What Counts as an Emergency Repair? (England & Wales)

Short answer: An emergency repair is anything that puts the safety, security or health of the household at immediate risk. In the social-housing sector in England, Awaab's Law (in force 27 October 2025) requires landlords to act on prescribed hazards inside fixed statutory timescales, with the most serious category triggering a response inside 24 hours. Most landlord repair policies, social and private, categorise repairs into three tiers: emergency (24 hours), urgent (3 to 7 working days), and routine (28 days).

Knowing which category your problem falls into is the difference between getting acted on tomorrow and getting acted on next month.

The three standard categories

Every landlord publishes its own repair policy with its own timescales. Read yours, it is usually on the landlord's website. Independent rulings regularly find against landlords that fail to meet their own published timescales.

Awaab's Law, the 24-hour category in social housing

Awaab's Law was introduced after the 2020 death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in a Rochdale flat with prolonged mould. It came into force on 27 October 2025 for social landlords in England. Where a prescribed hazard exists and the landlord is on notice, the landlord must:

1. Investigate inside the statutory timescale (24 hours for emergency hazards; 10 working days for significant hazards from notice under Section 10A LTA 1985)
2. Report findings to the tenant in writing inside 3 working days of investigation
3. Complete emergency repairs inside 24 hours where the hazard poses a significant and immediate risk
4. Complete the works inside the prescribed timescale for significant hazards (5 working days after the end of the investigation)
5. Provide alternative accommodation if the home cannot be made safe in time

The prescribed hazards include damp and mould, excess cold, excess heat, structural collapse risk, fire, electrics, gas, asbestos, carbon monoxide, and others drawn from the HHSRS.

Awaab's Law currently applies only to social landlords (councils, housing associations). The Renters' Rights Act 2025 is expected to extend the framework to the private rented sector from October 2026. See Awaab's Law: private sector extension.

The legal floor for all tenants

Even outside Awaab's Law and the landlord's own policy, every tenant in England and Wales has the protection of:

• Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the landlord must keep installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, heating and water heating in working order, and must keep the structure and exterior in repair.
• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (England), the home must remain fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy.
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, the fitness for human habitation fundamental term in every Welsh occupation contract.

These do not specify timescales as precisely as Awaab's Law, but they all include an implied duty to act "within a reasonable time" once the landlord is on notice. Courts have repeatedly held that a reasonable time for emergencies is hours, not weeks.

What is and is not an emergency, common examples

Emergency (24 hours):

• Gas leak (call National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 first)
• Smell of burning from electrics
• Total loss of heating in winter with vulnerable residents
• Total loss of hot water in winter
• Burst pipe, uncontained leak
• Sewage backing up into the home
• Roof damage letting water in actively
• External door or ground-floor window broken so the property is not secure
• Carbon monoxide alarm sounding
• Blocked toilet where it is the only toilet in the home
• Lift broken in a high-rise block with disabled or older residents on upper floors

Urgent (3 to 7 working days):

• Partial loss of heating (one room or one radiator)
• Hot water working but unreliable
• Contained leak that is not actively damaging the home
• Faulty extractor fan (relevant where damp/mould is also present)
• Single broken window (not on ground floor)
• Faulty intercom

Routine (up to 28 days):

• Cracked plaster
• Minor decoration defects
• Faulty cupboard hinges
• Slow-draining sink

What you must do to trigger the timescale

The clock does not start until the landlord is on notice. To make sure it does start:

1. Report it in writing. Out-of-hours emergency number for genuine emergencies, plus a follow-up email or portal log.
2. Be explicit about the impact. "No hot water at all. Two children under 5 in the home."
3. Flag vulnerability. Children, older residents, disabled residents, anyone with a medical condition.
4. Note the date and time of every contact.

Use our letter builder for routine and urgent repairs that have not been responded to inside policy timescales, it produces a clean, dated formal complaint.

What to do if the timescale is missed

1. Escalate inside the organisation, formal complaint, Stage 1 then Stage 2.
2. Document the impact, receipts for everything, doctor's letters for health impact.
3. Consider a housing disrepair claim, particularly where the timescale missed is an Awaab's Law statutory timescale. You may have a claim, call us free on 0800 030 4669.

Get help

If you have an emergency or urgent repair that your landlord has not actioned inside the timescale, call Support for Tenants on 0800 030 4669 for a free assessment. We are a regulated company, not a law firm, we work with solicitors who run housing disrepair cases on a no-win-no-fee basis.

Sources: Section 11, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (legislation.gov.uk); Awaab's Law: guidance for social landlords, GOV.UK.

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.