In December 2020 a two-year-old boy died from mould exposure in a Rochdale flat. His parents had been reporting it for years. The law that bears his name is the result.
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This is the story behind the law. Some of what follows is hard to read.
December 2020
Awaab Ishak was a two-year-old boy living with his parents Faisal Abdullah and Aisha Amin in a one-bedroom flat in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. The flat was owned and managed by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), a community-based housing association.
Mould had been present in the flat for years. Awaab's father had reported it repeatedly, by phone, by visit to the office, in person to housing officers. He was a refugee from Sudan with limited English; RBH's records would later show his complaints were not consistently logged.
When the mould was treated, it was painted over. Paint doesn't fix the cause; it covers the symptom. The mould came back within weeks.
On 19 December 2020, Awaab was admitted to Royal Oldham Hospital with severe respiratory distress. He died on 21 December.
The coroner's findings
The inquest concluded in November 2022, nearly two years after Awaab's death. Senior coroner Joanne Kearsley found that prolonged exposure to mould in the family's flat had directly caused Awaab's death.
The coroner's narrative was unflinching:
- RBH had been on notice of the mould for years
- Maintenance staff had advised the family to paint over the mould themselves
- A senior staff member had implied the family's lifestyle was at fault
- A health visitor's letter raising concerns about Awaab's health and the property had not prompted any action
- The family had been told they were on the housing transfer list, but the transfer never came
The coroner went further than is typical. She issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report addressed directly to RBH, the housing minister, and the Regulator of Social Housing.
The political reaction
The case became a national scandal. The then-housing-secretary Michael Gove demanded the resignation of RBH's chief executive within days. RBH's RSH governance grade was downgraded, and a sector-wide investigation into damp and mould followed.
Cross-party political consensus formed quickly around the principle that no tenant should ever again be ignored when reporting damp and mould.
How the law changed
In 2023, Parliament amended the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 to require social landlords to act on hazards within strict statutory time limits.
The provisions came into force on 27 October 2025, almost five years after Awaab's death.
The law became universally known as Awaab's Law even before the legislation formally adopted the name.
It requires social landlords in England to:
- Investigate and make safe an emergency hazard within 24 hours
- Investigate a significant hazard within 10 working days
- Complete the safety work within 5 working days of the investigation ending
- Send the tenant a written summary of the findings within 3 working days of the investigation (this runs at the same time as the 5-working-day works window, not after it)
These deadlines apply with no exception for resource constraints. The landlord must act, or face enforcement action from the Regulator of Social Housing. A landlord that misses these deadlines may also leave itself open to a disrepair claim, call us free on 0800 030 4669.
Why the family kept pushing
In a statement after the inquest, Awaab's father Faisal said:
"I would like to ask: how was this allowed to happen? What did we, as a family, do to deserve this? My son Awaab paid the highest price possible. I just don't want any other family to go through what we went through."
The family's persistence, through bereavement, through grief, through years of legal process, is the reason any other family now has the protections.
What it means for tenants today
Awaab's Law applies to every social landlord in England. If your landlord has missed the 24-hour deadline for an emergency hazard or the 10-working-day deadline for a significant hazard, that fact alone strengthens any future legal claim.
Awaab's Law is being brought in over time. Damp, mould, and emergency hazards are covered now, with more hazard types (such as excess cold, fire, and electrical dangers) added in 2026 and 2027. The full list of housing dangers comes from the government's Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), which has 29 categories.
Welsh tenants don't have Awaab's Law (it's English legislation). The Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 and Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2 (WHQS2) provide analogous protections.
Private rented sector tenants in England are getting analogous protections under the Renters' Rights Act 2025.
What the family wants going forward
The family has campaigned (through advocacy groups including Shelter, ARC, and Manchester-based housing solicitors) for:
- Extension of Awaab's Law to private landlords (achieved in the Renters' Rights Act 2025)
- Mandatory training for social landlord housing officers on mould and damp
- A national review of all social landlords' damp/mould complaints handling
- Faster enforcement when landlords fail to comply
Some of this has happened. Some hasn't.
In practice
If you have damp or mould and your landlord is ignoring you, this is the law that protects you. It exists because a two-year-old child died and his family refused to let it be forgotten.
Sources: Prevention of Future Deaths report for Awaab Ishak, Courts and Tribunals Judiciary (2022-0365).
Support For Tenants is a trading name of Cyntex Group Ltd, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a Claims Management Company. FRN 1020217. Registered in England and Wales.
Reviewed against current housing law for England and Wales as at 23 May 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 and not guaranteed; every case is different.
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