The Repairing Standard: every element Scottish landlords must meet, and how it is enforced

Every privately let house in Scotland must meet the Repairing Standard at the start of the tenancy and at all times during it, under Chapter 4 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006. The standard covers the structure, the installations, the furnishings, fire and carbon monoxide detection, electrical and gas safety, and, since 1 March 2024, safe kitchens, a fixed heating system, secure common doors, lead-free water pipes and residual current devices. From 6 October 2026 it also carries Awaab's Law timescales for damp and mould. It is enforced not by the council but by the tenant, who can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland for a repairing standard enforcement order and a cut in rent of up to 90%. This guide lists every element, the certificate that evidences each, the 2024 additions, the October 2026 change, and what enforcement looks like. It reflects the law as at 26 September 2026.

What the Repairing Standard requires

The standard has applied since 3 September 2007 and was widened on 1 March 2019 and again on 1 March 2024. A property meets it when all of the following are true:

A tenement flat does not fail the standard where work needs the consent of a majority of owners and that consent has been refused, provided the landlord has tried. Short-term lets must meet the standard too. The Scottish Government's statutory guidance is the reference for each element, and section 13(7) of the Act requires landlords to have regard to it.

The certificates behind the standard

The Repairing Standard is the legal duty; the certificates are how a landlord proves it was met on a given date.

Electrical safety in Scotland: the EICR every five years

Scotland has required an Electrical Installation Condition Report at least every five years since 1 December 2015 for new tenancies and 1 December 2016 for existing ones, five years before England's 2020 regulations. The inspection must be by a competent person, the tenant must receive a copy before the tenancy starts and within 28 days of any later inspection, and the RCD requirement added in 2024 will appear on the report. Portable appliances the landlord supplies must be tested and the record kept. The England regime, which runs on the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, is explained in our EICR entry.

Gas safety

The annual gas safety check by a Gas Safe registered engineer applies across Great Britain under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, so a Scottish landlord's duty is identical to an English one: check every 12 months, give the tenant the record within 28 days, and keep it for two years. Our gas safety certificate guide covers the detail.

Smoke, heat and carbon monoxide alarms

Since February 2022 every home in Scotland, rented or not, must meet the Tolerable Standard for alarms: interlinked smoke alarms in the living room and every hallway and landing, an interlinked heat alarm in the kitchen, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a boiler, fire, heater or flue. Mains-wired or sealed long-life battery units are both acceptable; alarms that are not interlinked are not. The standard is stricter than England's, where only one alarm per storey is required, which our smoke alarm regulations guide sets out.

Legionella, EPC and furniture

A legionella risk assessment is required under health and safety law in Scotland as elsewhere in the UK, and is normally a landlord's own written assessment for a domestic property. An Energy Performance Certificate must be obtained before marketing and lodged on the Scottish EPC Register; there is no minimum rating in force for Scottish private lets at the time of writing, although the Scottish Government has consulted on one. Upholstered furniture supplied must carry the fire-resistance label.

When we built August's Scottish compliance journey, the property level came to 17 tasks against 15 for England and Wales. The two extra are the five-yearly EICR, which every Scottish landlord already carries, and the Repairing Standard pre-tenancy inspection, which most did not have on a list at all. August's maintenance module holds that inspection per property with the photos and the date, so the record exists before a tenant ever asks for it.

Awaab's Law in Scotland from 6 October 2026

From 6 October 2026 the Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026 add fixed timescales to the Repairing Standard for reports of damp and mould. A competent person must investigate within 10 working days of the landlord becoming aware of the problem, the tenant must receive a written summary of the findings within three working days of the investigation ending, and any repair the investigation identifies must start within five working days after that and be completed as soon as reasonably practicable. The regulations also amend the standard so that a house must be substantially free from damp and mould, not merely wind and watertight. Reports received before 6 October are outside the timescales. The English version, which runs on different clocks and applies to social landlords first, is in our Awaab's Law entry; a landlord with property in both nations cannot run the two from one checklist.

Telling the tenant about the standard

Section 20 of the 2006 Act requires the landlord to give the tenant written information about the Repairing Standard and how to enforce it at or before the start of the tenancy. For a private residential tenancy the Scottish Government's Easy Read Notes or Statutory Terms Supporting Notes, which must be given by the end of the first day, satisfy this duty; for older tenancies the landlord must provide the information separately. Missing it is a breach in its own right.

How the standard is enforced

A tenant who believes the property does not meet the standard should first tell the landlord in writing and allow a reasonable time. If the work is not done, the tenant, or the local authority on a tenant's behalf under third-party reporting, applies to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber). The tribunal inspects, and if it finds a failure it makes a repairing standard enforcement order setting out the work and a deadline. A landlord who does not comply commits an offence, and the tribunal can make a rent relief order reducing the rent by up to 90% until the work is done. An unmet enforcement order is also a fit and proper person issue at the next registration renewal, and it removes the landlord's ability to use most eviction grounds until it is complied with. The tribunal has a right of entry procedure for landlords whose tenants refuse access for the work.

The enforcement cases we see are rarely about dangerous properties. They are about a landlord who did the work but has nothing dated to prove it, and a tenant who has photographs from the day they moved in. The inspection record on day one is the document that decides those cases. Every certificate and inspection for a Scottish property, with its next-due date, sits in our Scottish landlord guide as a checklist, and in August as a dated task.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Repairing Standard apply to a holiday let in Scotland? 

Yes. Short-term let operators must meet the Repairing Standard, and the statutory guidance applies to them with the same force.

How often does a Scottish landlord need an EICR? 

At least every five years, by a competent person, with a copy to the tenant before the tenancy starts. Scotland has required this since December 2015.

Is a fixed heating system compulsory in a Scottish rental? 

Yes, since 1 March 2024. The property must have a fixed system capable of heating it; plug-in heaters do not satisfy the standard.

What can a tenant do if the landlord ignores repairs? 

Apply to the tribunal for a repairing standard enforcement order. If the order is not complied with, the tribunal can cut the rent by up to 90% and the landlord commits an offence. A dated inspection record, the certificates and the repair history in one place is the defence, and you can start for free.