Guide
How much does pest control cost for rats? UK prices
Updated
Rodent treatment is priced as a course, because that is how the job actually works. Anyone quoting a cheap single visit is selling you the first third of a treatment.
Rat exterminator prices UK firms publish
These are the rat treatment prices six firms publish on their own sites, read in October 2026. The spread is wide because the job is not the same: some include three visits, some two, and the dearest London price excludes a drain survey.
| Firm | Published price | What it covers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control Pest UK | £90 | Domestic, 3 visits | Control Pest UK |
| Vale Pest Control | From £145 | 3 visits, complete infestation | Vale Pest Control |
| Apex Pest Control | £160 | Rat control, Yorkshire | Apex Pest Control |
| Inoculand | From £270 + VAT | London | Inoculand |
| Bugwise | £380 | Rats or mice, 2 visits, 30 day guarantee | Bugwise |
| Integrum | From £425 | 3 visits without a drain survey; £720 with one | Integrum |
Average cost of rat removal in the UK
The middle two of those six published prices are £160 and £270, so a typical rat course from a firm that prices openly sits around £160 to £270 before VAT, with London at the top. Councils that still charge publish less: Hastings £62, Pembrokeshire £88.23 + VAT, Stafford £93, Stockport £102 for rats and mice, Lewisham £150 for up to three visits (free on concessions) and Plymouth £197, a median of £93 across the seven councils in our council charges.
What £100–£250 buys
- Visit one: survey and baiting. The technician finds droppings, runs, gnawing and entry points, identifies rat versus mouse (different bait, different behaviour), and places secured bait stations or traps.
- Visit two, typically 1–2 weeks later: bait take is checked and replenished, activity reassessed. Rats are wary of new objects, so first-week take can be slow; this visit is where the treatment actually bites.
- Visit three: confirmation and proofing advice. Dead bait take confirmed, stations removed or made safe, and you get told where they got in, because if the hole stays open, the next family moves in free of charge.
What is usually extra
- Proofing works. Sealing entry points, mesh, brush strips, airbrick covers: quoted separately, from small fixed sums for a single hole to several hundred pounds for a whole-house proofing job. Worth doing, treatment without proofing is a subscription.
- Drain investigations. Persistent rats with no obvious entry point often mean a defective drain. That is a drainage job with a camera, not a baiting job.
- Lofts, cavity walls and under-floor voids that need boarding lifted or access cut add labour.
- Carcass searches and removal where something has died somewhere fragrant.
Whose problem is it legally?
The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 puts the duty on occupiers and owners to keep land free of rats and mice, and lets the council serve notice requiring treatment (legislation.gov.uk). If you rent and the infestation traces to disrepair, a hole in the fabric of the building, a broken drain, report it to the landlord, structural causes are normally theirs to fix. Some councils still run subsidised rat treatment; see does the council do pest control.
Prices are typical 2026 quotes and vary by region and infestation size. Multi-property blocks, commercial kitchens and heavy infestations are priced on inspection. Get two or three quotes with visit counts in writing via the form.