A Bristol woman caught rats inside her apartment building on a video camera, despite being told by her housing association that there was no evidence of rodents in the flats.
The mum lives in a block of flats by the harbourside on Hotwell Road, and says she has been plagued by rats running across her ceiling and scratching inside her walls for weeks, causing sleepless nights for her and her children.
But when she reported the issue to her housing association Sovereign, which manages the building, she was told that they could find no evidence of rats.
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The woman, who asked only to be named as Caroline, said: "I think it's pretty disgusting to say that's the end of it for us because there is no evidence, and yet you've got somebody who's living here saying, 'but they are in my ceiling'.
"You cannot end it at that point. That's why I feel disgusted by Sovereign because they're not managing anything."
Sovereign says it is working with Bristol Environmental Health to resolve the issue and has "arranged a number of visits from pest control firms".
Caroline first reported the problem in November 2021, telling Sovereign that she could hear rats running across her ceiling.
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The housing association paid for pest control to deal with the issue, and a man visited three times and laid down bait.
But after the third visit, despite Caroline telling Sovereign that the problem was becoming worse, she says she was told that there was no evidence of rats.
On December 30, the property manager emailed Caroline and said: "On visit today there is no evidence of rats in [your flat]. We have checked all the area where there may be rats getting in and there is no evidence of any of the bait being taken."
The email added: "At this point there is nothing further I can do we have attend (sic) 3 times by a Specialist and now wait on the report."
Caroline then bought an endoscope camera and poked it through a hole in her ceiling, and on January 10 she captured one of the rats on video.
Sovereign said they were not shown the video until "very recently".
But Caroline says that she feels vindicated after weeks of sleepless nights and disturbance.
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She says hearing the rats scratching in her walls has been "absolutely terrifying", while she has taken to cooking on her balcony to stop the smell of food from attracting rats.
Meanwhile, her son Teddy is now sleeping in their living room because the rats have been making noise in his room at night, while her 17-year-old daughter Chloe has been struggling to sleep while studying for her mock exams.
The housing association only takes responsibility for fixing problems in communal areas of the building, and people living there pay them a monthly service charge of about £166 to do this - but Caroline thinks that she should be getting more for her money.
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"I pay 166 pound a month for the privilege of having to search for my own rats. I don't think that's right," she said.
She says she has also dealt with persistent anti-social behaviour in the building, and she wants Sovereign to apologise for the difficulties she has faced.
"It's so time consuming that I just don't feel like I'm dealing with anything with my life. I need to crack on, I've got two kids to look after," she said.
Sovereign's response
Tony Quigley, home ownership director for Sovereign, said: “We want all of our customers to feel safe and secure in their homes which is why we’ve arranged a number of visits from pest control firms to our shared ownership properties on Hotwell Road.
"Until very recently, we had not been provided with the video footage which could show where the rats are getting into the building, and we’re hopeful that this will help nail down the point of entry.
"We’ve been working closely with an officer from Bristol Environmental Health to resolve the issue, putting bait down around the scheme, since this was reported to us in November 2021.
"We are also scheduling an independent appointment with a second pest control agency, which is due to take place as soon as possible.
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“With regards to anti-social behaviour in the area, we have addressed an issue where one leaseholder was breaching their tenancy agreement by letting out their property as a [short-term let] destination, which should lead to a reduction in noise and other disturbances."
"Local police have also agreed to conduct extra patrols of the area near our car park, and we’ve held meetings with our residents to ensure that they are happy with this solution.”
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