How did Edgware take its present shape?

Edgware was a village on Watling Street, the Roman road that is now the A5, until the Underground reached it in 1924. Within fifteen years the farmland between the station, Mill Hill and Stanmore was covered with the semi-detached houses, shopping parades and Tudor-style gables that make up most of HA8 today. Burnt Oak's Watling estate, built by the London County Council in the late 1920s, added cottage-style council housing. Later came the flats along Edgware Road and the Broadfields estate, and in recent years the redevelopment of Stonegrove and the station area has brought blocks of flats. Canons Park, with its Georgian parkland, forms the western edge, in the London Borough of Harrow.

What do the 1930s houses mean for pests?

The Edgware semi is the standard interwar house: a hipped tiled roof, timber soffits and fascias, a loft, a cavity wall, airbricks and a back kitchen with pipes through the wall. Wasps nest in the soffits and loft vents through the summer. Mice follow the pipes into the kitchen and live behind the units. Clothes moths find the stored clothing in the loft and the original carpets under the bed. Many of these houses have had loft conversions, side extensions and garage conversions, and every junction between old and new is a possible entry point, so describe the alterations when you enquire.

Why are the brooks a factor?

Two small streams run through Edgware. Edgware Brook rises near Edgwarebury and flows south past the town centre; Deans Brook runs down from Mill Hill through the eastern side of HA8. Both feed the Silk Stream and reach the Welsh Harp. Together with the railway embankments and Edgwarebury Park they give rats water and cover close to the back gardens of the streets around Hale Lane, Deansbrook Road and the A5. Ponds, bird feeders and compost heaps complete the picture, and a controller will ask about them before treating.

I live in a flat on the Edgware Road or at Stonegrove. Who sorts it out?

The managing agent or landlord is responsible for the structure, the bin stores and the shared areas, and treating a single flat for cockroaches or bed bugs rarely works when the neighbours are untreated. Report it in writing. A landlord's repairing duties, and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, can cover an infestation the building's condition has allowed, while one a tenant has caused is usually the tenant's to deal with. In a housing association block, use the association's repairs reporting route. This is general information, not legal advice.

What about the Watling estate and the older council housing?

The cottage-style houses of the Watling estate have gardens, hedges and sheds in the garden city manner, which suits rats and wasps as much as people. Many are now privately owned, so the neighbour whose garden holds the nest or the burrow may be an owner, a council tenant or a housing association tenant, and the route to getting it dealt with differs for each. Say in your enquiry what you know about the adjoining properties.

Which council covers HA8?

Most of HA8, including Edgware, Burnt Oak and the Broadfields estate, is in the London Borough of Barnet. The Canons Park side is in the London Borough of Harrow. Under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 an occupier must notify their council of a substantial number of rats or mice; check your own council's website for whether it offers or charges for treatment. An enquiry here is separate from that.

What helps with an Edgware enquiry?

the type of home and any extensions or conversions
whether the garden is near a brook, the railway, the park or a shopping parade
whether you are in a flat and who manages the building
your postcode and a phone number you answer

Who you will hear from

We pass your enquiry to one local pest controller, if one covers your postcode. It is never sent to a list of companies. If nobody covers your postcode, we will tell you and will not pass your details on.