Awaab’s Law in Scotland: Mould From a Leaking Roof

What is Awaab’s Law in Scotland?

The law is named after Awaab Ishak, a two year old who died in 2020 from a respiratory condition caused by mould in his family’s housing association flat in England.³ The Scottish rules apply to both private and social tenancies from the same start date.⁴ The Scottish Parliament’s own research service has published a plain English briefing on how the rules work.¹⁶

Does it cover mould caused by a leaking roof?

Yes. The Scottish Government’s guidance for landlords describes four kinds of damp: rising damp, penetrating damp, condensation and traumatic damp. Penetrating damp is moisture getting in from outside through defects such as damaged roofing, faulty guttering, missing flashings or crumbling pointing, and the guidance notes it can be harder to identify than other types.⁵ The duty is framed around whether the home is affected by damp or mould, not around what caused it, so mould growing on a top floor ceiling because of a slipped slate or a failed flashing is covered just as much as condensation mould.²

The guidance also says landlords must not assume that reports of damp or mould are caused by the tenant’s own actions.⁵ In a traditional Edinburgh tenement, where a top floor ceiling sits directly under the slates, that matters: a patch of mould in a ceiling corner after heavy rain points to the roof, not to drying washing indoors. Our wet patches and damp advice guide explains how water tracks from a roof fault to a ceiling.

The deadlines at a glance

A working day is any day except a Saturday, a Sunday or a Scottish bank holiday.² The completion periods are taken from the Scottish Government’s guidance on repair work.⁶

What does the investigation involve?

The investigation must be carried out by a “competent person”, meaning someone with the skills and experience to decide whether the home is substantially free from damp and mould and, if not, what work is needed.² The guidance does not require a particular qualification, but mentions building surveying, housing maintenance, environmental health and construction as useful backgrounds, and says an in person visit is preferred.⁷ With penetrating damp from a roof, finding the cause usually means someone looking at the roof itself, not just the ceiling below it. Where finding the cause needs more than one visit or specialist input beyond 10 working days, the guidance treats that as a possible exceptional circumstance.⁷

The written summary must name who carried out the investigation, say clearly whether the home is substantially free from damp and mould, list any work done at the visit, and set out the work needed and a target start date.⁸

Is a mould wash enough?

No, not on its own. A mould wash or other temporary measure can count as starting the repair within the 5 working day deadline, but the guidance says a mould wash without anything else is unlikely to be a suitable repair if it does not keep the home substantially free from damp and mould.⁶ The repair has to deal with the cause. If the mould is coming from a roof leak, that means fixing the slate, flashing or gutter letting the water in, and then dealing with the mould and any water damage inside.

What if the roof is shared with other owners?

In most Edinburgh tenements the roof is common property. Unless the title deeds say otherwise, the Tenement Management Scheme treats the roof as “scheme property”, and repairs are decided by a majority of the flats, one vote per flat.⁹ A landlord who owns one flat usually cannot simply instruct a roof repair alone, which is exactly the situation many roof related mould reports will fall into.

The law allows for this in three ways:

• Emergency work. Any owner can instruct emergency work on scheme property without waiting for a vote, where it is needed to prevent damage to the tenement or in the interests of health or safety, and the cost is shared as usual.⁹
• Lack of consent. A landlord is not treated as breaching the Repairing Standard where the failure is only because they lacked the necessary rights despite taking reasonable steps to get them, and a landlord is treated as lacking those rights where a majority of owners has not agreed to work on common parts.¹⁰
• Circumstances beyond the landlord’s control. If a deadline cannot be met for reasons outside the landlord’s control, the landlord must tell the tenant which duty cannot be met and why, give a revised timeframe, and take reasonable steps where practicable to limit the damp or mould in the meantime.¹¹ The guidance lists examples including severe weather, contractor or supply problems, lack of access despite reasonable attempts, and unforeseen delays in getting approvals or permissions.¹²

Whether a stalled owners’ vote or a wait for listed building consent counts as beyond the landlord’s control will depend on the facts, and the landlord still has to act on the parts they can control, such as treating the mould inside the flat and chasing the other owners or the factor in writing. Our tenement shared repairs guide explains how owners’ decisions and cost sharing work, and our planning and listed building guide covers when roof work needs consent.

