Awaab’s Law

Awaab's Law is the set of regulations that require social landlords in England to investigate and remedy damp and mould and emergency hazards within fixed statutory timescales. It is the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/1042, made under section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 as inserted by section 42 of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, and it has been in force since 27 October 2025. The requirements are implied into every social housing tenancy in England as a term of the lease, so a tenant can enforce them as a breach of contract.

The law is named after Awaab Ishak, who died in December 2020 aged two from a respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his family's housing association home in Rochdale. The coroner found that the family had reported the mould repeatedly and the landlord had not acted, and the Prevention of Future Deaths report that followed led to the legislation.

The timescales

Phase 1 sets three clocks, each starting the day after the landlord becomes aware of the hazard.

Emergency hazards, which pose an imminent and significant risk of harm, including gas leaks, dangerous electrics, serious water ingress and, for a vulnerable occupant, severe damp and mould, must be investigated and made safe within 24 hours.

Significant damp and mould hazards must be investigated within 10 working days, with a written summary of findings given to the tenant within 3 working days of the investigation concluding and the property made safe within a further 5 working days. Where further repairs are needed after the property is made safe, they must begin within 12 weeks.

Where the landlord cannot meet a timescale for reasons outside its control, it must record why and offer the tenant suitable alternative accommodation at the landlord's expense until the home is safe. The landlord must keep records of every report, investigation, written summary and action; those records are the evidence in any claim.

The three phases

Phase 1, from 27 October 2025, covers emergency hazards and significant damp and mould. Phase 2, from 30 November 2026 under the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, extends the same timescales to excess cold and heat, fire and electrical hazards, falls, structural collapse and hygiene hazards. Phase 3, from 2027, covers the remaining hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, apart from overcrowding. The government's guidance for social landlords sets out how each phase applies.

Who it applies to

Awaab's Law applies to registered providers of social housing in England: local authorities and housing associations. It does not apply to shared ownership, supported or temporary accommodation, or licences.

It does not yet apply to private landlords in England. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 gives the government the power to extend it to the private rented sector, but the regulations have not been made and no date has been set; the power sits with the other property-standards provisions in part two of the Renters' Rights hub. What the extension is likely to require, and when, is covered in Awaab's Law for private landlords. In Scotland, the Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026 apply equivalent timescales to private and social landlords from 6 October 2026.

Private landlords in England remain bound by section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, which require repairs within a reasonable time and a home fit to live in, and councils can enforce against damp and mould under the Housing Act 2004. From working with self-managing landlords across the UK, the social-sector timescales have already become the benchmark tenants, councils and courts expect, whether or not the regulations apply; a report answered inside 24 hours and inspected inside ten working days is the standard to run to now.

Awaab's Law in Scotland

Scotland has its own version. From 6 October 2026 the Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026 require private and social landlords to have a competent person investigate a report of damp or mould within 10 working days, give the tenant a written summary within three working days of the investigation ending, and begin any repairs it identifies within five working days after that. The regulations amend the Repairing Standard so that a Scottish let must be substantially free from damp and mould. The timescales are different from the English regime, so the two cannot be tracked from one checklist. Scottish duties are set out in our Scottish landlord guide.

Enforcement

A social tenant whose landlord misses a timescale can sue for breach of the implied term, complain to the Housing Ombudsman, which can order compensation, or report the landlord to the Regulator of Social Housing. A timestamped tenant report is the record every timescale runs from; August's maintenance reporting creates it, and landlords using August consistently tell us that the report date, not the repair date, is what a complaint turns on. For identifying, treating and preventing the hazard itself, see our preventing damp and mould guide.

Frequently asked questions

Has Awaab's Law been passed? 

Yes. The regulations were made in September 2025 and came into force on 27 October 2025 for social landlords in England. The amendment regulations bringing phase 2 into force on 30 November 2026 have been laid.

What changes in Awaab's Law in 2026? 

Phase 2 starts on 30 November 2026 and extends the fixed timescales to excess cold and heat, fire and electrical hazards, falls, structural collapse and hygiene hazards in social housing. The timescales themselves do not change. Private landlords in Scotland come under equivalent rules from 6 October 2026; private landlords in England do not yet.

How is Awaab's Law pronounced? 

"Ah-wahb's law". Awaab is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable.

Last reviewed: September 2026. This entry will be updated when the regulations extending Awaab's Law to private landlords in England are made.