Guide
Bed bug treatment cost: £150–£500+ chemical, heat costs more
Updated
Bed bugs are the pest where buying cheap goes worst. Eggs survive most sprays, so anything sold as one quick visit is a deposit on the next infestation. Price the course, not the visit.
The two treatments, priced
- Chemical treatment, £150–£500+ (typical 2026 quotes)
- Insecticide applied to beds, frames, skirtings and furniture in every affected room, then at least one follow-up spray around two weeks later to kill nymphs hatched from eggs the first spray could not reach. Priced by number of affected rooms; a single bedroom sits low in the range, a spread through a family house at the top or beyond.
- Heat treatment, commonly £1,000+ for a whole property
- The affected rooms or whole property are heated to a temperature lethal to all life stages, including eggs, usually in a single day, with no insecticide residue. It is the expensive option and the fast one; hotels and heavy infestations justify it, a caught-early single bedroom usually does not. Pricing varies widely between firms, get itemised quotes.
Why one visit fails
Bed bug eggs are resistant to most insecticides and hatch over roughly one to three weeks. A single spray kills the live bugs and leaves the next generation incubating in the seams. That is why reputable firms build the follow-up into the price, and why the £90 one-visit special so often precedes a £400 do-over. When comparing quotes, the questions are: how many visits, all affected rooms or just one, and is there any guarantee period.
How to make the treatment work
- Stop moving things between rooms. Carrying bedding, clothes or the mattress around the house is how one infested bedroom becomes four.
- Follow the prep sheet. Firms send one: typically washing bedding and clothing hot, tumble-drying, bagging cleaned items, clearing clutter from floors. Skipped prep is the main reason treatments fail and guarantees are voided.
- Skip DIY foggers. Total-release foggers rarely reach the harbourages bed bugs hide in and can scatter survivors into neighbouring rooms, enlarging the treatment you then pay for.
- Renting? Tell the landlord in writing before booking anything; responsibility depends on cause and tenancy terms, and in blocks of flats treating one flat alone often just moves the problem next door.
Ranges are typical 2026 quotes and vary by region and infestation size. Heavy or multi-room infestations are priced on inspection, and heat treatment pricing differs enough between firms that itemised quotes are essential. Get visit counts and guarantee terms in writing via the form.