Two year old Awaab Ishak died in December 2020 from a respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his family's social housing flat in Rochdale. His parents had reported the mould three years before his death. No action was taken.
An inquest later found that the mould exposure caused his death. The case brought national attention to how social landlords across England handle damp and mould complaints, and it pushed the government to introduce stricter rules for how quickly landlords must act. Awaab's Law is the direct result. It is now reshaping how quickly landlords are required to respond.
What Awaab's Law actually changes
Before Awaab's Law, there was no fixed legal timeframe forcing a social landlord to investigate a reported hazard. Tenants could report a problem and, in the worst cases, wait months or years without a clear route to force action. Landlords were expected to act "within a reasonable time," a standard that gave them wide discretion and left tenants with little leverage if nothing happened.
Awaab's Law changes that by inserting a legally binding term into social housing tenancy agreements. It requires landlords to investigate and fix hazards within set timeframes, rather than at their own discretion. It came into force through the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, with the detailed rules set out in the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025. In practice, this turns a vague obligation into something closer to a statutory deadline, similar to the fixed timeframes used elsewhere in housing law, such as gas safety checks or electrical inspections.
Who it applies to
Awaab’s Law applies to registered providers of social housing across England, including local authorities and housing associations. It does not currently apply to private landlords.
However, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 gives the government the power to introduce similar requirements for private landlords, although no implementation date has yet been confirmed. For now, private renters remain protected by existing legislation, including the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, which does not impose the same fixed response times as Awaab’s Law.
What's covered, and when
The law is being introduced in phases rather than all at once:
Since 27 October 2025, it has covered damp and mould, along with any hazard that poses an emergency risk to health.
During 2026, it will extend to excess cold and heat, falls, structural collapse and explosions, fire and electrical hazards, and domestic and personal hygiene and food safety.
During 2027, it will extend further to cover the remaining hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, aside from overcrowding.
Why damp and mould came first
Damp and mould were not chosen as the starting point by accident. They are consistently among the most commonly reported hazards in social housing, they disproportionately affect health in young children and people with respiratory conditions, and they were the direct cause of Awaab's death. Starting there was as much a symbolic decision as a practical one.
It also means the sector's first real test of Awaab's Law, in the eyes of tenants, regulators, and the media, is playing out right now. Housing associations and local authorities that struggle to meet the damp and mould deadlines in these early months are likely to face closer scrutiny, both from the Regulator of Social Housing and from local press, than they might have done under the old, looser standard.
What this means for tenants
If you are a social housing tenant reporting damp, mould, or an emergency hazard, your landlord now has a legal duty to investigate and act within fixed timescales, not just a general obligation to deal with it in due course. If they fail to do so, you have routes for redress, including a complaint through your landlord's process, escalation to the Housing Ombudsman Service, or in some cases legal action for breach of contract.
It is worth keeping a written record of when a hazard was first reported and any correspondence that follows, since this is often the evidence needed to show a deadline was missed. Tenants do not need to prove the technical cause of a hazard themselves. That responsibility sits with the landlord once a report has been made.
What this means for landlords
For social landlords, Awaab’s Law moves hazard management from a largely reactive, case-by-case approach towards a clear compliance framework with defined timescales. Its practical implications extend beyond the point at which a hazard is reported. Landlords need a clear understanding of where damp, mould and ventilation risks may exist across their housing stock, helping them identify and address potential issues before they become urgent concerns for tenants.
The legislation also places greater emphasis on clear and consistent record-keeping. Landlords need to document investigations, findings and actions taken in a way that provides a transparent audit trail and supports effective oversight, including where matters are subsequently considered by a tenant, the Housing Ombudsman or the Regulator of Social Housing. For housing teams that have historically relied on less formal repair records, this may mean adopting more structured processes for tracking hazard reports from initial notification through to resolution.
With cold, heat, fire, electrical and structural hazards due to come within scope during 2026 and 2027, the importance of proactive stock condition management is likely to increase. Landlords that use the current phase as an opportunity to strengthen processes, improve stock condition information, and develop effective contractor arrangements will be better positioned to respond consistently and meet the requirements as additional hazards come into scope.
Common questions landlords are asking
A number of housing teams are still working through what Awaab's Law means operationally, beyond the headline deadlines. Common questions include how to prioritise a backlog of existing repair requests against new statutory timeframes, how to evidence that alternative accommodation was offered where a property could not be made safe in time, and how smaller housing associations with limited in house maintenance teams can realistically meet the shorter emergency timescales.
There is no single answer to any of these, since it depends heavily on the size and condition of an individual landlord's housing stock, but the common thread across all of them is visibility. Landlords who already know where their highest risk properties are tend to find the new deadlines far less disruptive than those who are still building that picture from scratch.
Getting ahead of it
Awaab's Law does not just change what happens after a hazard is reported. It changes the incentive to catch problems earlier, since fewer hazards ever reaching the reporting stage means fewer deadlines to worry about in the first place.
Domestic-Air works with social landlords across the UK to survey housing stock for damp, mould, and ventilation risk, and to recommend fixes before hazards reach the point of being reported. Get in touch to find out more.
Disclaimer: This article is intended as general guidance and does not constitute legal advice. Landlords should seek independent legal advice to confirm how Awaab's Law applies to their specific circumstances.
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