Scope: Scotland. Cited to Scottish instruments throughout. The tolerable standard belongs to the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 and has no English or Welsh counterpart — it is not the HHSRS, which is an England and Wales system under the Housing Act 2004.
Our compliance check now covers Scotland, and so does the fine calculator. Enter a Scottish postcode and both answer in Scots law, cited to Scottish instruments — the check with your council’s registration and HMO position where we hold it, the calculator with the Scottish maximum for each offence and, where the consequence is not a fine, what it actually is. Still England and Wales only: the tenancy agreement checker, whose findings come from England and Wales statutes.
Two standards, two jobs
Scottish landlords routinely treat these as one thing. They are not.
| Tolerable standard | Repairing standard |
|---|
| Where | Section 86, Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 | Section 13, Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 |
| Whose duty | Nobody’s directly — it is a threshold the local authority measures against | The landlord’s, owed to the tenant |
| What it asks | Is this house fit to be lived in at all? | Is this house fit to be let? |
| Who enforces | The local authority | The tenant, at the First-tier Tribunal |
| Applies to | All housing, owned or rented | Private lets |
The link between them is paragraph (h). The Repairing Standard requires that the house meets the tolerable standard. So the 1987 threshold is imported wholesale into the landlord’s tenancy duty — a house below tolerable standard automatically fails the Repairing Standard, but the reverse is not true.
What section 86 requires
A house meets the tolerable standard if it, among other things:
- is structurally stable;
- is substantially free from rising or penetrating damp;
- has satisfactory provision for natural and artificial lighting, ventilation and heating;
- has satisfactory thermal insulation;
- has an adequate piped supply of wholesome water available within the house;
- has a sink with a satisfactory supply of hot and cold water within the house;
- has a water closet or waterless closet available for the exclusive use of the occupants and suitably located within the house;
- has a fixed bath or shower and a wash-hand basin, each with hot and cold water, within the house;
- has an effective system for the drainage and disposal of foul and surface water;
- has satisfactory facilities for the cooking of food within the house;
- has satisfactory access to all external doors and outbuildings;
- has satisfactory equipment for detecting, and giving warning of, fire or suspected fire; and
- has satisfactory provision for detecting, and giving warning of, carbon monoxide.
The last two are the ones that moved here from the Repairing Standard, and they are the reason a Scottish alarm failure is a tolerable standard failure. The detail of what “satisfactory” means is in the fire and smoke alarm standard.
“Below tolerable standard” is a term of art
A house failing section 86 is below tolerable standard (BTS), and that phrase has consequences beyond the tenancy. A local authority has duties and powers in relation to BTS housing, including in the context of housing renewal areas and demolition. It is a condemnation threshold, not a repairs checklist.
For a landlord the practical significance is narrower but sharper: if your property is BTS, it cannot lawfully be let, because the Repairing Standard incorporates the tolerable standard and the Repairing Standard is a continuing duty under section 14 of the 2006 Act.
Where landlords actually trip
- Thermal insulation. Satisfactory thermal insulation is an element of the standard, and older stone tenement and rural stock is where this bites.
- Exclusive use of the WC. A shared arrangement created informally in a converted property can put the house below the standard.
- Damp. “Substantially free from rising or penetrating damp” is a low bar to state and a common failure to evidence, particularly where condensation and penetrating damp are being argued about.
- Alarms. Interlinking is the requirement most often missed — see the alarm article.
What it is not
It is not the HHSRS. The Housing Health and Safety Rating System is an England and Wales mechanism under the Housing Act 2004, with hazard scoring and category 1 and 2 hazards. Scotland has no equivalent scoring system, and a Scottish property is not assessed that way.
Information tool, not legal advice. Scottish law only.
Common questions
What is the difference between the tolerable standard and the repairing standard?
The tolerable standard is the local authority’s threshold in section 86 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 for whether a house is fit to be lived in at all, and it applies to all housing. The repairing standard is the landlord’s continuing duty to the tenant in section 13 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 and applies to private lets. They are linked: paragraph (h) of the repairing standard requires the house to meet the tolerable standard, so a house below tolerable standard automatically fails the repairing standard — though not the other way round.
What does below tolerable standard mean?
A house that fails section 86 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 is "below tolerable standard", or BTS. It is a condemnation threshold with consequences for the local authority in housing renewal and demolition contexts. For a landlord the practical effect is that a BTS property cannot lawfully be let, because the repairing standard incorporates the tolerable standard and is a continuing duty.
Does the HHSRS apply in Scotland?
No. The Housing Health and Safety Rating System is an England and Wales mechanism under the Housing Act 2004, with hazard scoring and category 1 and 2 hazards. Scotland has no equivalent scoring system and Scottish properties are assessed against the tolerable standard and the repairing standard instead.
Is thermal insulation part of the tolerable standard?
Yes — satisfactory thermal insulation is one of the elements of section 86, alongside structural stability, freedom from rising and penetrating damp, lighting, ventilation and heating, water supply, sanitary fittings, drainage, cooking facilities, and fire and carbon monoxide detection. It is one of the elements most likely to catch older stone tenement and rural stock.