Awaab's Law is among the most talked-about renter protections in years. Renting privately with damp or mould, you may wonder whether it covers you. The
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Awaab's Law is among the most talked-about renter protections in years. Renting privately with damp or mould, you may wonder whether it covers you. The honest answer: not yet. But you hold legal rights already, and they run stronger than many tenants realise.
The short answer
Awaab's Law currently covers social housing only: councils and housing associations. It does not bind private landlords. But private tenants hold separate protections reaching similar ends, and pressure to extend Awaab's Law to private renting keeps growing.
Key facts
- Official guidance from the UK Health Security Agency and the Department of Health and Social Care links damp and mould in homes in England to around 5,000 cases of asthma and 8,500 lower respiratory infections among children and adults. Health risks of damp and mould, GOV.UK
- The 2024 to 2025 English Housing Survey found about 5% of homes in England, around 1.4 million, had a problem with damp, most common in privately rented homes (10%). English Housing Survey 2024-25, GOV.UK
What Awaab's Law actually does
Awaab's Law arrived through the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. A social landlord must investigate a significant damp and mould hazard within 10 working days, complete the safety work within 5 working days of the investigation ending, and send a written summary within 3 working days of the investigation. Any further works must begin within 12 weeks. An emergency hazard must be made safe within 24 hours.
These duties bind in law. A social landlord missing them is in breach.
Why it does not cover private tenants (yet)
The 2023 Act deliberately covered social housing alone, answering the failures found after Awaab Ishak's death in a Rochdale Boroughwide Housing home.
Work to extend Awaab's Law-style duties to private landlords is live. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 moved this way: it created the power to bring the Decent Homes Standard to private renting (the start date is still being confirmed), and the government intends to extend Awaab's Law itself, on a timetable to be confirmed. But no timed Awaab-style duties bind private landlords yet.
What private tenants can use instead
If you rent privately and your landlord is not dealing with damp or mould, these routes are available to you now.
The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018: covers every rented home, social and private. Your home must be fit to live in throughout the tenancy, and you can take the landlord to court under this Act without going through the council.
Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985: the landlord must keep the structure, outside and services in repair. Damp from structural faults, a leaking roof, failing walls, broken windows, is covered.
The HHSRS: the council's environmental health team can inspect and serve an improvement notice, forcing repairs by a set date. Damp and mould rank among the most cited Category 1 hazards.
The Renters' Rights Act 2025: with Section 21 no-fault eviction banned, you can report damp and mould to environmental health without fearing a revenge eviction.
What to do now
Report the damp or mould to your landlord in writing today. No response within a fair time, 14 to 28 days depending on how bad it is? Ask the council's environmental health team to inspect. And contact us to find out whether a disrepair claim stands.
When should I contact Support for Tenants?
If you rent privately and your landlord is not dealing with damp, mould or other disrepair, call us on 0800 030 4669.
No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.
Sources
- Awaab's Law: guidance for social landlords (GOV.UK)
- Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Section 11 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)
Related articles
- What is Awaab's Law in plain English?
- What is the Fitness for Human Habitation Act?
- How to request an HHSRS inspection
We review every guide at least twice a year and update it when the law changes. If you spot something out of date or wrong, email help@supportfortenants.co.uk.
Reviewed against current housing law for England and Wales as at 15 June 2026. Checked by our SRA-regulated panel solicitors. This is general information, not legal advice for your specific case. Any compensation figures or ranges shown are illustrative only, not a promise; every case is different.
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