Any House in Multiple Occupation requiring a licence under the Housing Act 2004 sits under stricter pest control duties than a standard let. Schedule 4 imposes specific 'reasonable steps' obligations on the licence holder, and serious infestations are flagged in routine inspections by Environmental Health.
What Schedule 4 requires
- Proofing entry points in shared parts (lofts, cellars, communal hallways).
- Regular inspection of food-prep areas, bin stores and external waste.
- Prompt treatment of any reported infestation in shared parts — typically interpreted as within 7 working days.
- Written records of pest control activity, retained for the duration of the licence.
Who pays for what in an HMO
- Shared parts: always the landlord, regardless of tenant behaviour.
- Inside individual rooms: usually the landlord if the cause is structural, the tenant if behavioural.
- Bed bugs anywhere in the building: almost always landlord under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018.
- Cockroaches in shared kitchens: always landlord.
Recommended cadence
- 01Annual proofing inspection of all entry points.
- 02Quarterly check of bin stores and external waste.
- 03Monthly walk-through of shared kitchens during summer.
- 04Written pest contract with a BPCA member — Environmental Health will ask to see it.