Awaab's Law: Three Months In

Awaab's Law came into force for social landlords in England on 27 October 2025. Three months on, the picture is mixed: some landlords have visibly retooled their repair operations; others are still catching up; and independent statutory rulings are already turning directly on the new timescales.

This is a brief stock-take of what has actually shifted, what has not, and where tenants stand in early 2026.

What Awaab's Law actually requires

Awaab's Law was introduced via the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 in response to the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in a Rochdale flat in 2020. The implementing regulations came into force on 27 October 2025 and apply to all social landlords in England, councils and housing associations.

Where a prescribed hazard exists in a social-housing home and the landlord is on notice, the landlord must:

• Investigate within the statutory timescale (24 hours for emergency hazards; 10 working days for significant hazards under Section 10A LTA 1985)
• Provide a written investigation report to the tenant within 3 working days of completing the inspection
• Complete emergency repairs within 24 hours where the hazard presents a significant and immediate risk
• Complete the works within 5 working days of the investigation ending for significant hazards
• Offer alternative accommodation if the home cannot be made safe in time

Prescribed hazards include damp and mould, excess cold, excess heat, structural collapse risk, fire safety failings, electrical hazards, gas, carbon monoxide and asbestos.

What has changed in three months

Visible investment in inspection capacity. Several large housing associations, including the largest London groups, have publicly committed to expanding their damp and mould inspection teams. Some have invested in humidity sensors fitted in the home that automatically flag damp risk to the landlord before a tenant has to complain.

Tighter complaints handling. The first independent statutory rulings explicitly referencing Awaab's Law timescales have now been published. Where landlords have missed the 24-hour emergency category, those rulings have been more willing to find severe failings.

More written investigation reports. This is the procedural change most tenants will have noticed. Reports from inspectors are arriving in writing more frequently. That is itself a major shift, previously many inspections were verbal-only, leaving tenants with no documentation.

Faster acknowledgment. Initial acknowledgment of damp/mould reports is generally happening faster, though full resolution still lags.

What has not changed

The repair itself often still takes too long. Investigation inside 10 working days is one thing; the further 3-then-5 working-day window to issue findings and complete works is another. Landlords are still constrained by contractor availability, materials lead times, and competing demand.

Tenants still have to put it in writing. The law does not change the basic rule that the landlord has to be on notice. Phone calls alone still do not trigger the clock.

Vulnerability is still inconsistently flagged. Households with children, older residents, and people with respiratory conditions are still not always being prioritised correctly. The regulations require it, but the operational reality is uneven.

Awaab's Law does not apply to the private rented sector. This is the biggest gap. Private tenants with damp and mould still rely on Section 11, the Fitness for Human Habitation Act, and local environmental health. The government intends to extend Awaab's Law-style timescales to private renting through the Renters' Rights Act 2025, on a timetable still to be confirmed, see Awaab's Law: private sector extension.

What we have seen in cases

In the first three months, the cases that have moved fastest under Awaab's Law have shared three features:

1. The original report was in writing with a clear reference number.
2. Vulnerability was flagged explicitly at the point of report, children, age, medical condition.
3. The tenant escalated quickly to a formal Stage 1 complaint when the statutory timescale was missed, rather than waiting "to give the landlord a chance".

The cases that have moved slowest have shared the opposite features: verbal-only reports, no vulnerability flag, and long gaps before escalation.

What to do if your landlord is missing Awaab's Law timescales

1. Document the original report date in writing.
2. State explicitly that you regard this as a prescribed hazard under Awaab's Law.
3. Use the formal complaints procedure, Stage 1, then Stage 2.
4. Consider a housing disrepair claim if Stage 2 is exhausted or ignored. Missed Awaab's Law timescales now form named statutory failures, not just general ones, which strengthens a claim. Call us free on 0800 030 4669.

See our emergency repair guide and damp and mould rights guide for full detail.

The next milestone

The next major check-in is the six-month point in April 2026. By then we will start to see whether the early procedural improvements translate into faster actual repair completion, and how the enforcement posture has hardened. We will be tracking landlord-level data as it becomes available, see our six-months-in post when it lands.

Get help

If your landlord has missed an Awaab's Law statutory timescale, call Support for Tenants on 0800 030 4669 for a free assessment. We are a regulated company, not a law firm, we connect tenants with solicitors who run housing disrepair cases on a no-win-no-fee basis.

Sources: Awaab's Law: guidance for social landlords, timeframes for repairs, GOV.UK.

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