instead, with exams on and five people sharing a kitchen, the practical side is what matters: who needs to be home, and for how long. Our guide on time off for treatment covers that. For a house in Mile End, tell us how many bedrooms and which ones show signs, and we will quote for those. More on shared homes across Tower Hamlets is on the borough page.

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