Borough Charges For Pest Control To Start Next Summer

Published on: 29 Oct, 2020
Updated on: 31 Oct, 2020

Starting next July, borough residents will have to pay for rat and mice control, but it will remain free for those on income benefits.

At present, Guildford is the only local authority in Surrey to offer free pest control to all residents. The free service will still be available for anyone on universal credit, income support, pension credit, job-seeker’s allowance and council tax reduction.

Cllr James Steel, lead for the environment, said: “We are pleased to continue to offer free control to those residents who perhaps cannot afford to pay for this essential service.

Cllr James Steel

“An inability to pay should not be a barrier to maintaining basic environmental health standards, and we do not want residents to have to think twice when they need our pest control services.

“But this runs at a loss and when budgets are stretched for all councils we have taken the decision to bring us in line with neighbouring boroughs and districts to enable us to continue a high-quality service.”

The present pest control contract is held by SDK Environmental Ltd, who also work with five other local authorities in Surrey. They have done 5,032 rodent treatments in the past five years, including 4,100 for rats, in our borough.

Pest control also covers bedbugs, cockroaches, fleas, cluster flies, wasps and ants.