Dealing with mice right now? Mouse & Rat Control, by a team that does nothing else.
On 17 September 2026 the Yorkshire Post reported that a councillor had asked Calderdale Council's Cabinet to reinstate the council's pest control service. Its withdrawal was announced in October 2023 and phased out over the following months. The councillor who raised it said rat infestations are rising. That is a claim made at a council meeting, not a measured figure, and the Cabinet agreed only to explore the options.
It made the news in Yorkshire. For many households in West London it describes how things already work, and it changes the first question you ask when you find droppings in a kitchen cupboard or a rat crossing the garden.
Where Hillingdon and Ealing stand
We checked both councils' own pages on 17 September 2026, and it is worth checking again yourself, because provision changes.
- Hillingdon points residents with pests in homes and commercial properties to private pest control companies. Council tenants and leaseholders request treatment through the council's housing repairs service. Pests in the communal areas of social housing are reported to whoever manages the building.
- Ealing no longer provides pest control to individual council-owned households, except those classed as vulnerable, who should speak to their housing officer. It still treats communal areas in multi-occupancy buildings.
So for most owner-occupiers and private renters in both boroughs, there is no council visit to book. That does not mean the council has no role. Under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 every local authority still has a duty to keep its district free from rats and mice so far as practicable, and if rats or mice are living on land in substantial numbers, the occupier is expected to tell the council in writing. Reporting a problem that is coming from somewhere you do not control is still worthwhile.
Mice or rats: work out which first
When you are arranging and paying for treatment yourself, knowing which animal you have saves time, because the two behave differently and the fix is different.
- Mice live inside the building. They nest in wall cavities, under kitchen units and in lofts, and they travel along pipe runs and cable routes. The droppings are small and scattered, and you often hear them at night in the walls or ceiling. Our guide to signs of mice covers what to look for.
- Rats usually live outside and come in to feed. They use drains, gaps around service pipes, broken airbricks and the space under decking or sheds. The droppings are noticeably larger, and you may see burrows, runs worn through grass, or gnawing on wood and plastic. There is more on signs of rats and on rats in the garden.
If you are not sure, a photograph of the droppings next to a coin is often enough for a technician to tell you before anyone visits.
Who deals with it, depending on where you live
- You own and live in the property. Treatment is yours to arrange. If the rats are clearly coming from a neighbouring property or a piece of open land, report that to the council as well.
- You rent privately. Tell your landlord in writing. Where the cause is the building itself, such as a defective drain, a broken airbrick or gaps around pipes, putting that right is usually the landlord's responsibility rather than yours.
- You are a council tenant or leaseholder. In Hillingdon, use the housing repairs service. In Ealing, individual households are no longer treated unless classed as vulnerable, so speak to your housing officer about eligibility.
- The problem is in a shared hallway, bin store or other communal area. Report it to whoever manages the building. In Ealing, communal areas of multi-occupancy council buildings are still treated.
If your neighbour has rats, the risk to your property is real but manageable, and a single treated garden in a row of untreated ones rarely holds for long.
What a proper treatment involves
A treatment that lasts deals with how the animals are getting in and what is keeping them there, not only the animals you can see.
- A survey first. Finding the entry points, the runs and the food source is most of the job.
- Treatment over more than one visit. Ealing's own published schedule for rats and mice is three visits, which is a fair guide to what a thorough job looks like, because the first visit places treatment and the later ones check it is working and remove it.
- Proofing. Sealing the gaps a mouse uses, or the drain or airbrick a rat uses, is what stops the problem coming back. See our guide to mice proofing.
Rodenticides you can buy yourself are restricted in how they may be used and are a genuine risk to children, pets and wildlife if they are placed badly. They also do nothing about the gap or the drain that let the animals in.
What to do this week
Clear the easy food: bird feed on the ground, fallen fruit, open compost and bin bags left outside the bin. Walk round the outside of the property and look at airbricks, the base of doors, gaps around pipes and cables, and the space under sheds and decking. Rats are most active from dusk, so that is the best time to look for movement, and our guide on when rats are most active explains what daytime sightings usually mean.
If you find droppings, gnawing or runs, that is the point to get a survey rather than to start treating. Mice Pest Control carries out mouse and rat control across Hillingdon, Ealing and the surrounding areas of West London. Call 01895 548003 or send an enquiry and we will talk you through what we find.
Sources: Yorkshire Post, "Call to bring back council pest control as rats on the rise in Calderdale", 17 September 2026; Hillingdon Council and Ealing Council pest control pages, checked 17 September 2026; Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949, sections 2 and 3, legislation.gov.uk.