From 6 October 2026, Scottish landlords must investigate reported damp and mould within 10 working days, give a written summary of the findings within three working days, and start any repairs needed within five working days of the investigation.
For years, one of the most dangerous phrases in property management has been:
“We’ll keep an eye on it.”
A tenant reports damp around a window. Photographs arrive showing black mould in a bedroom. Someone suggests opening the windows more often. A contractor is asked to have a look when they are next in the area.
Days become weeks. Emails go backwards and forwards. What began as a relatively straightforward repair issue becomes something much more serious.
Since 6 October 2026, that kind of drift has been considerably harder for Scottish landlords to defend. The Scottish Government has published its guidance for landlords on the new duties.
For landlords, particularly those managing their own rental properties, this is more than another compliance date for the diary: it changes the speed at which a repair has to move from tenant report to inspection to action. Things can go wrong surprisingly quickly.
How long do landlords have to deal with damp and mould?
Under the new rules, landlords must investigate reports of damp and mould within 10 working days.
Following the investigation, a written summary of the findings must be produced within three working days.
Where repairs are required, they must begin within five working days of the investigation taking place.
The Scottish Government’s Repairing Standard guidance sets out the wider obligations applying to private landlords in Scotland and should be essential reading for anyone managing their own rental property.
Read in isolation, those deadlines may not sound particularly onerous. In practice, it looks like this.
A tenant emails on Monday evening with three photographs of mould. Someone needs to acknowledge it, establish what has actually happened, contact the tenant, arrange access, find an appropriate contractor, coordinate diaries, get into the property, determine whether the issue is condensation, penetrating damp, a leaking pipe, defective guttering, failed sealant, roof damage or something else entirely, record the findings, decide what remedial work is necessary and then get that work moving.
If the property is a Glasgow tenement, the source may not even sit neatly within the flat. It could involve a roof, gutter, downpipe, external wall or another common part of the building. The factor may then be involved, and possibly the other owners too.
At that point, ten working days is not long.
What if the problem is in a tenement’s common parts?
This is particularly relevant in Glasgow.
A landlord owns one flat in a tenement. Water starts appearing on a bedroom wall. The likely cause is somewhere outside the flat. The landlord contacts the factor and waits.
That may be understandable from the landlord’s point of view, but it does not make the tenant’s damp disappear.
Scotland’s Repairing Standard already places obligations on private landlords to keep rented properties to the required physical standard, including elements such as drains, gutters, outside pipes, roofs and external walls. In tenements, responsibility for common repairs may of course be shared with the other owners.
That distinction matters when the bill arrives. It matters considerably less when the immediate question is: What are we doing about the tenant’s bedroom wall?
It is one of the reasons property management is more complicated than simply collecting rent.
Somebody has to keep pushing: the contractor, the factor, the owner, the tenant, the insurer. The repair does not manage itself.
Access can become part of the problem
Then there is access.
A landlord cannot simply decide to enter a rented property whenever it suits them because they happen to have a spare set of keys.
Under Scotland’s Private Residential Tenancy rules, tenants must provide reasonable access for authorised purposes such as inspections and repairs, but landlords should normally give at least 48 hours’ notice, except where urgent access is required.
That means good repair management also requires good communication.
- The tenant needs to understand why access matters.
- The contractor needs to turn up when arranged.
- The inspection needs to be recorded.
- The next action needs to follow.
Miss one part of that chain and another few days can disappear.
Why repairs stall
Most landlords do not deliberately ignore serious problems in their properties. More often, a repair stalls because it is split between too many people.
The tenant sends an email. The landlord messages a plumber. The plumber says it looks like a building issue. The landlord emails the factor. The factor asks for photographs. The tenant sends more photographs. Someone suggests a roofer. The roofer cannot attend until next Thursday.
Meanwhile, everybody thinks somebody else is dealing with it. That is how a repair problem becomes a management problem, and eventually the landlord’s problem.
Our guide to damp and mould in a rented home looks at what tenants should report and what should happen next. The new timetable makes getting the diagnosis right, and getting it quickly, even more important.
Why damp and mould are treated differently
Not every repair carries the same urgency.
A loose kitchen handle is irritating. A failed light fitting needs attention. A leaking roof, dangerous electrical fault or significant damp and mould problem can affect the condition and safety of the property itself.
Scottish Government guidance already makes clear that what constitutes a reasonable repair period depends on the nature of the problem and the danger or risk created by leaving it unresolved. Tenants can ultimately ask the First-tier Tribunal to intervene where Repairing Standard obligations are not met.
The new damp and mould timetable removes even more ambiguity from one particularly important category of repair.
Since 6 October, the question is simple: what happened after the tenant reported it, and when?
What this means if you manage your own property
Managing your own rental property can look straightforward when everything is going well.
Rent arrives. Nothing breaks. The tenant is happy. Months pass without much happening.
Then the boiler fails on Friday night. Water appears through a ceiling. A factor isn’t responding. A contractor cancels. A tenant reports mould.
At that point, owning the property means running a property management operation. It is the part most people underestimate.
The value of professional management shows when something goes wrong and somebody has to take ownership of it.
At Infiniti Properties, that means receiving the report, communicating with the tenant, arranging access, instructing the appropriate contractor, following up the work and keeping the landlord informed rather than simply forwarding the problem and hoping it resolves itself.
For landlords who already have an agent but still find themselves chasing repairs, contractors and updates, that raises a different question: What exactly are you paying the management fee for?
How to prepare
The new rules do not mean every patch of condensation automatically requires major building work.
They do mean landlords need to respond quickly and consistently when damp and mould are reported, with a record of what was investigated and what happened next.
If you own one rental property, that process matters just as much as if you own fifty. The deadline applies however busy you are and whether or not the factor has replied, and the damp keeps spreading while you wait for a contractor.
This article reflects the general position in Scotland in November 2026. It isn’t legal advice.
Letting an empty property?
Our Fully Managed service finds the right tenant and looks after the rent, repairs, inspections and compliance for 10% per month including VAT, plus £200 per new tenancy. Fees only start when your tenant moves in.