What happens if a landlord misses the deadlines?

Private tenants can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland, Housing and Property Chamber. When deciding whether the landlord has met the Repairing Standard, the Tribunal must now take into account whether the landlord met the Awaab’s Law duties.² The Tribunal can make a Repairing Standard Enforcement Order, and failing to carry out the work it requires without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence.¹³ If an order is not complied with, the Tribunal can make a Rent Relief Order reducing the rent by up to 90%.¹⁴ Our landlord roof obligations guide walks through a real published Tribunal decision about water coming through a common roof.

Social tenants can claim compensation under the Right to Repair scheme if the deadlines are missed: an initial £15, then £3 for each further working day, up to £100 per repair.¹³

What should a tenant do about mould from the roof?

1. Report it in writing to the landlord or letting agent, with the date, so it is clear when the 10 working day investigation period started.
2. Photograph it, including a wider shot showing where the mould sits in relation to the ceiling and outside walls, and note whether it gets worse after rain.
3. Keep the written summary the landlord sends after the investigation, and note the date repair work actually starts.
4. If nothing happens, the Scottish Government’s guidance for tenants explains how to complain and when to go to the Tribunal.¹⁵

What should a landlord do?

1. Log the date you were told or became aware of the damp or mould. The clock starts the next day.²
2. Get the roof looked at as part of the investigation if the mould is on a top floor ceiling or an outside wall, since treating the mould without finding the leak is unlikely to be enough.⁶
3. If the roof is common, contact the factor or other owners in writing straight away, consider whether the work counts as emergency work, and keep copies of everything.⁹
4. If you cannot meet a deadline, give the tenant written notice of why and a revised timeframe, and take interim steps inside the flat.¹¹

This page is general information about the law, not legal advice on a particular case.

Sources

1. Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026, SSI 2026/173, reg 1. legislation.gov.uk
2. Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026, SSI 2026/173, reg 3, inserting Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, ss 13(1)(ha), 14(5) to (11) and 24(1A). legislation.gov.uk
3. Scottish Government, ‘Tenants to be better protected from damp and mould’ (21 January 2026). gov.scot
4. Scottish Government, Awaab’s Law: Guidance for Landlords in Scotland (2026), ch 2. gov.scot
5. Scottish Government, Awaab’s Law: Guidance for Landlords in Scotland (2026), ch 3. gov.scot
6. Scottish Government, Awaab’s Law: Guidance for Landlords in Scotland (2026), ch 6. gov.scot
7. Scottish Government, Awaab’s Law: Guidance for Landlords in Scotland (2026), ch 4. gov.scot
8. Scottish Government, Awaab’s Law: Guidance for Landlords in Scotland (2026), ch 5. gov.scot
9. Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004, sch 1 (Tenement Management Scheme), rr 1.2, 2 and 7. legislation.gov.uk
10. Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, s 16(4) and (5). legislation.gov.uk
11. Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, s 14(9), inserted by SSI 2026/173, reg 3. legislation.gov.uk
12. Scottish Government, Awaab’s Law: Guidance for Landlords in Scotland (2026), ch 2, paras 2.8 to 2.12. gov.scot
13. Scottish Government, Awaab’s Law: Guidance for Landlords in Scotland (2026), ch 7. gov.scot
14. Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, s 27. legislation.gov.uk
15. Scottish Government, Awaab’s Law: Guidance for Tenants in Scotland (2026). gov.scot
16. Scottish Parliament Information Centre, ‘Dampness and mould in rented housing: what will Awaab’s Law in Scotland do?’ (SPICe Spotlight, 19 March 2026). spice-spotlight.scot