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Awaab's Law: Timescales, Duties and Compliance for Social Landlords
Awaab's Law has been in force since 27 October 2025. Social landlords in England must investigate significant damp and mould within 10 working days, put emergency hazards right within 24 hours, and keep records that prove it. This is the full set of statutory timescales, phase dates and duties, with the evidence trail you need to defend them.
Statutory timescales
Compliance checklist
Phase 1, 2 and 3 dates
Record keeping duties
Awaab's Law is the common name for the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025. It puts legally binding time limits on how quickly social landlords in England must investigate and fix serious housing hazards. It is named after Awaab Ishak, the two year old who died in Rochdale in 2020 after prolonged exposure to mould in his family's home.
The regulations work through section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. That section implies a covenant into every social housing tenancy requiring the landlord to comply with the prescribed requirements. In practice this means a missed deadline is a breach of the tenancy agreement itself, and a tenant can take the landlord to court over it.
Who it applies to right now: registered providers of social housing in England, which covers local authority landlords and housing associations. It does not yet apply to private landlords. Long leases, owner occupied homes and shared ownership arrangements are outside its scope.
What it requires right now: emergency hazards investigated and made safe within 24 hours, significant damp and mould investigated within 10 working days, written findings to the tenant within 3 working days of the investigation ending, and safety work done within 5 working days.
THE CLOCK
Awaab's Law Timescales in Full
Every duty below is counted in working days unless it says hours. The clock starts when the landlord becomes aware of the potential hazard, not when the landlord decides it is genuine.
| Duty | Deadline | When the clock starts |
|---|---|---|
| Investigate an emergency hazard | 24 hours | From becoming aware of a hazard that presents an imminent and significant risk of harm. |
| Make an emergency hazard safe | 24 hours | The same 24 hour window. Investigation and safety work sit inside one deadline. |
| Investigate significant damp and mould | 10 working days | From becoming aware of the potential hazard, through any channel, including a repair call or a third party report. |
| Give the tenant written findings | 3 working days | From the investigation concluding. The summary must be in writing and must reach the tenant. |
| Complete relevant safety work | 5 working days | From the investigation concluding, where a significant hazard is confirmed. |
| Begin further preventative work | 12 weeks | Where the work cannot reasonably be finished in the 5 working day window, it must begin within 12 weeks of the investigation concluding. |
| Offer alternative accommodation | On failure | If the home cannot be made safe inside the relevant deadline, suitable alternative accommodation must be provided at the landlord's expense until the work is done. |
The detail that catches landlords out: the alternative accommodation duty is not discretionary and it is not means tested. If you miss the deadline and the home is still unsafe, you pay to house the whole household elsewhere until it is fixed. For most providers that cost is far higher than resourcing the repair properly in the first place.
CLASSIFICATION
Emergency Hazard or Significant Hazard
Which deadline applies depends entirely on how the hazard is classified. Getting this wrong at the point of report is the single most common way a provider breaches the regulations, because a 24 hour duty logged as a routine repair is already late by the next morning.
Emergency hazard
A hazard that presents an imminent and significant risk of harm, where a reasonable landlord would act within 24 hours. Typical examples include gas leaks, electrical danger, total loss of water or heating, significant water ingress, structural instability, and damp and mould severe enough to threaten health immediately. Investigation and safety work must both happen inside 24 hours.
24 hoursSignificant hazard
A hazard posing a significant risk of harm that a reasonable landlord with the relevant knowledge would treat as urgent, without it being an immediate emergency. In Phase 1 this covers damp and mould only. The 10 working day investigation, 3 working day written findings and 5 working day repair sequence applies.
10 working daysOut of scope
Hazards arising from overcrowding are excluded at every phase. Long leases, owner occupied homes and shared ownership arrangements sit outside the regulations. Reports made before 27 October 2025 do not trigger a duty until the hazard is reported again or there is a material change in circumstances.
No dutyROLLOUT
Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 Dates
Awaab's Law is being introduced in stages. Each phase keeps the same timescales and widens the list of hazards they apply to.
27 Oct2025 · Live
Phase 1: emergency hazards and damp and mould
In force now. Covers every emergency hazard, plus significant damp and mould. This is the phase your organisation is being judged against today. Phase 1 guidance remains in effect until 11:59pm on 29 November 2026.
30 Nov2026 · Next
Phase 2: excess cold, excess heat and structural hazards
Extends the same timescales to a much wider list of significant hazards: excess cold, excess heat, falls on the level, structural collapse, fire and explosions, electrical hazards and domestic hygiene. For most providers this is the phase that changes the volume of work, because excess cold alone can affect a large share of older stock in winter.
