Awaab's Law, Damp and Mould, and Ongoing HMO Compliance in Scotland

Getting an HMO licence in Scotland is the start of the compliance obligation, not the end of it. The licence runs for up to three years, and throughout that period the property must continuously meet both the HMO licensing conditions and the broader repairing standard. Since 6 October 2026, "Awaab's Law" damp and mould response deadlines apply to private residential tenancies in Scotland, including HMO lets on those tenancies.

What Awaab's Law Requires

The Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026, made under powers in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 and the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, set mandatory timescales for investigating damp or mould and commencing any required relevant safety work:

• 10 working days to complete an investigation after the landlord is notified of the damp or mould, or otherwise becomes aware of it
• 3 working days to give the tenant a written summary of the investigation findings after the investigation concludes
• 5 working days after the investigation concludes to begin any required relevant safety work

If circumstances beyond the landlord's control make the investigation or safety-work deadline impossible, the landlord must tell the tenant why and when they expect to comply, and take reasonable practicable steps to reduce the damp or mould in the meantime.

These are statutory deadlines, not guidelines. The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber) must consider whether the landlord complied with these duties when deciding a repairing-standard application. Reports made before 6 October 2026 are not subject to these new timeframes. Failure to meet the timescales exposes you to Tribunal proceedings and, if the pattern is persistent, can feed into the fit-and-proper assessment at your next HMO licence renewal.

Why HMOs Are Higher Risk for Damp and Mould

Shared properties generate more moisture than single-household lets. Multiple occupants cooking, showering, and drying clothes indoors push humidity levels up, especially in older tenement flats with limited mechanical ventilation. Add the fact that tenants in shared houses are less likely to coordinate heating and ventilation habits, and damp and mould problems are predictably more common in HMOs.

Council HMO inspectors already check ventilation in kitchens and bathrooms as part of the licensing inspection. But the Awaab's Law obligations run continuously between inspections — the duty to investigate and repair applies when the landlord is notified of an issue or otherwise becomes aware of it, not just at licence renewal.

The Repairing Standard Underneath

Every private rented property in Scotland must meet the repairing standard under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006. For HMOs, this runs alongside the licensing conditions, and the two regimes overlap but are not identical.

The repairing standard requires the property to be:

• Wind and watertight, with roof, walls, and windows in reasonable repair
• Fitted with satisfactory installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, and heating
• Equipped with working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
• Free from serious disrepair affecting the structure

HMO licensing adds requirements on top of this: interlinked alarm systems meeting BS 5839-6, FD30 fire doors with self-closing devices, minimum amenity ratios for kitchens and bathrooms, and room-by-room physical standards that vary by council. An HMO that passes its licensing inspection still needs to meet the repairing standard, and a repairing standard enforcement order can affect your licence if the council treats the failure as evidence of management deficiency.

Licence Conditions That Apply Day to Day

Standard conditions attached to every Scottish HMO licence require you to:

• Keep all gas, electrical, and fire safety systems continuously certified — Gas Safety annually, EICR within five years, PAT annually, fire risk assessment reviewed annually
• Maintain occupancy within the exact head-count capacity written on the licence
• Keep common areas, stairwells, and refuse storage clean and unobstructed
• Provide tenants with a 24-hour emergency contact number
• Display the HMO licence in the property hallway
• Notify the council of any material changes — layout alterations, managing agent changes, or occupancy capacity changes — through a formal variation application

Breaching a licence condition without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence under section 154(5) of the 2006 Act.

Practical Compliance Calendar

A working calendar for an HMO landlord in Scotland:

Missing a certificate renewal does not automatically trigger a council inspection, but if the council requests a copy and you cannot produce a current one, it is a licence condition breach.

Keeping It Together

The combination of Awaab's Law timescales, the repairing standard, and HMO licence conditions creates three overlapping compliance regimes. The Scotland HMO Licensing Guide includes a condition-by-condition breakdown and a renewal tracker designed to keep all three in sync from the day the licence is granted through to your next renewal.

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