thank you all for your reply and after this week I've found the issue worth some discussion and deep thought. let me go to the conclusion first that I'm NOT going to push the landlord. so my personal issue is over but you are welcome to join the discussion. Responses I've got here and in real life are 50/50. the key point of debate is whether mice is a justified reason for the tenants to evacuate. Let say if you are in a restaurant and see a mouse running around, I believe most people won't hesitate to leave and may never return no matter how well the owner tackle the problem later on. Mice do have a hygienic problem to tenants, same as the case in restaurant. If I'm right to leave the restaurant why shouldn't I leave the flat? Then I compare it to some of my and my friends' experience. Years ago I lived alone in a share flat when the boiler failed. We lived without hot water for almost two weeks until the LL fixed it. Luckily it was in spring if it's winter it would be hell. My friend had the fridge broke down and wait a week before the LL bought a new one. at that time we didn't leave the our home nor ask for waiving rent. These down to a point of one's tolerance to household problem. If I'm living alone now then it might not be a problem at all but the fact my girlfriend can't stand it. Some say she's phobia, which to a certain extent I agree . But even if you feel very well to live with mice in the same flat, the hygienic problem is still there and can't unjustify others who decide to leave. Some say she could stay somewhere while I remain there but we both are the listed tenants so if the problem is justify you can't just ask the one who can't tolerate to leave. and then I think of the contract. It seems no rule to force the LL to refund in case of evacuation by uninhabitable environment. What say is LL should ensure an inhabitable environment to the tenants otherwise it's treated as a breach of contract. And in practice it also involves who is responsible for the problem, in my case is if it's my fault that causes mouse infestation. I don't have a clear standpoint on all these, just some of my thought during these days when I'm facing the problem. You may wonder then why I decide not to push the LL for rent refund/waiving. First he's a nice LL, especially when I think of some of the dodgy LL / agent that I encountered before, that I want to continue business with him and not risk spoiling the relationship or finding a new flat and new LL. Second I like the flat once the mice are gone then there won't be anything makes me feel not comfortable.

Thanks for your advice. Responses to my situation varies (I've asked some of my friends and colleagues). Some said it really depends on how bad the situation is. If there re tens of mice running around in day light then I should push on. However my situation is not that bad. I guess it may be several of them, and not seeing them out unless i stay up very late. And the LL agree to pay all the expenses to treat the mice. This is fair and I'm still thinking whether to talk about waiving rent again

Hi! Recently I found mice in my flat. I called pest control company to deal with it and it take two to three weeks to complete. Because my partner is so scare of mice that we have to move out during this period otherwise she couldn't sleep. I asked my landlord if he can waive the rent for this period and he said it's not a reasonable request as mice problem is common here and it is not dangerous to the extent that requires evacuation. do you think I have the ground and legitimate reason to push the landlord for that? PS: LL agrees to pay all the expenses required to treat the mice.

I don't have the landlord detail. but today I get their call and they say it's their mistake and my admin fee can be waived. surprisingly smooth as I don't have record of the conversation and I thought they will argue with me that that is not what they mean and I should pay the admin fee. but I'm still cautious as this is a verbal notice (waive my admin fee) again I don't know what will turn up at the end. now i'm thinking whether to take that flat. I know I will lost my holding deposit if i pull out now but the thing is I find another one which is cheaper in rent and the landlord (private LL not through agent) sounds more reliable. anyway this is another story... oh i can share with you one more thing how unprofessional the agent is. I asked what's the council tax band of the flat. she asked whether my partner and me are student or not. I work full time and my partner is a full time student and she taught me that we could escape the council tax by claiming my partner the only tenant in the flat to the council! I know this is unlawful and I have prepared to pay the council tax anyway (i'll apply the 25% discount of course). But still shocking when I heard that from the agent.

update they email me and say the agent who showed me the flat and told me there's no admin fee last week is not in the office and can't clarify the issue with her but she will be back tomorrow. This is sort of ridiculous if you really want to contact someone why not calling her mobile? I have the agent number and I'm thinking should I call her and say "hey talk to your boss about my administration fee"? and at the same time they urged me to fill in the online referencing form, which I refuse to because if they haven't clarify me on the admin fee, I will not disclose my information.

sorry my previous wording may be a bit confusing i receive an invoice, which all charge/fee/payment that I have to settle before they give me the keys are listed. these included the first month rent, 6-week rent as deposit, and the admin fee. but what the agent told me before is there's no separate admin fee

I say "potential" because the incident is still in progress and see how they treat me at the end. In brief, I'm looking for a 1 bed flat to rent. When the agent shown me around I asked how much the administration fee would be. she told me there won't be administration fee as it would be included in my deposit/rent. I thought it may be a kind of agreement between the agent and landlord that all admin fee are charged in this way. Sounds not common I ask the agent again is there not a separate charge as "administration fee" on me during the whole rental process and she said "no there's not". at the end i find one flat quite good and pay the holding deposit £200 (1 week rent) and they start doing the referencing and things. later i receive an invoice for my deposit which i have to paid before i get the keys and i've found that there's £230 administration fee on that invoice. Now i'm asking them about that and waiting their reply. im preparing for the worst that they deny they've told me that there's no admin fee and refuse to give me back my holding deposit. In this case I will probably looking for legal action to claim my money (£200 holding deposit) back, based on the ground that the agent give me inaccurate information about the rental cost. £230 is not a huge amount of money but i just can't accepted being cheated. any suggestion?