Landlords, agents, factors & housing associations
Ten working days, starting 6 October 2026.
Scotland's version of Awaab's Law is made by the Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026, approved by the Scottish Parliament in March 2026 and in force from 6 October 2026. Unlike the first phase in England, it applies to the private rented sector as well as social housing.
- 10WORKING DAYS
Complete an investigation
Runs from the moment you become aware the property is or may be affected by damp or mould — whether that comes from a tenant report, your own inspection, or any other means.
- 3WORKING DAYS
Issue a written summary to the tenant
Setting out what the investigation found. Due within three working days of the investigation being completed.
- 5WORKING DAYS
Commence any necessary work
Where the investigation concludes that work is required to make the property free of damp and mould, that work must start within five working days of the conclusion being reached.
Where circumstances outwith your control prevent compliance, you must set out in writing to the tenant why, and the timescale in which you expect to comply. Where the damp or mould is not the result of a building defect, landlords are expected to work with tenants and signpost appropriate advice and guidance.
The practical problem
Ten working days is a diary problem, not a legal one.
Every landlord and agent in Scotland is subject to the same clock from the same date, and there is a finite number of PCA-qualified damp and timber surveyors in the country. In October, the ones with capacity will be the ones people booked in August.
Get on the list before October
A standing arrangement for landlords, agents and factors: a named response window for damp and mould investigations, a report format written to evidence the investigation duty, and a plain-English written summary you can pass straight to the tenant.
No retainer for portfolios under — properties. Priced per inspection, with agreed rates fixed for twelve months.
DampCheck
We also build and run DampCheck Scotland, a free tool that helps tenants identify what they are looking at and report it to their landlord properly, in writing and dated. Pointing a tenant there early tends to produce a clearer report than a phone call does — which makes your ten working days a good deal easier to work with.
The wider legal picture
What already applied
before October.
The new timescales sit on top of duties that have been in force for years. Damp and mould were never optional.
Under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, a private rented property must be wind and watertight and in all other respects reasonably fit for human habitation, at the start of the tenancy and throughout it. The 2026 regulations amend the standard so that a property must be substantially free from damp and mould, and add the investigation and commencement timescales above.
Enforcement is through the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber). The Tribunal can make a Repairing Standard Enforcement Order, and can make a rent relief order reducing the rent payable. Failure to comply with an enforcement order is a serious matter for a registered landlord.
Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 · Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026
The Tolerable Standard under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 is the minimum condition below which a house is not fit to live in. It includes being substantially free from rising damp and penetrating damp. It applies across tenures and is the standard local authorities use when taking action on individual houses.
Housing (Scotland) Act 1987, s.86
Scottish secure tenants have a statutory right to have certain small urgent repairs, costing under £350, carried out within set timescales — commonly 1, 3 or 7 working days depending on the repair — with compensation payable where the landlord misses the deadline and the tenant can instruct a second contractor from the landlord's list.
The scheme was not written around damp and mould specifically, and most damp remediation falls outside it on cost. It matters here mainly because the associated defects — a blocked drain, a leaking pipe, an unsafe or defective vent — often do qualify.
Scottish Secure Tenants (Right to Repair) Regulations 2002
In tenement property the defect causing damp is frequently in shared fabric: the roof, a gable, the close, a common downpipe. Who decides, and who pays, is governed first by the title deeds and, where the deeds are silent or make no provision, by the Tenement Management Scheme in the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 — which allows a majority of owners to make a scheme decision on necessary maintenance to scheme property.
A landlord's repairing duty does not evaporate because the defect is common property. Our reports locate the defect precisely, which is what factors and other owners need before agreeing to fund a repair.
Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004
Social landlords are additionally answerable to the Scottish Housing Regulator and report against the Scottish Social Housing Charter and the Scottish Housing Quality Standard. The 2026 duties add fixed, auditable timescales to what was previously governed by internal repairs policies, so investigation records, dated written summaries and evidence of work commencing become the compliance trail.
Where a Single Survey records dampness, a lender may hold a retention until a specialist report is produced. This affects landlords buying and selling stock as much as it affects homeowners. A dated specialist report with a costed schedule of works is normally what releases the funds.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 our services must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time, for a reasonable price where none has been agreed. Where a contract is agreed at your home rather than at our premises, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give you a 14-day right to cancel, and we will give you that notice in writing before you sign anything.
Note also that Scotland's prescriptive period differs from England's: under the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 most contractual obligations prescribe after five years, not six. It is worth knowing where guarantees and defect claims are concerned.
This page summarises Scottish housing law as we understand it for the purposes of explaining our survey work. It is not a substitute for legal advice on your circumstances. Verify against the current legislation at legislation.gov.uk, or take independent advice.
LAST REVIEWED — 13 AUGUST 2026 · PREPARED BY — JEFF WEBB · NEXT REVIEW — 6 OCTOBER 2026