Bedbug Inspections Tower Hamlets

Why a New Flat Can Still Have Them

“New build” often means built a few years ago and let two or three times since. Furnished lets come with a bed, a sofa and sometimes a sofa bed that belonged to someone else. Show flats and staged furniture may have been moved between buildings. None of that is a reason to worry, only a reason to look.

What an inspection involves, step by step, is on the London bedbug inspections page for the full explanation. Here we cover the timing of a move.

At the Viewing

You will not have long, and nobody expects you to strip a bed in front of an agent. A quick look is still worth it in a furnished flat:

• Lift a corner of the mattress and look along the seam for dark spotting.
• Look at the joints of the bed frame and behind the headboard.
• If there is a sofa bed, open it. The folding frame is easy to overlook; the sofa bed guide explains why.
• Ask the agent who lived there before and whether the furniture is new.

If something looks wrong, say so in writing before you sign, and ask what the landlord will do. The London guide to early signs of bedbugs shows what to look for.

Between Keys and Moving Day

The best window for an inspection is the gap between getting the keys and bringing your things. An empty or lightly furnished flat has fewer places to hide, so what is there is easier to find, and anything we find is clearly not yours. Book the visit for that gap if you can, even if it is only a day.

Tell us on the phone how many bedrooms there are, whether it is furnished, and how we get into the building: a concierge, a fob, a code. Inspections start from £120, and you get our answer on the visit, with a written report as described on the London page.

Moving Day Itself

Your own belongings are the other half of the picture. If the flat you are leaving had bedbugs, or you are not sure it was clear, deal with that before the move, not after. Then:

1. Wash and dry bedding and clothes before packing, and keep them sealed in bags until unpacking.
2. Keep soft items off the floor of the lift and the corridor while you wait.
3. Take a torch to any second-hand furniture before it comes through the door, not after.
4. Put the bed together first and look it over, so you know it was clear on night one.

Worried about the lift or the neighbours? The guide on lifts and corridors sets out what a shared building does and does not do. If you are the one moving out of a room in a shared house, the Mile End page covers furniture being left behind.

If the Inspection Finds Something

Stop, and do not move your things in yet. Tell the landlord or agent in writing what was found and where, and keep a copy. Who arranges and pays for treatment depends on the tenancy and on how the bedbugs got there; we are pest controllers, not legal advisers. If the landlord asks us to treat, we can quote by room for heat or chemical treatment, from £220.

What a Clear Result Means

A clear inspection tells you there were no signs we could find on the day. It is a snapshot, not a promise about the future, and a very small, very new infestation can escape any search. If bites or spotting show up in the first weeks, ring 0800 955 1018 and tell us the date of the move. For the rest of the borough’s advice, see the Tower Hamlets page.

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