The Cornwall Holiday-Let Pest Prevention Checklist

Almost every holiday-let pest emergency in Cornwall — the August wasp nest, the mid-stay mouse, the gulls hammering the bin bags at 5am — is preventable, and the prevention is mostly unglamorous routine. This is the routine. Tick through it before the season, share it with whoever does your changeovers, and repeat the seasonal items each year.

The checklist

• Bins are gull-proof and locked down. Lidded, lockable bins (gulls open swing-tops with ease), no bags left out overnight, and clear instructions for guests on bin days. Food waste in the open is the single biggest driver of gull and rat pressure at coastal lets.
• Roof and chimney are proofed before March. If gulls nested on or near the property last year, they're coming back to the same spot. Proofing (spikes, post-and-wire, netting) is lawful, cheap and quick between October and February — once eggs are laid, the nest is protected for the season.
• Every changeover includes a pest scan. Two minutes for the housekeeper: droppings under the sink and behind the kick-boards, wasp activity at the eaves, flies clustering at upstairs windows, anything moving in the log store. Caught at changeover, it's a quiet fix; reported by guests, it's a refund conversation.
• Food is stored in sealed containers. Welcome-hamper contents, tea and sugar, and anything guests leave behind go in sealed tubs or the fridge at changeover. Open packets in a quiet cupboard between bookings are a standing invitation to mice.
• The property is rodent-proofed every autumn. October is when Cornwall's mice and rats move indoors. Walk the outside: wire wool or mesh in pipe penetrations, brush strips under doors, airbricks intact, no gaps bigger than a pencil at ground level. Old stone cottages need this annually, not once.
• Drains, gullies and covers are sound. Broken drain covers and disused pipework are the classic rat route into older Cornish properties. Check covers sit tight, cap redundant pipes, and if rats keep appearing with no obvious entry, a drain survey usually finds the answer.
• Garden and exterior don't feed or shelter pests. Compost in a closed bin, no fallen fruit left down, log piles away from the house wall, decking skirted or checked beneath — and nothing edible left on balconies or terraces for the gulls.
• Guests know how to report, and you know your duty. A line in the welcome book ("spot anything with more than four legs? Message us — we'll sort it fast") gets problems reported to you instead of to the review page. If you let through an agency, check your contract: documented pest management is increasingly a listing requirement, and food-hygiene duties apply if you provide any catering.

Ticked everything? Keep it that way

Repeat the autumn proofing and pre-season roof check every year, keep the changeover scan on the housekeeper's list, and review the bins whenever a booking leaves them overflowing. Most owners who run this routine never need the emergency numbers — and if you'd rather have it inspected professionally on a schedule, that's what a routine contract (from around £40/mo) does.

Couldn't tick something?

Gulls already installed on the roof: if there's an active nest, the season is legally spoken for — herring gulls are protected, and only licensed work is lawful. Plan proofing for October. Detail on the bird control page.

Signs of mice or rats: droppings, gnawing or noises mean treatment plus proofing, not a couple of supermarket traps — see rat control and mice control for what a proper course involves and costs.

Not sure what you're looking at: that's what the free survey below is for.

Running a holiday let and want the bigger picture — contracts, changeover-day treatments, discreet service, what to do when a guest complains mid-stay? Read the full guide: pest control for Cornwall holiday lets.