London mouse control problem drives thousands from homes

A major London mouse control problem is driving tens of thousands of people out of their homes every year to escape entrenched mice infestations, says the capital’s leading mouse proofing specialist.

People are changing the homes they rent – and even selling their properties to buy elsewhere – because they see it as the only way to find a place to live that’s mice-free.

Chantelle Edmundson had been looking to leave her “dream home” in Streatham Common, Lambeth, South London, because of a serious mouse infestation, until SUPERPROOF got rid of the mice.

Escaping mice problem

SUPERPROOF experts say: “People are saying, ‘either the mice must go, or I have to’. After trying and failing to get rid of the rodents, they realise they are the ones who must move out.

“Based on the number of people we work with who have moved to get away from a mouse problem, I would estimate that up to 5% of all house moves in London could be related to rodent infestation. Not many people might think that mouse control is a major factor in the dynamics of the London property market.

“But we come across people all the time who have moved once, sometimes twice, to escape mice infestations, because they either have mouse phobias, or they just don’t like the mess and health risks they pose. That’s a huge amount of cost and disruption because of mouse control problems that appear impossible to solve.”

Rodenticide resistance

The problem is, when mice become well established in a property, it can be very difficult to remove them using conventional pest control methods, which usually means putting down mouse poison or mice traps.

A SUPERPROOF director said: “In London mouse control has become much more difficult because a large proportion of mice and rats are now resistant to rodent poisons, known as rodenticides. It is also recognised that they are becoming behaviourally-resistant to traps.

“They evolve so fast because of their rapid breeding cycles that humans can’t invent new poisons and traps fast enough to keep up.”

Mouse trauma

SUPERPROOF, based in Coulsdon, South London, avoids these problems by protecting the human living space in properties with the UK’s most effective mouse proofing service. It also provides a certified guarantee that the property will be mice-free for at least 6 months.

In one case, wealthy parents bought their daughter a flat in Kensington, close to Harrods. When she found it was infested with mice, she called in SUPERPROOF.

A SUPERPROOF expert said: “We solved the problem, but she was so traumatised by the mice that she got her dad to buy a brand-new luxury flat in Chelsea Harbour, thinking she wouldn’t find mice there.

“She called us in to mouse proof the property before she moved, and we found signs that mice were already active in the property. It was only because she hadn’t experienced the mice herself that she agreed to live in it.”

Hundreds of doors

Mice are endemic in London, said Hill. For many people living in London mouse control, or the lack of it, has become an occupational hazard. But others, especially those with mouse phobias, can’t stand that idea.

However, if a property isn’t effectively mouse proofed, it’s like leaving the front door permanently open, with a ‘Come In’ sign pinned to it, and expecting not to be burgled.

SUPERPROOF very effectively solves this problem by bolting the door - or sometimes hundreds of very little doors, through the mouse proofing process - to stop mice from getting in.