Pest control in Levenshulme

Two-up two-downs, built in a hurry

Levenshulme went from a village of a few hundred people in 1830 to a parish of more than 11,000 by 1901, and the city of Manchester absorbed it in 1909. Most of the houses you see today belong to that late-Victorian rush: terraced two-up two-downs, the majority of them built between about 1880 and 1890, with a back entry running behind the yards.

That history shapes almost every pest call we take here. Rows put up in the same decade share party walls and roof lines, and often the void under the ground floor as well, so a mouse that gets into one house has an easy route into the next. Then there are 130-odd years of new boilers, gas meters, broadband cables and replumbed kitchens, each one leaving a small hole in the brickwork that nobody remembers making. None of this means a house has been neglected. It simply gives mice, and the occasional rat, more ways in than a modern semi would.

A young, growing neighbourhood in old houses

The ward has grown by around half in twenty years, from just over 13,000 residents in 2001 to 19,647 at the 2021 census, and the latest estimate puts it past 20,000. More than a quarter of the people living here are under 18. Wikipedia counts Levenshulme among Manchester’s up-and-coming neighbourhoods, and young professionals have been moving in over the past decade.

When old houses change hands, renovation usually follows. Loft conversions, knocked-through kitchens and new bathrooms disturb mice that were living quietly inside a wall, and they reappear in a different room or next door. Having so many children in compact homes also means we plan every treatment around them. In a two-up two-down there isn’t much space to tuck a box out of sight, so we lean on covered traps, fix any locked bait boxes where small hands can’t get at them, and walk you round each one before we leave.

Green edges: Highfield Country Park and the Fallowfield Loop

Levenshulme isn’t all brick. On its eastern side, behind Reddish Golf Course, Highfield Country Park covers about 70 acres of what used to be a clay pit and brickworks. By the 1970s the site was little more than landfill, and the old diggings left a scatter of ponds and small lakes. Since 2008 it has been protected as a Local Nature Reserve. The Fallowfield Loop, an eight-mile path laid on a railway that closed in 1988, runs through the neighbourhood too, and the main line to London still passes through Levenshulme station.

Corridors like these are lovely for walkers and wildlife, and handy for rodents. Brown rats like water and thick cover, while wood mice that spend the summer in long grass and hedges often look for a warm building once the nights turn cold. If your yard or garden is close to the Loop, the park edges near Broom Avenue and Nelstrop Road, or the open space at Nutsford Vale reached from Matthews Lane, it pays to be strict about bins, compost and bird food from October onwards. Our rat control and mice control pages explain how we deal with each.

Gated alleys and the bins behind them

What we usually find is a combination of things. Wheelie bins stand against the back wall for days at a time, bags wait beside them for collection, and somewhere along the row there’s a cracked gully or a broken airbrick. Rats live in the alley or the drains and visit the yards. Treating one house while the neighbour’s bags sit split open rarely holds for long, so we’ll often suggest a quiet word along the row.

Renting here: whose job is it?

As a rule, your landlord has to keep the structure, the exterior and the drains in repair, so holes in walls, missing airbrick grilles and broken pipes are usually theirs to fix. Your part as a tenant is to keep the house in decent order and tell the landlord about problems early, in writing. Fleas found in the first week of a new tenancy usually point to a previous occupant’s pet, while bed bugs can arrive in anyone’s luggage, so those cases tend to depend on timing and evidence. We’re happy to talk to your landlord or letting agent, and our written notes give everyone the same facts.

Can I get the council to deal with it?

Many councils run a pest control service for residents, but what is covered, who can book and the charges all vary and can change, so check the council’s own pest control pages before you book. If you rent from a council or housing association, report the problem to your landlord first. If you would rather book a private firm, call or message us and we’ll offer the earliest slot we have.

Stockport Road: homes beside the high street

Our focus here is homes, but we look after small shops and cafés on the same terms when they need us.

Getting to you

We work in the neighbouring areas as well, including Longsight to the north and the Heatons just over the Stockport boundary, so there’s a fair chance we’re already nearby. Tell us what you’ve found and where, and we’ll offer the earliest slot we have, often the same day. If it’s fleas after moving into a rented house, our flea removal service covers what to do before we arrive.