Fleas That Arrived Before You Did
A flea does not need its animal to be in the house. The adults lay eggs on the cat or dog, the eggs drop off wherever it slept, and the larvae that hatch spend their lives down in the carpet pile and the gaps round the edge of the room. When the pet moves out, all of that stays behind.
What is left is mostly not adult fleas at all. It is eggs, larvae and pupae sitting in the floor, and the pupae in particular can wait a long time in their cocoons. A new tenant walking about, turning the heating on and moving furniture is exactly what wakes them. Why an empty property does this so reliably is covered on our page about moving into a house that stood empty.
So the pattern is familiar: a week or two after moving in, small itchy bites around the ankles, usually worse in one or two rooms. Fleas bite people but they do not live on them, so with no animal in the house they are feeding on you and then dropping back into the carpet.
Tell the Landlord First, in Writing
Before anybody pays for anything, send a short message to the landlord or letting agent. Say when you moved in, when the bites started, which rooms are worst and that you have no pet. Keep a copy. It costs nothing and it is the thing everybody will ask for later.
If you can, add what you have seen: a flea on a white sock, black specks on the floor that turn reddish-brown when pressed onto damp kitchen roll, or a check-in inventory that mentions a previous pet. A photograph of the specks on the paper is useful.
The one thing to do today: put it in writing to whoever manages the property, with the date you moved in. Who pays is far easier to settle when the timeline is on record from the start.
Who Pays for the Treatment
That depends on the tenancy agreement and on the cause, and we are pest controllers, not legal advisers. In broad terms, fleas that clearly predate your tenancy in a home where you keep no animal are a different conversation from fleas brought in by a pet of your own. The landlord side of it is set out in our advice for landlords.
We will invoice whoever is paying, whether that is you, the landlord or the agent, and we are happy to speak to an agent directly about access and timing. The price is a fixed £220 and it is confirmed with the person paying before anything is booked.
What the Visit Involves in a Rented Home
We treat the home. A residual insecticide goes onto the floors, carpets and soft furnishings in the affected rooms and the routes between them, usually with an insect growth regulator that stops larvae from maturing. In a furnished let that includes the landlord's sofa and any rugs, so tell us what furniture belongs to whom.
Everybody leaves the treated rooms until they have dried, and the instructions we give on the day about how long that is should be followed. At booking, mention anyone in the household who is pregnant, a baby, asthma or another breathing condition, and any fish, birds or other animals you keep.
The Weeks Afterwards
You will probably still see the odd flea for a few weeks. Those are pupae hatching late, meeting the treated floor and dying. Vacuum every day, which encourages them out, and do not shampoo the carpets for the period you are told, even if the inventory says they must be cleaned before you leave. That is a conversation for the end of the tenancy, not now. With so many rented homes across Reading changing hands, that is worth raising with the agent early.