What is happening on Awaab’s Law?

In Angela Rayner’s written statement to the House of Commons on 25 June 2025, she said ‘homes must, above all, be safe. Safety is non-negotiable, and landlords must take urgent action to respond to issues when they arise. We want housing providers to put the people who live in their homes at the heart of their mission, approaching their relationships with tenants with care and professionalism so that mutual trust and respect is established.’

Two important pieces of safety legislation have been laid in Parliament.

• ‘Awaab’s Law’ (The Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025) will put in place clear protections for tenants by making sure dangerous damp and mould and emergency hazards are addressed quickly.
• The Electrical Safety Standards (Extension to the Social Rented Sector) Regulations 2025 will ensure electrical safety checks are carried out at least every five years in the social rented sector.

When will Awaab’s Law come into force?

The first phase of Awaab’s Law will come into effect on 27th October 2025 and will apply to England and Wales. It will cover damp and mould and all types of emergency hazards. Social landlords will have to respond to emergency hazards within 24 hours, with no excuse for delays. This was first announced on 6 February 2025, when Angela Rayner said: “We have a moral duty to ensure tragedies like the death of Awaab Ishak never happen again. Landlords cannot be allowed to rent out dangerous homes and shamelessly put the lives of their tenants at risk.”

Two further phases, which will extend the law to additional and then remaining hazards, will come into effect in 2026 and 2027 with corresponding regulation to be laid in due course.

What will Awaab’s Law require?

The requirements set by Awaab’s Law are as follows:

• If a social landlord becomes aware of a matter or circumstance in a social home that may be a hazard within scope, they must investigate within 10 working days to ascertain if there is such a hazard.
• The social landlord must produce a written summary of the findings of the investigation (in most cases) and provide this to residents within 3 working days of the investigation concluding.
• If the investigation finds that a hazard presents a significant risk of harm to the health or safety of a resident, the social landlord must, in most circumstances, within 5 working days of the investigation concluding, make the property safe (using temporary measures if necessary) and begin any further required works. The social landlord must satisfactorily complete repair works within a reasonable time period.
• In an emergency situation, the social landlord must investigate and action any emergency repairs as soon as reasonably practicable and, in any event, within 24 hours.
• If the property cannot be made safe within the specified timescales for Awaab’s Law, then the social landlord must offer to arrange for the residents to stay in suitable alternative accommodation, at the social landlord’s expense, until required repairs are completed.

What guidance is available?

The Government has published draft guidance for social landlords and has invited the sector to provide feedback on areas that need clarification or additional information. Final guidance will be published before Awaab’s Law comes into effect on 27 October 2025.

This draft guidance covers the 4 key types of investigations (Standard, Renewed, Further & Emergency investigations) and explains that once concluded the social landlord must usually produce a written summary of their findings to the named tenant within 3 working days. A written summary is not be required if all required works are completed to address the hazard before the end of the 3 working day period. However, the tenant must be kept informed.

How should social landlords operate Awaab's Law?

The Government has explained its operation needs to be person-centred. This echoes its response to Grenfell report: ‘Residents must be at the heart of the systems that design, construct, and maintain buildings. They must always be treated with dignity, have access to redress when things go wrong and have their views properly heard. The RSH’s new Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard will create requirements that will ensure all social housing residents are treated with fairness and respect and have a voice with their landlord.’

What should landlords be doing now?

Landlords should begin preparing for Phase 1 of Awaab’s Law now using MCHLG’s draft guidance and be thinking about steps needed to get ready for Phases 2 and 3. All landlords should tackle damp and mould with a zero-tolerance approach but recognise it can be caused by various factors, such as leaks, which can be complex to deal with and resolve.

Tenant safety must remain paramount and landlords should identify hazards and continue to fix dangerous issues in their homes, not waiting for Awaab’s Law to come into operation. They have a duty to keep their homes fit for human habitation and to remedy disrepair. They must use all means (incl. legal action) to keep homes free of category 1 hazards, especially if other residents may be exposed to the hazard, such as carbon monoxide. They must also ensure that their homes meet the Decent Homes Standard.

