Written by
Emma Collins
Published on
Jan 23, 2026
In December 2020, two-year-old Awaab Ishak died from a respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his family's social housing flat in Rochdale. His parents had reported the problem to their landlord repeatedly over three years. Nothing was done.
Awaab's Law exists to make sure that never happens again.
The legislation came into force on 27 October 2025, setting strict legal deadlines for social landlords to investigate and fix housing hazards. But if you manage private rentals, don't skip this article — the same principles are heading your way, and tenant expectations are already shifting.
What is Awaab's Law?
Awaab's Law is part of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. It inserts a new term into every social housing tenancy agreement, requiring landlords to comply with legally enforceable timeframes for responding to serious hazards.
The key word there is enforceable. If a social landlord fails to meet these deadlines, tenants can take legal action for breach of contract. They can also escalate complaints to the Housing Ombudsman, who now has clear benchmarks to assess whether a landlord acted appropriately.
For social housing providers, this isn't guidance — it's the law.
The Key Timeframes
Here's what Awaab's Law requires:
Emergency hazards (issues posing immediate risk to health or safety):
Investigate and make the property safe within 24 hours
If the home can't be made safe in time, the landlord must offer alternative accommodation
Significant damp and mould hazards:
Investigate within 10 working days of the report
Make the property safe within 5 working days after the investigation concludes
Provide the tenant with a written summary within 3 working days of completing the investigation
These aren't suggestions. They're contractual obligations.
What Counts as an Emergency?
Under the regulations, emergency hazards include:
Dangerous electrical faults
Major leaks or flooding
Gas safety issues
Damaged external doors or windows that compromise security
Any condition posing an immediate and significant risk to health
The landlord must assess each report against the tenant's specific circumstances. A mould problem in a flat with a child who has asthma may be an emergency, even if the same issue in another property wouldn't be.
This is important: the triage decision you make within hours of receiving a report determines your entire legal obligation. Get it wrong, and you're already behind.
What's Coming Next
Awaab's Law is being phased in. Right now, it covers damp, mould, and emergency hazards. But the scope is expanding:
From 2026: The law will extend to additional hazards including excess cold, excess heat, falls, structural collapse, explosions, fire, electrical hazards, and issues affecting domestic hygiene and food safety.
From 2027: The requirements will cover the remaining hazards defined by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), with the exception of overcrowding.
In short, the 24-hour and 10-day response windows will eventually apply to almost every serious maintenance issue in social housing.
What About Private Landlords?
Awaab's Law currently applies only to social housing — councils and housing associations. But private landlords shouldn't assume they're exempt from similar expectations.
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 is extending many of these principles to the private rented sector. The government has confirmed that Awaab's Law requirements will be applied to private landlords through secondary legislation, with a separate consultation expected.
Even before that happens, the direction of travel is clear:
The Decent Homes Standard is being extended to private rentals
Local authorities already have enforcement powers under the Housing Act 2004 for serious hazards
Tenants are increasingly aware of their rights and willing to escalate complaints
Housing disrepair claims are rising, and courts look at response times when determining liability
The standards set by Awaab's Law are becoming the benchmark for all landlords, not just social ones.
What This Means for Letting Agents
If you manage properties — whether social or private — Awaab's Law changes how you need to operate.
Speed matters. A report that sits in an inbox over a weekend could already be a compliance failure. You need systems that surface urgent issues immediately.
Triage is a legal decision. The difference between "emergency" and "significant hazard" determines whether you have 24 hours or 10 working days. Your team needs to understand how to make that call.
Documentation is everything. The regulations require landlords to keep clear records of all attempts to comply, including correspondence with tenants and contractors. If you can't prove you acted, you may as well have not acted.
Tenant communication is mandatory. Landlords must keep tenants informed throughout the process and provide written summaries. Silence is no longer an option.
How to Prepare
Whether you're a social landlord preparing for October's deadline or a private landlord getting ahead of the curve, here's where to start:
1. Review your intake process. How do tenants report issues? Can you capture the information you need (photos, severity, health concerns, access availability) in one go? Or are you chasing details across multiple emails?
2. Build a triage framework. Define what constitutes an emergency in your portfolio. Train your team to recognise the signs. Document the criteria so decisions are consistent.
3. Set up response tracking. You need to know, at any moment, how long it's been since a report came in and what stage it's at. Spreadsheets won't cut it at scale.
4. Automate tenant updates. If tenants have to chase you for progress, you've already lost. Set up automatic notifications at each stage — acknowledgement, inspection scheduled, work completed.
5. Create an audit trail. Every communication, every decision, every contractor instruction — logged and timestamped. This protects you if a complaint escalates.
The Bigger Picture
Awaab's Law isn't just about compliance. It's about a fundamental shift in expectations.
For decades, landlords could treat maintenance as a cost to be minimised. Delays were inconvenient for tenants but rarely had consequences for the landlord. That era is ending.
Tenants now have legal teeth. Regulators have clear standards to enforce. And the reputational damage from a mishandled complaint — especially one involving damp and mould — can be severe.
The landlords and agents who thrive in this environment will be the ones who treat responsiveness as a feature, not a burden. Fast, documented, proactive maintenance isn't just good ethics. It's good business.
Lanten helps letting agents meet response deadlines by automating tenant intake, triaging issues intelligently, and creating a complete audit trail from first report to contractor sign-off. Book a demo to see how it works.
