Camden, Islington and Brent borough councils had the highest number of rat infestations reported in London from 2023 to mid-2025, according to data obtained through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.
Camden had the highest report, with 9,133 rat infestations during the period, followed by 6,567 in Islington and 6,523 in Brent.
Drainage company Drain Detectives submitted FOI requests to borough councils, revealing 76,507 rat infestations were reported between 2023 to mid-2025 across London.
The top ten boroughs with the highest reported rat infestations can be seen in the graph below.
Drain Detectives submitted FOI requests to councils asking for the number of reported rat infestations on council-owned buildings, encompassing residential, commercial, and public properties within their respective jurisdictions, for the period covering 2023, 2024, and up to mid-2025.
Information was not recorded or provided by 13 borough councils including Waltham Forest, Richmond upon Thames and Westminster City council.
Excluding data which could not be obtained, Kingston upon Thames had the lowest number of rat infestations reported at 272 from 2023 to mid-2025.
London was the region the highest number of rat infestations reported across the whole of the UK, followed by the North West and Scotland.
This data comes after a 22-inch rat “the size of a small cat” was found in a North Yorkshire home in July.
Paul Salvin, Councillor for Normanby Ward local to the incident said: “Everywhere in the country will have something like this, you’re just not hearing about it.”
The giant rat gained viral traction as residents and local councillors complained Redcar and Cleveland council responsible for the area do not take sufficient action to prevent rodent infestations.
Reporting on the rodent found in North Yorkshire, The Guardian said the issue is part of “the great global rat crisis of 2025”.
Number of rat infestations reported across 20 London boroughs:
A correction was made on August 8 to the number of rat infestations reported in Southwark council.
A Southwark Council spokesperson said: “The Evening Standard’s article on rat infestations suggests Southwark Council had over 44,000 infestations since the beginning of 2023. This is actually the number of ‘visits’ to sites for various rodent control purposes – the number of rat infestations in this period is only 1,912.”
