Why does Edmonton see more rats than most places?

Because of what surrounds it. N18 is cut by the North Circular, lined with the industrial estates of Angel Road, Eley's Estate and Montagu Road, and bordered on the east by the Lee Navigation, the flood relief channel and the marshes. The Edmonton EcoPark waste plant and the Meridian Water regeneration land sit on the same side. Pymmes Brook winds through Pymmes Park and under the terraced streets on its way to the Lea, and Salmons Brook joins it near Montagu Road. Water, waste, embankments and building sites together mean rats are never far from the back fences of Edmonton's homes.

What are the homes like?

Most of N9 and N18 is late Victorian and Edwardian terracing: two-storey houses with a rear addition, a narrow garden and a shared boundary wall with next door. Around Edmonton Green the 1960s redevelopment left tower blocks and maisonettes with shared bin stores and service ducts. In between are 1930s council cottages and newer infill flats. Many of the terraces are now divided into flats or let as shared houses.

For pests, the terrace is the key fact. Rats and mice move along the row through the roof space and the gaps in party walls, cockroaches travel along the shared pipe runs, and a wasp nest in one roof is often entered from the neighbour's soffit. Treating one house in the middle of a row sometimes needs the neighbours to be involved as well.

What about the industrial estates?

Food wholesalers, waste transfer sites, scrapyards and car breakers along Angel Road, Eley's Estate and the Montagu Road area are exactly the ground rats favour, and the long terraces of Upper Edmonton end against them. The Lea, the marshes and the railway lines give cover for movement. A controller dealing with a garden in N18 will ask what is next to you, because if the source is a yard or an embankment, treating your garden alone brings only temporary relief, and the owner of that land needs to be involved.

I live in a flat. Who arranges treatment?

In a council or housing association block, report the problem to the landlord, who is responsible for the common parts, the bin stores and the structure. In a privately owned block, the managing agent deals with the shared areas and your landlord or you deal with the flat itself. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, a landlord's duties can cover an infestation caused by the condition of the building, while an infestation a tenant has caused is usually for the tenant. Cockroaches and bed bugs in blocks spread between flats, so ask for the neighbouring flats to be inspected at the same time. This is general information, not legal advice.

Do I have to tell Enfield Council?

Both N9 and N18 are in the London Borough of Enfield. Under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949, the occupier must notify the council of a substantial infestation of rats or mice. Whether the council offers or charges for treatment is for you to check on its website; an enquiry here does not count as notifying them.

What else turns up in Edmonton?

Bed bugs in shared houses and flats, fleas in homes with cats and with foxes passing through small gardens, and clothes moths in the original wool carpets of the older terraces. Wasps nest in the eaves of the Victorian houses and in the ground in Pymmes Park and along the brook. Foxes and pigeons are common but are not covered by this site.

What helps with an Edmonton enquiry?

what you have seen and where: garden, kitchen, loft, bin store or stairwell
whether you are in a terrace, a flat or a house, and whether neighbours have the same
whether the property is near the North Circular, the Lea, a brook or an industrial estate
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.