Does waking up in the morning to a birdsong sound idyllic to you? Yes, provided the wakeup call is not at 4 in the morning, every morning and caused by noisy pigeons…
A couple renting a property in North West London was reported to be persistently disturbed by pigeons cooing that kept them awake daily from the early hours of the morning. They complained to their landlord, Adilsons Property Limited, about the pigeons nesting in the loft, as well as a water leak in the ceiling of the property. However, the landlord failed to act upon the complaint and the tenants took it to Brent Council.
Pigeons come home to roost
A flat inspection was held by an enforcement officer, following which an improvement notice was issued. Adilsons Property Limited did not, however, comply with the improvement notice and as a result were fined £12,200 at Willesden Magistrates Court as well as ordered to pay £5,648 in costs and a victim surcharge of £170. The property’s manager, Aamir Sultan, also received a fine of £6,100 and the tenants were awarded a compensation of £7,638.
Spencer Randolph, Head of Private Housing Services at Brent Council, commented: “Landlords are expected to maintain the properties that they rent out. Tenants in the private rented sector have a legal right to decent living conditions.”
He added: “We will prosecute landlords and letting agencies that fail to comply with improvement notices. This landlord had plenty of opportunities to carry out the repairs but ignored our requests.”
Who is responsible for dealing with pigeons in private rented properties?
In answer to this question, the tenancy agreement should be reviewed in the first instance. Although, it is likely to not specifically refer to pigeons, it may have a contractual provision in it clarifying who is responsible for pest infestation. However, if the lease doesn’t include such clause and the pigeon problem has been caused or made worse by disrepair or some structural issue, then resolution will fall to the landlord. If they fail to resolve the issue, tenants can escalate it to the council’s environmental health department, who can carry out an inspection and force the landlord to take measures to deal with the problem.
If, on the other hand, the pigeon issue has resulted from some act of omission on the tenant’s side (e.g. leaving food out for pigeons or damaging netting provided by the landlord), then it will be the tenants held responsible for fixing it.
