You tend to notice it in the silicone first. A grey speckling along the edge of the bath that wasn’t there in September, and by December the tiles are running with water every morning. Bathroom damp is one of the most common complaints in Scottish rented housing, and one of the most argued over. From 6 October 2026, what happens after you report it changes. Here’s what’s worth trying yourself, and what should be passed on.
What changes on 6 October
The Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026 come into force on that date. They are the first regulations bringing Awaab’s Law to Scotland, and unlike the English version, which began with social housing, ours covers private tenancies from the outset. When the Scottish Government set out the plans in January, it noted that around 90% of homes here are already free from damp and mould, and that the aim is to make sure everyone is covered.
Two things follow. The Repairing Standard now says a home must be substantially free from damp and mould. And once a landlord knows about a problem, fixed deadlines apply: ten working days to investigate, three more to provide a written summary of what was found, and five to start any safety work that turns out to be needed.
Most damp reports in Scottish flats begin in the bathroom, so it helps to know what is actually causing yours. Condensation forms when warm wet air meets a cold surface. Penetrating damp comes in from outside, through a failed seal, a leaking pipe or a shared gutter. On a wall they can look much the same. They lead to completely different answers about whose problem it is.
What you can do yourself
Plenty of bathroom damp is condensation, and condensation responds well to routine. Run the extractor while you shower and leave it going for a good fifteen minutes afterwards, with the door shut so the moisture doesn’t simply travel into the hall and settle in a colder bedroom. Then open the door and let the room dry out properly.
Wipe the screen, the tiles and the window down while they’re still wet. It takes a minute, and it removes water that would otherwise sit there feeding mould in the grout. Check the trickle vents, the small sliders in the window frame, and make sure they’re open and clear. In older flats they’ve often been painted shut by a previous decorator.
The habit that undoes everything else is drying washing on the bathroom towel rail behind a closed door. One load puts a surprising amount of water into the air, and a small unventilated room has nowhere to put it.
Heating matters too, though not quite in the way people expect. Steady low background warmth keeps wall surfaces above the temperature at which condensation forms. Short bursts of high heat don’t, because the walls never catch up. That isn’t a suggestion to spend more on energy. If a room can’t be kept warm at reasonable cost, that is itself worth reporting to your landlord or to the agent managing the property.
When the room itself is the problem
If you’re doing all of that and the mould still returns every winter, the room is most likely the cause. Internal bathrooms with no window rely entirely on the extractor, and plenty of extractors hum away without shifting much air at all. Cold external walls, perished sealant and blocked ducting produce the same result.
This is where the layout of the room earns its keep. In its guide to designing a compact bathroom, design and installation firm Pier1 Bathrooms makes the case for wall-hung basins and toilets that leave the floor clear to dry. Heated towel rails handle damp towels better than a radiator does, and clear glass screens stop a small room feeling closed in. For a landlord planning a refit, those choices cut down the number of surfaces where water is left standing.
Reporting it the right way
Report in writing, with the date and a couple of photographs. The clock starts when your landlord knows, so a message you can point to later is worth more than a word at the door. Say where the damp is, when it appears and what you’ve already tried, because that rules out the easy explanations before anyone arrives.
You should receive a written summary of the investigation within three working days of it being completed. If nothing happens, tenants in Scotland can apply to the First-tier Tribunal, which can inspect the property and order the work to be carried out. Ignoring that order is a criminal offence.
Most of this takes a few minutes a day. Getting the routine settled now means that when the weather turns, you’ll know whether you’re dealing with something you can manage or something that needs reporting. From October, the second one comes with a deadline attached.