Phase 3Date not set
Phase 3: the remaining HHSRS hazards
Extends the duties to all remaining Housing Health and Safety Rating System hazards, with overcrowding still excluded. The government has not confirmed a commencement date for this phase.
SCOPE
Does Awaab's Law Apply to Private Landlords?
Not yet. As of July 2026, Awaab's Law applies only to registered providers of social housing in England. A private landlord letting on an assured tenancy is not currently bound by the 24 hour and 10 working day deadlines.
The government has committed to extending Awaab's Law to the private rented sector through the Renters' Rights Act 2025, alongside a modernised Decent Homes Standard. That extension sits in Phase 3 of the implementation roadmap and is subject to a further consultation, so no commencement date has been confirmed. Commentators including Shelter have suggested 2027 as the earliest realistic point.
Private landlords and letting agents are not exempt from hazard duties in the meantime. The existing fitness for human habitation duty under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 and the local authority enforcement powers under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System both still apply. What changes under an extended Awaab's Law is the addition of fixed statutory clocks and a matching evidence burden.
For the private rented sector view of this, including how these timescales would land on a letting agency repairs workflow, see the dedicated guide to Awaab's Law for private landlords.
Planning point for private portfolios: the operational work needed to meet Awaab's Law is not the repair itself, it is the timestamped record proving when you were told, when you investigated, what you found, when you told the tenant and when you fixed it. Providers that already log that trail will absorb the extension with almost no change. Providers relying on inboxes and phone notes will not.
HHSRS
Awaab's Law, HHSRS and Category 1 and 2 Hazards
The Housing Health and Safety Rating System scores 29 hazard types and sorts the results into Category 1 hazards, which are the most serious and which local authorities have a duty to act on, and Category 2 hazards, where authorities have a discretionary power to act.
Awaab's Law does not simply adopt that split. It uses its own test: whether the hazard poses a significant risk of harm, or in the emergency case an imminent and significant risk of harm. A hazard scored as Category 2 under HHSRS can still be a significant hazard under Awaab's Law if the risk to that particular household is significant, and the presence of a vulnerable occupant is directly relevant to that judgement.
The practical consequence is that HHSRS scoring cannot be used as a filter to decide which reports start the clock. The clock starts on awareness of a potential hazard. The assessment of whether it is significant is the outcome of the investigation, not a gate in front of it.
CHECKLIST
An Awaab's Law Compliance Checklist
Ten things a social landlord needs in place to demonstrate compliance, in the order an ombudsman or a court will ask for them.
1
One intake route that timestamps everything. Every channel a tenant can use, phone, portal, email, contractor visit, must create a dated record. The duty starts on awareness, however you became aware.
2
Hazard triage at the point of report. Staff need a clear rule for classifying emergency versus significant at first contact, because that decision sets the deadline.
3
Automatic deadline calculation in working days. Counting 10 working days by hand across bank holidays is where breaches quietly happen.
4
Vulnerability data attached to the household. Whether a risk is significant depends on who lives there. Children, older residents and people with respiratory conditions change the assessment.
5
A written findings template that actually gets sent. The 3 working day summary is a separate duty from the repair. Providers pass the repair test and fail this one.
6
Proof of delivery of that summary. Written findings that were produced but never reached the tenant will not defend a claim.
7
Contractor deadlines inherited from the duty. Your 5 working day clock does not pause because a subcontractor has a two week lead time. Appointment scheduling has to be visible against the statutory date.
8
An alternative accommodation trigger. A defined process that fires automatically when a deadline will be missed and the home is still unsafe.
9
Records of stock and residents kept current. The guidance requires accurate and up to date information about residents and homes, plus records of all engagement, investigations and communications.
10
Board level reporting on breaches. The Regulator of Social Housing assesses landlords against the consumer standards, and repeated missed deadlines are evidence of a systemic failing rather than a one off.
HOW RENTALIZE HELPS
Statutory Deadlines Built Into the Repair Workflow
Awaab's Law is a records problem as much as a repairs problem. Rentalize tracks the clock from the moment a hazard is reported and keeps the evidence trail that proves what happened.
Deadline timers on every hazard
Reports are classified as emergency or significant at intake, and the 24 hour, 10 day, 3 day and 5 day clocks start automatically, counted in working days with bank holidays handled.
Tenant reporting with photos
Tenants report damp and mould from the portal or the app with images attached, which timestamps awareness and gives the investigation a documented starting point.
