Pest control fees and charges

Our Service for Residents

We offer a pest control service for the treatment of rats, mice, fleas, wasps and cockroaches as well as a limited service for bed bugs. You can book our pest control services quickly and easily using our online booking form.

For treatment of other pests please contact local private companies. 

Charges for our service are listed below. Please read the notes at the end of our charges for more detail.   

Pest Control charges from 1 April 2024

All prices include VAT at the standard rate. You must pay any treatment fees at the time of booking *

Rats:

• Advice and information on rats

Normal charge: £51
Concessionary rate: Free **

Mice:

• Advice and information on mice

Initial visit: £107
Concessionary rate: £80 **

Revisits: £61
Concessionary rate: £45 **

Wasps and hornets:

• Information and advice on wasps and hornets

Our treatment fee is per nest. We must be able to access the nest to carry out treatment.

Normal charge: £107
Concessionary rate: £80 **

Fleas:

• Advice and information on fleas

For our treatment to work you must vacuum thoroughly before we visit and not vacuum again for at least 2 weeks after the start of treatment. Providing our officer's treatment advice is followed we will carry out the first revisit for free. ****

Up to 6 rooms: £134
Concessionary rate: £66 **

Each additional room: £39
Concessionary rate: £20 **

Cockroaches:

• Advice and information on cockroaches

Up to 6 rooms: £193
Concessionary rate: £114 **

Each additional room: £34
Concessionary rate: £21 **

Bed bugs:

• Advice and information on bed bugs

We provide assessments and treatments only for residential home owners and tenants of private landlords. For tenants of social housing please contact your housing association directly for assistance. Landlords and other businesses should contact a private pest control company. 

Initial assessment: Free
This assessment will be carried out before any treatment is offered. If we are unable to offer treatment we will give advice on alternatives during the assessment.

For each treatment:
Up to 6 rooms: £193
Concessionary rate: £114 **

Each additional room: £34
Concessionary rate: £21 **

General charges

Call out charge where treatment declined: £57
Invoice fee: £43

Missed appointment fee is charged if you are not present at your booking or if you cancel without giving sufficient notice (Fee will be invoiced) *** 

Notes:

* Charges are payable at the time of booking your treatment. Non-payment will result in the treatment appointment being cancelled.  

** To qualify for a reduced fee you must be claiming one of the following: Universal Credit, Housing benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit and Income support. If you do not receive any of these benefits you will not qualify for a reduced fee. Proof of benefit, that is no more than 3 months old, must be shown to the pest control officer at the time of the visit or confirmed with our customer services officer when booking over the phone. If no proof can be supplied upon request you may be asked to pay the higher rate before treatment is carried out.

*** Once a booking has been made you must give notice if you wish to cancel. This must be given at least by midday (12 noon) the working day before your appointment (working days are Mon-Fri). If you are not present at the property when our officer visits they will try to call you on the number provided. You may be charged a missed appointment fee if no one is present at the address. In this case the fee will be invoiced to you.    

**** Second or subsequent visits within three months may be charged for if advice on self help has not been acted upon. This will be decided by the officer at time of visit.  

Service standards

If you call upon our Pest Control Services you should be able to expect the following:

• To speak to our Community Contact Centre to arrange an appointment
• To be dealt with courteously and politely
• To receive a visit, where possible, normally within ten working days *
• To be given appropriate advice and information
• To be offered a concessionary rate where proof of receipt of income related benefits is provided **

In return we would expect that you:

• Are available at the agreed times (a charge may apply where appointments are missed) ***
• Take action on any advice and recommendations made, in order to help deal with the infestation ****

If you do not consider that the service you have received met these standards or you have cause for complaint please write to or contact us using the form on the right hand side of the page.

Other pest control

Commercial Premises

Hastings Borough Council does not offer services for the treatment of commercial premises. If you have an infestation you should contact local pest control providers.

Ants/woodlice

Please note that our Pest Control officer is not able to offer treatment for ants or woodlice as householders are better able to deal with these themselves and they are not a hazard to health.  Regular treatment of the areas used by ants/woodlice with a light dusting of insecticide powder is the most effective way of dealing with the problem.

Bees

Bees cannot be treated by our Pest Control service. To find a local swarm collector visit The British Beekeepers Association. Please note there may be a charge for the removal.

Further information

For further information on Pests see the related pages below.