From the trees to the roof line
A grey squirrel moves through tree canopies almost as easily as along the ground, and a branch overhanging a roof acts as a bridge. From there it only needs a weak spot at the eaves or a loose ridge tile to get into the loft space.
Holland Park's mature gardens
The large detached and semi-detached houses backing directly onto Holland Park sit beneath some of the borough's oldest trees, giving squirrels easy cover right up to the roofline. Older, larger lofts here also give them more room once inside.
Communal gardens across Chelsea and Kensington
The private communal squares threaded through Chelsea and Kensington bring mature planting close to terraced roofs that would otherwise have little nearby cover, so a check at the eaves each autumn is worth doing even away from Holland Park itself.
Confirming it is a squirrel
Timing alone often gives the strongest indication, whether that's near Ladbroke Grove, where a mix of stucco terraces and estates around North Kensington, or elsewhere in the borough. Timing gives it away: squirrels are only active during daylight hours, so early-morning and late-afternoon thumping fits a squirrel, while any noise overnight means rats or mice, true near Notting Hill too, where a mix of tall stucco terraces and mews houses.
What not to do
- Block the entry hole while squirrels may still be inside; they chew a new way out, sometimes into the house
- Put down poison in the loft
- Catch a squirrel and release it elsewhere
There's a legal dimension too: grey squirrels count as an invasive non-native species, so putting one back once it's been caught is against the law, just as near Kensington, where grand white stucco terraces and mansion blocks around the High Street and the museums.
Booking squirrel control in Kensington and Chelsea
Our squirrel trapping service in Kensington and Chelsea is £280, and since around Chelsea, where high-value townhouses and squares stretching down towards the King's Road and the river, it helps to say when you book squirrel control whether the sounds are by day or night and whether trees overhang the roof, with more on the Kensington and Chelsea squirrel control page.