Landlords should already be developing their resident engagement strategies under the Building Safety Act and they should build on these to listen to, talk, and work together with their residents to rebuild trust. Resident engagement should be a key activity for landlords because it is essential to ensuring their tenants are safe and healthy in their homes. It is also beneficial for retrofit plans to meet EPC Band C and NZC targets.

How can landlords prepare?

Landlords need:

• Good Quality Data – know your residents, any conditions, such as asthma or restricted mobility, that could make them more vulnerable to particular hazards. It is a priority for landlords to know who is living in each property They also need up-to-date, accurate and comprehensive records of the condition of each home to assess whether there are any hazardous conditions. If customer or tenant and stock information is not up to date, they need to plan how they will fill the gaps. They should also consider how they will evidence compliance.
• Resident Engagement – Landlords should have started this under the Building Safety Act for all residents in HRBs. If they have not started resident engagement, they need to start talking to residents, listen first, rebuild trust and confidence, establish cooperation / partnership (NOT lifestyle). Resident engagement should not be restricted to residents in HRBs. Rochdale Boroughwide Housing identified a breakdown in communication had contributed to Awaab’s tragic death.
• Skills / capabilities – Landlords should review whether they have staff who can assess HHSRS, diagnose D&M correctly, qualified in Building Physics & Pathology. If not, they need to plan how they will train, recruit / fill gaps?
• Culture change – risk management not compliance, be proactive not reactive. In its review, RBH identified it did not have a clear picture of the risks to Awaab because it had no single system and its existing systems were not talking to one another.

They should consider using AI, sensors / technology to improve diagnosis, speed of response, effectiveness of repairs and customer satisfaction. Examples are featured in the NHMF Awards 2025 and individual Awards.

Landlords have a responsibility to keep properties free from Category 1 hazards. They can ensure that homes are safe, secure, and appropriate, by proactively addressing hazards (The Charter for Social Housing defines expectations). This provides the opportunity to avoid potential litigation. While there is a greater focus on damp and mould, there are many other hazardous conditions that pose a safety risk, such as falls.

When properties become void or vacant, this is an opportunity for landlords to undertake works and remove hazards in line with their voids policy. However, they need to be confident that the necessary works are completed and properly recorded, such as electrical safety.

Social landlords are now assessed on their ability to recognise, respond to, and record the vulnerabilities of their tenants. While collating and maintaining up-to-date records poses a challenge, this information places social landlords in the best position to understand all the needs of their tenants. They can factor vulnerabilities into housing and adaptations policy, and examine how well their current stock meets tenants’ needs.

What hazards will Awaab's Law apply to?

It applies to the types of hazards prescribed by the HHSRS (other than overcrowding), but uses a more straightforward assessment (not a full HHSRS assessment) that considers the tenant’s circumstances when assessing the risks posed by a hazard. Since it uses a person-centred approach, a hazard does not have to be at category 1 level in order to be in scope. There may be instances where a tenant is at a greater risk from hazardous conditions. For example, a tenant with age or health related vulnerabilities may be at significant risk from a home affected by damp and mould, even if it were scored as a category 2 hazard under the HHSRS. Awaab’s Law will be subject to enforcement by local councils.

What are the challenges for social landlords complying with Awaab's Law?

Being able to meet the timescales required by the regulations, particularly investigating and summarising reported hazards. Factors influencing this are:

• lack of sufficiently qualified staff to investigate, particularly those able to do HHSRS assessments.
• knowing who is living in each home and their age or health related vulnerabilities so as to assess potential risks.
• insufficient up-to-date information on the condition of each home.

This means that social landlords maintaining good quality, safe and warm homes are in the best position to meet their legal obligations, which will include Awaab’s Law. Many tenants have responsible landlords who take care of their interests and maintain good quality social housing. However, still too many live in damp, cold and mouldy properties that harm their health and their life chances. Tenants’ legal protection has been strengthened by powers given to the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) and the Housing Ombudsman (HOS). This will be further strengthened by the introduction of Awaab’s Law.

