Awaab's Law: Six Months In, Named Landlords and What We Have Learned

Six months after Awaab's Law came into force on 27 October 2025, the picture is sharper than it was at three months. Independent statutory rulings have now built a body of decisions explicitly applying the statutory timescales. The Regulator of Social Housing has cited Awaab's Law-related failings in several recent regulatory judgements. And a clear pattern is emerging in which landlords are getting it right, which are struggling, and what the cost is when they miss the deadline.

What the first six months have revealed

Investigations are happening faster. Across the larger landlords, the 10-working-day investigation timescale for significant hazards appears to be being met in the substantial majority of cases. The procedural part of Awaab's Law, get someone out and confirm in writing, is mostly working.

The 24-hour emergency category is the pinch point. Where landlords have struggled most is the requirement to make an emergency hazard safe inside 24 hours, not just attend it. Out-of-hours contractor capacity, materials availability, and competing demand have all bitten. Independent rulings have been most willing to find severe failings where the 24-hour category has been missed.

Sensors are reshaping early detection. Several large housing associations have rolled out humidity-sensor programmes. The sensors flag damp risk before the tenant complains, meaning the landlord can be on notice before the household has even drafted a Stage 1 complaint. This is a structural shift in how the regime works in practice.

Vulnerability flags are inconsistent. Six months in, this remains the biggest variability between landlords. Some now have well-functioning vulnerability registers feeding directly into repair prioritisation. Others still do not.

Named landlords and recent judgements

The Regulator of Social Housing has continued to grade landlords and issue regulatory notices. Some of the most serious recent grades and notices, with their dates, include:

• Anchor Hanover, G3/C3 (June 2025, before Awaab's Law commencement) for systemic electrical safety and complaints failings affecting older tenants. See our Anchor Hanover analysis.
• Newham Council, still operating under the first-ever C4 grade issued in October 2024. The council's improvement plan covers many of the same hazard categories Awaab's Law is designed to address. See our Newham C4 explainer.
• Notting Hill Genesis, G3 governance grade (November 2024) for board oversight of health and safety. Compliance plan in place. See our NHG explainer.

Independent published reviews covering 2024 to 2025 recorded a sharp rise in severe-failing findings against landlords, with poor property condition dominating the casework.

What this means for tenant cases

A pattern is now clear in disrepair cases brought in the post-Awaab's Law period:

1. Cases where the original report was in writing, with date and reference, settle faster, because there is no dispute about when the clock started.
2. Cases where vulnerability was flagged at the original report receive higher general damages on average than cases where it was only mentioned later.
3. Cases where the landlord missed the 24-hour emergency category are now seeing rulings and settlement offers that explicitly reference Awaab's Law as a named breach, not just a general one.
4. Cases where the landlord missed the 10-working-day investigation timescale but met the 5-working-day completion timescale after the investigation ends are settling lower than cases where both were missed, proportionality is working.

The compensation framing has not radically changed (most damp and mould cases still settle £3,000 to £15,000), but the upper end is being pushed higher more often when there is documented health impact and a named statutory breach. See how much compensation for damp and mould.

What has not improved

Repair completion still lags inspection. Investigating inside 10 working days is easier than completing the works inside the 5-working-day window after the investigation ends (with the written summary due to the tenant inside 3 working days).

Smaller landlords are running harder. The large national landlords have largely re-tooled. Mid-size local landlords, particularly some smaller council housing teams, are still catching up, and tenants of those landlords are seeing slower change.

Awaab's Law is still social-only. The government intends to extend the framework to private renting through the Renters' Rights Act 2025, on a timetable still to be confirmed, see Awaab's Law: private sector extension.

What to do if you are stuck

1. Original report date in writing. This is the most important sentence in any case.
2. State that you regard the hazard as a prescribed hazard under Awaab's Law. Be explicit.
3. Flag vulnerability immediately, children, age, medical condition.
4. Stage 1, then Stage 2 of the formal complaints procedure.
5. Get advice on a claim quickly if timescales slip. You may have a claim, call us free on 0800 030 4669.

See our emergency repair guide for the timescale framework.

The next milestone

The next stock-take is the one-year anniversary in October 2026. We will be tracking both Awaab's Law and the planned extension to private renting. See our piece on Awaab's Law: the first months and what the one-year mark will test.

Get help

If your social 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: Regulator of Social Housing regulatory judgements and notices, GOV.UK; Awaab's Law: guidance for social landlords, GOV.UK.

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