A council route beyond the landlord’s own repairs
A tenant with mice, rats or insects in a rented home normally starts by telling the landlord. If that fails, councils in England have a formal housing-conditions system. This article summarises the GOV.UK “Landlord and agent guide to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS)”, published on 23 June 2026 and last updated on 16 September 2026 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The guide applies to England and explains how councils use Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have separate housing law, which is not covered. The question of who is responsible for a pest problem in the first place, and how to report it, is covered in Pests in a Rented Home: Reporting the Problem and Establishing Responsibility.
What the HHSRS is
The guide describes the HHSRS as a tool for identifying and assessing risks to the health and wellbeing of people in their own home, whether rented or owned. It is based on the idea that all residential premises should provide a safe and healthy environment for any occupier or visitor. Councils use it when they take formal enforcement action under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004, and they employ environmental health officers or similarly trained staff to do so.
Where pests appear in the assessment
The assessment starts with a full inspection of the property, including any garden, yard or external structure. The assessor has regard to baseline indicators in the statutory operating guidance. The guide says these are broad in scope, ranging from drainage to fire safety and from noise to pest management. Anything that does not comply with a baseline indicator is a deficiency that must be assessed.
The landlord self-assessment checklist in the guide’s appendix includes a pest management heading. Its single indicator is that the property, its structures and the areas within its curtilage are free of pest infestation. A separate indicator in the moisture and contaminant control section says that only approved biocidal products may be used within the dwelling, in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
How a deficiency becomes a scored hazard
The assessor decides which of the 21 hazards a deficiency relates to, then judges the likelihood of harm requiring medical intervention over the next 12 months and how serious the harm would be if an incident occurred. The likelihood is assessed for the most vulnerable age group for the hazard, not for the actual occupant. Scores of 1,000 or more fall in the High Band and are Category 1 hazards; scores over 100 but under 1,000 are Medium Band, and scores of 100 or below are Low Band, with both of those treated as Category 2.
The guide does not say that any infestation is automatically a Category 1 hazard. Whether a particular infestation produces a scored hazard depends on the assessor’s findings in that home.
What the council can do
For a Category 2 hazard, the council has discretion about whether to act. For a Category 1 hazard, it must take action: section 5 of the Housing Act 2004, marked on legislation.gov.uk as applying to England and Wales, requires a local housing authority that considers a Category 1 hazard to exist to take the appropriate enforcement action, choosing the most appropriate of the courses available. The guide lists the main tools:
- Hazard awareness notice. An advisory notice that identifies the hazard and recommends remedial action but does not legally require action.
- Improvement notice. A formal notice requiring remedial work, which may not be required to start sooner than 28 days after service and must state a completion date. It is an offence not to comply without reasonable excuse.
- Prohibition order. An order restricting use of part or all of a property, which comes into force 28 days after it is made.
- Emergency remedial action or emergency prohibition order. Options available only for Category 1 hazards presenting an imminent risk of serious harm.
For failing to comply with an improvement notice, the guide says a council can impose a civil financial penalty of up to £40,000 for offences committed on or after 1 May 2026, and up to £30,000 for earlier offences. A person served with a notice has a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), and the guide gives 21 days for an appeal against an improvement notice.
How a council usually becomes involved
The guide says councils can inspect any property used for residential purposes and that inspections are often arranged following a complaint about a health and safety risk from a tenant or a neighbour. Where a pest issue goes beyond the HHSRS into statutory nuisance or verminous premises, other council powers apply, explained in Statutory Nuisance and the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Awaab’s Law and social housing
The guide notes that Awaab’s Law came into force in the social rented sector on 27 October 2025, requiring social landlords to investigate and make safe emergency hazards within 24 hours of becoming aware and to deal with significant damp and mould hazards within fixed timescales. It says the government has committed to extend a second phase in 2026 to a wider range of hazards, including hygiene hazards. Awaab’s Law is separate from the HHSRS and, as described in the guide, focuses on the individual circumstances of the actual tenant.
The bottom line
In England, the HHSRS gives councils a structured way to assess conditions in a home, and the GOV.UK guide lists freedom from pest infestation among its baseline indicators. What follows from a deficiency depends on the assessor’s scoring and the council’s judgement: notices range from advice to improvement notices, prohibition orders and civil penalties, with appeal rights to the First-tier Tribunal. Awaab’s Law applies to social housing and is a different regime.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, “Landlord and agent guide to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS)”
- GOV.UK, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, “Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS): Landlord and agent guide” (publication page)
- legislation.gov.uk, “Housing Act 2004, section 5 (Category 1 hazards: general duty to take enforcement action)”