Stay in the same bed for now
Switching bedrooms the moment you find a bed bug usually spreads the problem rather than escaping it. Keep sleeping where you normally do, and avoid carrying loose bedding or clothes between rooms while you work out how far it's gone.
Confirm what you're seeing
A fed bed bug is flattish, reddish-brown and about the size of an apple pip, and it walks rather than jumps or flies. Bites alone aren't proof, since reactions vary hugely between people; the real evidence is the insect itself, a shed skin, or dark spotting along a seam.
Warehouse conversions near Bermondsey and Rotherhithe
The converted dock buildings and warehouse flats around Bermondsey and Rotherhithe typically share long corridors and lift lobbies rather than the single shared wall a terrace has, and bed bugs can move flat to flat along that route more quickly than most residents expect. Telling neighbours and the managing agent early matters more here than in a standalone house.
Checking every bed in the property
Work from the mattress edge nearest the sleeper out to the frame, headboard and nearby skirting, and do this in every bedroom, including a spare room or sofa-bed that's barely used.
Who to tell
Anyone renting should let the landlord or agent know without delay, and check the tenancy terms on pest issues, whether that's near Peckham, where victorian terraces around Rye Lane sit alongside the large ex-council blocks near the old, or elsewhere in the borough. In a converted block, telling the managing agent means neighbouring flats sharing the same corridor can be checked before it spreads further.
Booking bed bug treatment in Southwark
Bed bug treatment in Southwark runs £220 for the first room and £120 for each additional room, and because around Dulwich, where larger period villas and semis near the park and the village, it is worth mentioning which rooms you have checked when you book bed bug treatment, with what a visit involves set out on the Southwark bed bug treatment page.