What has the Ombudsman recommended landlords should do?

Its latest ‘Learning from severe maladministration’ report said that “Everyone deserves a safe, warm, and decent home.” Landlords need to overcome any ‘complacency’ in dealing with hazards since the statutory framework has been in place for 20 years. Landlords need to risk assess and triage cases effectively. Some landlords have introduced triaging after this report, and all landlords should consider adopting triaging.

Its latest Spotlight report “Repairing Trust” explained that repairs were its biggest cause for complaints and called for a shift in mindset and practice, especially treating a house as a home. Landlords and their contractors need to foster respect, empathy, and mutual trust. It recommends aligning policies with residents' needs, ensuring services were efficient, transparent, and focused on residents. The report identified trust as the critical missing element affecting relationships between landlords, residents, and contractors. It highlighted poor communication, inadequate complaint handling, and a lack of choice for residents. The introduction of Awaab’s Law presents both challenges and opportunities to enhance service quality. Trust can be improved or rebuilt by better relationships with residents as valued individuals, maintaining transparency and accountability. Effective planning, staffing, procurement practices, communication, and knowledge management all enable this goal.

Its recommendations for landlords include: 

• Cultural shift with landlords treating residents as individuals who deserve a safe home, using empathetic communication and transparency. Language plays a key role (avoiding impersonal language 'stock' and 'decants') when speaking to residents. Services should be human-centred, treating residents with respect and dignity.
• Predictive maintenance models can greatly enhance efficiency and service quality. By anticipating issues before they escalate, landlords can provide more timely and effective repairs.
• Strengthening relationships by modernising and improving relationship management with both contractors and residents. Stronger partnerships lead to better communication, quicker resolutions, and a more satisfactory experience for all involved.
• Code of conduct for all staff and contractors entering residents’ homes should be set up, setting clear expectations for behaviour and communication. This will help build trust and accountability.

What resources are there?

Ombudsman’s Centre for Learning resources provides a wide range of information, guidance, and case studies, as well as e-learning modules and webinars. In particular it has resources on the following specific topics relevant to preparing for Awaab’s Law.

Damp and mould key topics - reports, podcasts, and case studies

Learning Hub – Need to sign in to access Damp and mould, etc. eLearning and workshops

Knowledge and information management key topics - reports, podcasts, and case studies

The Government will be publishing guidance on complying with Awaab’s Law and confirming the required timescales.

The Healthy Homes Hub supports the education, sharing and collaboration to transform the housing landscape, reducing the impact on unhealthy homes on homeowners, landlords and residents. It is a social purpose company working to create healthier living environments in housing, using innovative ideas and best practice. It brings together policymakers, housing providers, academics, industry associations, contractors, the supply chain, and health and housing professionals to identify and facilitate the changes needed to make every home across the UK healthy. It has published case studies, articles, and podcasts, as well as organising webinars and other events.

Another helpful resource has been published by RoSPA which has developed a toolkit aimed at reducing the impact of tenant falls in social housing. It combines staff training, home safety checks and effective partnership working to address the risk of falls. NHMF has published a related Q&A.

What is the NHMF doing to help the sector?

The NHMF promotes best practice in the social housing maintenance sector and its mission is to be the centre of excellence for improving property performance. It is committed to championing innovation to deliver excellence in maintenance and asset management (an organisation automatically becomes a member of the NHMF when it subscribes to the M3NHF Schedule of Rates and selected modules).

The NHMF Annual Conference focused on Healthy Homes (Damp and Mould) as one of its five key areas (others are Fire & Building Safety, Net Zero, New Technology and Skills &Training). The Plenary Creating Healthy Homes had an update on Awaab’s Law.

In addition, the NHMF’s Best Practice website publishes briefings on asset management and repairs and maintenance, including links to all the relevant legislation and guidance. The NHMF Awards recognise best practice and provide useful case studies to help the sector learn and improve.