In March 2023, the Scottish Government published updates to the Repairing Standard for landlords, due to come into effect from 1st March 2024.
What is the Repairing Standard?
The Repairing Standard “outlines the legal and contractual obligations private landlords are required to meet to ensure that a privately let property meets a minimum physical standard.” (Scottish Government)
The new measures:
What do these new measures mean for landlords?
- Safe kitchens: there must be safe and accessible food storage and preparation space in every rented property
- Fixed heating system: the heating system must be in working order and tenants should not be reliant on portable heaters for warmth
- Safe access to common parts: tenants must be able to safely access and use common parts of tenement flats, such as the close and stairs
- Consent to work on common parts: a property will no longer fail to meet the repairing standard, if common repairs, previously needed to comply with the standard, cannot be carried out due to a lack of majority owners consenting to the work
- Safe and secure common doors: common doors must have secure and satisfactory locks – tenants must be able to open common doors from the inside without a key to make exit in the event of a fire easier
- Residual current devices: the supply of electricity must be in working order and must include a residual current device – this device breaks the circuit in the event of a fault, reducing the risk of electrocution and fire
- Other fuels: the system that provides heating must be in good working condition and now applies to systems that uses other fuels, such as oil, liquid petroleum gas, or biomass
