Awaab’s Law: your landlord’s legal deadlines
Awaab’s Law gives social housing tenants fixed legal deadlines for dangerous hazards like damp and mould — 24 hours for emergencies, days not months for the rest. If your landlord has missed them, we can act — on a no win, no fee basis.
Awaab’s Law is legislation that sets fixed legal timescales for social landlords to investigate and fix dangerous hazards in tenants’ homes. In force since 27 October 2025, it currently covers all emergency hazards and significant damp and mould hazards: emergencies must be investigated and made safe within 24 hours, and damp and mould investigated within 10 working days, with the home made safe within 5 working days of the investigation concluding. The deadlines form part of your tenancy agreement — so missing them is a breach of contract you can enforce through the courts.
Why Awaab’s Law exists
Awaab Ishak was two years old when he 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 repeatedly reported the mould. Their landlord did not fix it — and at points blamed the family’s “lifestyle” for the conditions.
The coroner’s findings prompted a national reckoning over the state of social housing, and Parliament responded through the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. The resulting regulations — known as Awaab’s Law — came into force on 27 October 2025, writing fixed repair deadlines directly into social housing tenancy agreements for the first time.
The legal timescales
Once a social landlord becomes aware of a potential hazard covered by the law, the clock starts. The deadlines are:
Hazards posing an imminent and significant risk of harm must be investigated and the home made safe within 24 hours.
Potential significant hazards — currently including damp and mould — must be investigated within 10 working days of the landlord becoming aware.
The landlord must give the tenant a written summary of the investigation’s findings within 3 working days of it concluding.
Where a significant hazard is confirmed, safety works must be carried out within 5 working days of the investigation concluding.
Further preventative works — the longer-term fix that stops the hazard returning — must be begun (or concrete steps taken to begin) within 5 working days, and physically started no later than 12 weeks after the investigation. Repairs must then be completed within a reasonable time. And where the home cannot be made safe within the deadlines, the landlord must offer suitable alternative accommodation at its own expense.
Crucially, these deadlines are an implied term of every social housing tenancy agreement. A landlord that misses them is in breach of contract — which tenants can enforce through the courts.
What counts as a hazard
The law is being rolled out in phases, expanding the hazards it covers:
Phase 1 — in force now (since 27 October 2025)
All emergency hazards (anything posing an imminent and significant risk of harm — for example gas leaks, dangerous electrics, or total loss of heating in freezing conditions) and damp and mould hazards presenting a significant risk of harm.
Phase 2 — from October 2026
Extends to further significant hazards including excess cold and excess heat, falls, structural collapse, fire, electrical hazards and hygiene hazards.
Phase 3 — 2027
Extends to all remaining significant hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, except overcrowding.
Whether a hazard is “significant” is assessed around the actual people living in the home. A patch of mould that might look modest on paper can be a significant hazard where a baby, an elderly resident or someone with asthma lives with it — the very circumstances of Awaab’s own case.
“Landlords often assume tenants won’t push back. Our job is to make sure they do — and that the repairs actually get done, not just promised.”
Stephen Lund · Director
Who Awaab’s Law applies to
The law applies to you if:
It does not currently apply to shared ownership, most temporary and supported accommodation, licences, or private tenancies — though the Renters’ Rights Act is set to extend Awaab’s Law to the private rented sector in due course. Private tenants still have strong rights under section 11 and the Fitness for Human Habitation Act: see our main housing disrepair guide.
What you can claim
Awaab’s Law doesn’t replace your existing disrepair rights — it strengthens them. A claim where the deadlines were missed can secure:
An order compelling your landlord to investigate and fix the hazard — with the statutory deadlines as the benchmark it already failed.
Damages for the period you lived with the hazard, for damaged belongings, and for any impact on your family’s health.
Missed fixed deadlines are far harder for a landlord to argue around than the older “reasonable time” standard.
Where the home cannot be made safe in time, the landlord must provide suitable temporary accommodation at its own cost.
Damp and mould is where Awaab’s Law currently bites hardest — if that’s your situation, our damp and mould page covers the wider claim. Claims follow the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims, and our evidence guide explains what to keep — with Awaab’s Law, the dates you reported things matter more than ever.
Awaab’s Law FAQs
Does Awaab's Law apply to private tenants?
Not yet. It currently applies to social housing (councils and housing associations). The Renters’ Rights Act provides for extending Awaab’s Law to the private rented sector, with the timing to be set by government. Private tenants are far from unprotected in the meantime: section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 both apply, and we act on those claims every day.
I reported the mould before October 2025 and it was never fixed. Am I covered?
The Awaab’s Law deadlines apply to hazards the landlord becomes aware of from 27 October 2025 onwards, but if your problem is ongoing, simply report it again. A fresh report (or a material change, such as the mould spreading) starts the statutory clock. And the years before that report still count in an ordinary disrepair claim, which runs alongside.
What counts as an emergency hazard?
A hazard posing an imminent and significant risk of harm, the kind that cannot safely wait. Examples include gas leaks, dangerous electrical faults, and severe hazards affecting vulnerable residents, such as a total heating failure in freezing weather. Emergencies must be investigated and the home made safe within 24 hours.
My landlord investigated but nothing has happened since. Is that a breach?
Quite possibly. The investigation is only the first deadline. Your landlord must give you written findings within 3 working days, make the home safe within 5 working days where a significant hazard is confirmed, and physically start further works within 12 weeks at the latest. Silence after an inspection is one of the most common failures we see, keep the written summary (or note that you never received one) and contact us.
How much does it cost to claim?
We act on a no win, no fee basis under a Conditional Fee Agreement. If your claim is unsuccessful, you do not pay our fees. The full details of how no win, no fee works, including the insurance arrangements that protect you, are set out on our costs and funding page.
Has your landlord missed the deadlines? Find out free
Tell us what you reported, when, and what your landlord has done since. We’ll review it against the Awaab’s Law deadlines free of charge and tell you honestly whether you have a claim.
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