Awaab's Law: Damp, Mould and Repair Deadlines Explained

In 2020, 2-year-old Awaab Ishak died due to a severe respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his social rented home. Despite his parents complaining repeatedly, the landlord failed to take action to make the home safe.

Section 42 of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 inserts section 10A into the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which implies in the lease a covenant by the lessor that the lessor will comply with all prescribed requirements that are applicable to that lease. GOV.UK says the Awaab's Law regulations are the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025. If a social landlord does not fulfil these obligations, the tenant can take them to court for breach of contract. In proceedings for a breach, it is a defence for the lessor to prove that the lessor used all reasonable endeavours to avoid that breach.

The regulations require social housing landlords to:

• investigate any potential emergency hazards and, if the investigation identifies an emergency hazard, undertake relevant safety work as soon as reasonably practicable
• investigate any potential significant hazards within 10 working days of becoming aware of them
• produce a written summary of investigation findings and provide it to the tenant within 3 working days of the conclusion of the investigation
• secure suitable alternative accommodation for the household, at the social landlord's expense, if relevant safety work cannot be completed within the timeframes
• keep the tenant updated throughout the process and provide information on how to keep safe if the unsafe premises is not vacated

A significant hazard is one that poses a significant risk of harm to the health or safety of an occupier of the social home. An emergency hazard is one that poses an imminent and significant risk of harm to the health or safety of the occupier. A tenant does not need to provide medical evidence, although landlords should take it into account if it is provided.

The GOV.UK guidance says the point at which legal obligations begin under Awaab's Law is when the social landlord becomes aware of a potential hazard, for example through a tenant raising an issue affecting their home, or someone raising an issue on behalf of a tenant. The day the landlord becomes aware is counted as day zero, with day one of the timeframes commencing the following working day.

Emergency hazards

• The investigation and the relevant safety work must both be completed within 24 hours of the landlord becoming aware of the hazard.
• If relevant safety work cannot be completed within the timeframes, the landlord must secure suitable alternative accommodation for the household at the landlord's expense.
• The guidance's examples of hazards that could be emergency hazards include gas or carbon monoxide leaks, broken boilers, total loss of water supply, electrical hazards such as exposed wiring, and prevalent damp and mould that is having a material impact on a tenant's health.

Significant damp and mould hazards

• Investigate within 10 working days of becoming aware of the hazard.
• Give you a written summary of the findings within 3 working days of the investigation concluding.
• Undertake relevant safety work within 5 working days of the investigation concluding.
• If the safety work cannot be completed within the timeframes, secure suitable alternative accommodation at the landlord's expense.
• Begin any work required to prevent the hazard recurring within 5 working days of the investigation concluding. If it cannot begin within 5 working days it must begin as soon as reasonably practicable, and within 12 weeks.
• That preventative work must then be satisfactorily completed within a reasonable time period.

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 will extend Awaab's Law to tenancies in the private rented sector. In order for it to come into effect for private rented tenancies, regulations will need to be made setting the detail of the requirements that must be met by private landlords, such as the exact timescale within which they must carry out repairs. Under section 60 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025, the provision applies to a lease of a dwelling-house in England if the lease is for a term of less than 7 years.

• The government's consultation runs from 9 October 2026 to 11.59pm on 18 December 2026, and its proposals apply to England only.
• Section 4 of the consultation sets out considerations about how to apply Awaab's Law to private rented tenancies, and section 5 about accommodation occupied under licence, including supported housing, temporary accommodation for homeless households and care leaver accommodation.
• A government response setting out next steps will be published in due course.
• The consultation says it does not expect Awaab's Law to place new duties on landlords to carry out repairs they are not already required to make, and that it will focus on setting timescales and processes.
• The government response of January 2026 sets out plans to apply the new Decent Homes Standard to the private and social rented sectors from 2035.
• The private rented sector database is a national landlord registration service beginning to roll out region by region from December 2026.

Once it applies, the consultation says the tenant will be able to take a landlord who does not comply to court for a breach of contract, and the court can order them to do the repairs, pay compensation to the tenant and/or pay some or all of the tenant's legal costs.

The first phase of the Renters' Rights Act, which came into force on 1 May 2026, included abolishing section 21 no fault evictions. The consultation says this will give private rented sector tenants greater confidence in challenging poor housing conditions by removing the threat of retaliatory evictions.

Our damp and mould guide, housing repairs guide and housing disrepair claims guide cover those routes in more detail.

The GOV.UK guidance says the types of issues that might be reported that could relate to damp and mould hazards include excessive condensation, mould spores, leaks, broken windows, faulty extractor fans, leaking pipes or gutters, and that this is not an exhaustive list.

• The most dangerous hazards are classed as category 1 under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, and local authorities have a legal duty to take enforcement action where they identify one.
• Local authorities also have a power to take enforcement action in respect of category 2 hazards.
• The Renters' Rights Act introduced a power for local authorities to issue financial penalties of up to £7,000 to private landlords who have failed to take reasonably practicable steps to keep their properties free of category 1 hazards, which came into force alongside the updated HHSRS in June 2026.