Local authority & social housing

Social housing pest control

Nightshift supports local authorities in running some of the country's largest multi-site contracts, and our London technicians already work housing stock alongside hotels, offices and universities.

Arrange a survey Report a problem

Social housing pest work sits inside a statutory framework that private commercial work does not. An infestation is a potential Category 1 hazard, a fitness-for-habitation question, and a complaint the Housing Ombudsman may eventually read the file on. What was found, when it was attended and what was recommended matters as much as the treatment.

How we work this environment

Communal programmes run to a scheduled cycle with reactive cover in between, including evenings and weekends when residents are actually at home and access is achievable. For multi-site stock, frequencies are set by risk rather than a flat template.

A London residential housing block at dusk

The risk profile

What makes this environment different.

Infestation is a rated hazard

Under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, domestic pests are an assessable hazard in their own right. A serious infestation is not only a repairs issue but a potential Category 1 finding against the property.

Damp and pests arrive together

Moisture drives both. With statutory timescales around damp and mould in social housing tightening under Awaab's Law, treating a pest symptom without addressing the underlying moisture leaves the more serious hazard in place.

The file is the defence

Disrepair claims and Ombudsman determinations turn on the contemporaneous record. A treatment carried out but poorly documented is worth very little when the complaint is reviewed a year later.

Access and vulnerability shape the work

Getting into occupied homes is the practical constraint, and occupancy by children, elderly or vulnerable residents changes what can be used and where. Both belong in the risk assessment, not in a conversation on the doorstep.

Where we look first

The places it actually starts.

Refuse chutes, bin rooms and communal waste stores

Service ducts, riser shafts and boxed pipework

Communal stairwells, drying rooms and stores

Voids beneath ground floor flats and undercrofts

Damp and poorly ventilated areas harbouring both mould and insects

Roof voids, soffits and nesting ledges

External landscaping, drainage and hard standing

Compliance & evidence

Written reports are issued the same day, creating the contemporaneous record that HHSRS assessments, disrepair claims and Ombudsman complaints turn on. RAMS and COSHH documentation is supplied for the block file, technicians are DBS checked before deployment, and rodenticide use follows CRRU stewardship, which matters where children and pets are present. Where moisture is driving the problem we can advise on the damp course and structural dampness alongside the pest work.

Certificates published, not promised

BPCA member M15/1628, CEPA certified to EN 16636, CHAS, SafeContractor and Constructionline, with numbers and expiry dates on our procurement page.

Common questions

Social housing, answered.

The questions facilities and operations teams raise most, answered plainly.

Anything else?

Report a problem any hour and we will come back to you.

Report a problem

Do you treat the block or the individual property?

For most infestations, the block. Chutes, ducts and riser shafts connect every home, so treating one flat while the communal source persists moves the problem next door rather than resolving it.

Can you deal with the damp as well as the pests?

Yes. Our team is experienced in installing damp course systems and advising on structural dampness, which matters because moisture frequently drives both the pest activity and the mould hazard sitting behind it.

What evidence do we hold for a complaint or a claim?

A written report from every visit recording what was found, what was done and what was recommended, issued the same day so the record is contemporaneous rather than reconstructed after a complaint lands.

Can you take on a large authority-wide contract?

Yes. We already support local authorities on some of the country's largest multi-site contracts, with one agreement, per-site frequencies set by risk, one escalation path and consolidated reporting.