Written findings, sent and logged
The 3 working day summary is generated from the investigation record, issued to the tenant, and stored with proof of delivery against the tenancy.
Contractor jobs tied to the clock
Work orders carry the statutory deadline, so scheduling conflicts surface before the date passes rather than after.
Household vulnerability on the record
Occupant details sit against the property, so risk assessments account for children, older residents and health conditions instead of treating every home as identical.
Breach and performance reporting
Live reporting on cases approaching or past deadline, ready for board packs, Regulator of Social Housing returns and Tenant Satisfaction Measures.
FAQ
Awaab's Law Questions Answered
Awaab's Law sets legal deadlines for social landlords in England to investigate and fix dangerous housing conditions. Emergency hazards must be investigated and made safe within 24 hours. Significant damp and mould must be investigated within 10 working days, with written findings to the tenant within 3 working days and safety work within 5 working days. It is named after Awaab Ishak, who died in 2020 aged two after exposure to mould in his family's home in Rochdale. The rules took effect on 27 October 2025 through the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025.
Emergency hazards: investigate and make safe within 24 hours. Significant damp and mould: investigate within 10 working days of becoming aware. Written summary of findings to the tenant: within 3 working days of the investigation concluding. Relevant safety work: within 5 working days of the investigation concluding. Where that work cannot reasonably be completed in 5 working days, further preventative work must begin within 12 weeks of the investigation concluding. If the home cannot be made safe within the deadline, the landlord must provide suitable alternative accommodation at its own expense.
Phase 2 comes into force on 30 November 2026. Phase 1 guidance remains in effect until 11:59pm on 29 November 2026. Phase 2 extends the existing timescales to a wider set of significant hazards: excess cold, excess heat, falls on the level, structural collapse, fire and explosions, electrical hazards and domestic hygiene. Phase 3 will extend the duties to the remaining Housing Health and Safety Rating System hazards apart from overcrowding, but no date has been confirmed for it.
Not at present. Awaab's Law currently applies only to registered providers of social housing in England, meaning local authority landlords and housing associations. The government intends to extend it to the private rented sector under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, but that sits in Phase 3 of the implementation roadmap, is subject to consultation, and has no confirmed commencement date. Private landlords remain bound by the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 and local authority HHSRS enforcement in the meantime.
An emergency hazard is one presenting an imminent and significant risk of harm, where a reasonable landlord would act within 24 hours. Common examples include gas leaks, electrical danger, total loss of water or heating, significant leaks or water ingress, structural instability, insecure external doors or windows, and damp and mould severe enough to pose an immediate threat to health. Both the investigation and the work needed to make the property safe must be completed inside the 24 hour window. Hazards arising from overcrowding are excluded.
The requirements are implied into the tenancy agreement as a covenant through section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, so a missed deadline is a breach of contract that a tenant can pursue in court. Courts can order the landlord to carry out the work and award damages. Separately, the Housing Ombudsman can investigate complaints and order remedies including compensation, and the Regulator of Social Housing assesses providers against the consumer standards, where a pattern of missed deadlines points to a systemic failure rather than an isolated case.
No. There is no duty to investigate hazards that were reported before the regulations came into force on 27 October 2025, unless the hazard is reported again or there is a material change in circumstances. Once either happens, the standard timescales apply from that new point of awareness. Historic open cases are still relevant to Housing Ombudsman complaints and to the consumer standards, so they should not simply be closed.
No. The Decent Homes Standard is a condition standard describing what a home must be like: in reasonable repair, with modern facilities and a reasonable degree of thermal comfort. Awaab's Law is a response standard governing how fast a landlord must act once a hazard exists. A home can meet the Decent Homes Standard and its landlord can still breach Awaab's Law by responding too slowly to a new report. Both are being applied more widely under the Renters' Rights Act reforms.
Sources and further reading
- GOV.UK: Awaab's Law in the social rented sector, phase dates and hazard scope.
- GOV.UK: Awaab's Law guidance for social landlords, statutory timescales and record keeping duties.
- The Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, in force 27 October 2025.
- Section 10A, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, as inserted by the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023.
- Housing Ombudsman: Awaab's Law learning resources.
This page is general information about the regulations, not legal advice. Verified against GOV.UK guidance in July 2026. Check the current guidance before relying on any deadline in a live case.
Prove compliance, not just intent
Phase 2 widens the duty on 30 November 2026. Rentalize tracks every statutory clock and keeps the evidence trail that defends your position. See it against your own stock and repair volumes.