Repairing Standard: Lead Testing

This guidance is for use in determining whether a house meets the standards of repair set out in the Repairing Standard (Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, Chapter 4). It applies from 1 March 2024 to all tenancies required to meet with the Repairing Standard.

The Repairing Standards

• Is the minimum level of repair a house must achieve to be used as privately rented accommodation in Scotland.
• Focuses on the building condition but also includes all installations, fittings and furnishings that are provided as part of a tenancy.
• Also requires private landlords to meet elements relating to safety, heating and access to common parts of a tenement.

The Repairing Standard “applies to any tenancy of a house let for human habitation”, except specified tenancies. There are three elements to this:

• it does not apply to an occupancy arrangement, for example when a landlord shares their home with someone,
• it does not apply to dwellings that are not houses, which means that mobile homes and other dwellings which are not part of a building are excluded from these standards – however, the definition of a house does include gardens and garages, and
• it does not apply to tenancies that are specifically excluded by section 12 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, which means that social housing is excluded from these standards.

Short-term holiday lets were previously excluded from the requirements of the Repairing Standard. However, article 3 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 removed them from the list of specified excluded tenancies. Therefore, short-term lets, as defined by the Licensing Order, are required to meet the Repairing Standard. Article 3 sets out the definition of a short-term let for the purposes of licensing in Scotland. Article 10 (2) of Schedule 3 of the Licensing Order states “Where the premises are subject to the requirements of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, the holder of the licence must ensure that the premises meet the repairing standard”. This therefore makes it a mandatory condition of obtaining a short-term let licence that the accommodation meets the Repairing Standard. As set out in Chapter 4 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, the terms landlord, let and tenant, when used in this guidance, will be understood to apply accordingly to short-term lets.

This now includes mandatory Lead Testing of pre-1970 built properties by March 1st. 

You can download the full Guidance below.