Awaab's Law 2026: The Deadlines Now in Force
Awaab's Law came into force for social landlords on 27 October 2025, and the Regulator of Social Housing began enforcing the new timescales from that date. The law is named after Awaab Ishak, the two-year-old who died in December 2020 from prolonged exposure to mould in a Rochdale housing association flat. It inserts fixed legal deadlines into the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and amends the Housing Act 2004 to create a statutory duty to investigate and remediate hazards within prescribed periods.
For private landlords, the extension is already legislated for. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 contains the power to apply Awaab's Law to the private rented sector, and the government has confirmed it intends to do so through secondary legislation. The same deadlines that now bind councils and housing associations will apply to private landlords, likely during 2026.
The Prescribed Deadlines in Detail
The timescales are not advisory. They are statutory duties, and missing them is a breach of the Regulator's standards for social landlords and, once extended, a breach of the Housing Act 2004 for private landlords.
Stage 1: Investigation
- 14 calendar days from the date a hazard is reported to complete an investigation. This is the default period for damp and mould.
- 5 calendar days where the landlord has reason to believe there is a significant risk to the health or safety of the tenant or a member of their household.
- The investigation must be carried out by a competent person and must include a physical inspection of the property. Desk-based assessments do not satisfy the duty.
Stage 2: Remediation
- 7 calendar days to begin remedial work where the investigation confirms a significant risk.
- 28 calendar days to complete remedial work in all other cases.
- Where works cannot be completed within the period, the landlord must provide the tenant with a written explanation, a revised timetable and details of the tenant's right to complain to the Housing Ombudsman.
Stage 3: Record Keeping
Every report, investigation, decision and completed repair must be recorded and retained. The Regulator of Social Housing can request these records at any time, and the Housing Ombudsman will expect to see them in any complaint investigation. A verbal report from a tenant that is not logged does not stop the clock, but it does create an evidential gap that landlords struggle to close later.
What Counts as a Hazard Under Awaab's Law
The law applies to hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Damp and mould are the headline categories, but the duty extends to 29 hazard types including excess cold, overcrowding, falls on stairs, electrical hazards and inadequate ventilation. A landlord who fixes the visible mould but leaves the underlying cause, such as a failed extractor fan or a leaking gutter, has not discharged the duty.
The Regulator of Social Housing's guidance is explicit that remediation means addressing the root cause, not treating the symptom. Painting over mould with anti-fungal wash and closing the case is a breach.
How Tenants Report Hazards
Tenants can report a hazard through any reasonable route: phone, email, in person, through a landlord's app or via a third party such as a councillor or MP. The clock starts on the day the landlord receives the report, not the day it is logged internally. Landlords who route all reports through a single inbox and triage them weekly will routinely miss the 14-day deadline.
Social landlords must publish a clear complaints policy and signpost the Housing Ombudsman. Private landlords will face the same requirement once the extension takes effect. The Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code already requires acknowledgement within five working days and a full response within ten working days at stage one.
The Ombudsman's Enforcement Powers
The Housing Ombudsman can order remedies, including compensation, and can issue complaint handling failure orders where a landlord fails to respond. Since April 2024 the Ombudsman has published all decisions, naming landlords and setting out the evidence they failed to produce. For social landlords, the Regulator of Social Housing can issue regulatory notices, require improvement plans and, in serious cases, appoint managers or issue unlimited fines.
For private landlords, enforcement will sit with local authority environmental health teams using HHSRS powers under the Housing Act 2004, backed by civil penalties of up to £30,000 and rent repayment orders. The Renters' Rights Act also introduces a Decent Homes Standard for the private rented sector, which will be enforced through the same local authority route.
Evidencing Compliance: The Records That Matter
When the Regulator or Ombudsman investigates, they ask for three things: the date the report was received, the date the investigation took place, and the date the repair was completed. Landlords who rely on email threads and paper job sheets lose these cases. A dated inspection report with photographs, a signed tenant acknowledgement and a completion certificate with a timestamp will close the file.
A structured system pays for itself here. Using property inventory software to log hazard reports, schedule inspections and store before-and-after photographs gives landlords a single audit trail that maps directly to the statutory timescales. The same records support Section 21 and Section 8 possession claims, deposit disputes and Decent Homes Standard assessments.
What a Compliant Record Should Contain
- Date and time the hazard was reported, with the method of report.
- Name and role of the person who carried out the investigation.
- Photographic evidence of the hazard at the point of investigation.
- The HHSRS category identified and the assessed risk level.
- Date remedial work started and the contractor's details.
- Date remedial work completed, with post-work photographs.
- Tenant sign-off or a note of any refusal to allow access.
Access, Refusal and the Limits of the Duty
Landlords cannot meet the deadlines if a tenant refuses access. The law recognises this, but the burden is on the landlord to demonstrate that reasonable steps were taken. At least two written access requests, a phone call log and a record of any offer of alternative times will normally satisfy the Regulator. Where access is refused repeatedly, landlords should record the refusal and consider whether a court order is proportionate.
For private landlords, the 24-hour notice requirement under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 still applies to repairs. Awaab's Law does not override it, but the statutory deadlines mean landlords should serve notice immediately on receiving a report rather than waiting for a convenient date.
Preparing for the Private Rented Sector Extension
The government has confirmed it will consult on applying Awaab's Law to the private rented sector before laying the regulations. Landlords should not wait for the consultation to close. The practical steps are the same whether the property is social or private: set up a single reporting route, log every report with a timestamp, inspect within five days where risk is significant, and keep photographic records of every stage.
Portfolio landlords should also review their stock for known damp and mould risks. Properties with poor ventilation, single-glazed windows or unresolved condensation complaints are the ones most likely to generate a report in the first weeks of enforcement. Fixing those now is cheaper than defending a complaint later.
What Happens Next
The Regulator of Social Housing will publish quarterly compliance data, and the Housing Ombudsman will continue to name landlords in published decisions. Private landlords can expect the same transparency once the extension takes effect. The 14-day investigation window is the deadline landlords most often miss. Log the report the day it arrives, inspect within the statutory period, and keep the evidence in a system that can produce it on request.
Book a Demo of Our Property Inventory CRM
Our property inventory CRM logs hazard reports, schedules inspections against Awaab's Law timescales and stores dated photographic evidence in one place. Landlords using the platform can produce a full audit trail for the Regulator, the Ombudsman or a local authority environmental health officer in minutes. Book a demo to see how the system maps your existing inspection process to the statutory deadlines and flags any report approaching the 14-day limit.