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Repairing Standards
Tenancies in Scotland are subject to the Repairing Standards as set out in Chapter 4 of Part 1 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006. This means that your landlord (or ARIM, as 'an authorised person') must carry out a pre-tenancy inspection of the property to identify work required to meet the Repairing Standard and must notify you of any such work.
We must ensure that the house meets the Repairing Standard at the start of, and at all times during, the tenancy. This duty applies only when you, as the tenant, inform us of work needed to meet the Repairing Standard (or we become aware of it in some other way). You should therefore notify us of any work required. We must complete that work within a reasonable time of becoming aware of it.
A house meets the Repairing Standard if the following conditions are met:
- The house is wind and water tight and reasonably fit for human habitation (taking account of the extent to which the house falls short of any building regulations, because of disrepair or sanitary defects);
- The structure and exterior of the house (including drains, gutters and external pipes) are in reasonable repair and proper working order (having regard to the house’s age, character and prospective life and the locality).
- Where the house forms part of premises (e.g., a flat), this requirement includes any part of the premises that the owner is responsible for maintaining, solely or communally, but the Repairing Standard only applies if any part of, or anything in, the premises that the tenant is entitled to use is adversely affected;
- The installations in the house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation, space heating and heating water are in reasonable repair and proper working order (including installations outside the house but serving it, and which the owner is responsible for maintaining, solely or communally);
- Any fixtures, fittings and appliances provided under the tenancy are in reasonable repair and proper working order;
- Any furnishings provided under the tenancy are capable of being used safely for the purpose for which they are designed; and there is satisfactory provision of smoke alarms.
The Repairing Standard does not cover work for which you, as the tenant, are responsible for due to your duty to use the house in a proper manner; nor does it cover the repair or maintenance of anything that you are entitled to remove from the house.
