Awaab’s Law Timeframes for Repairs, Tenant Protections, and 2026 Regulations
Estate Agents Ilford is already noticing how Awaab’s Law is changing social housing standards across England. The law sets clear legal deadlines for repairs and strict duties for social landlords. It introduces enforceable rights for tenants and fixed timeframes for action on hazards. This guide explains what the law means, who it applies to, and how it works in practice.
What Is Awaab’s Law?
Awaab’s Law is a legal regulation that sets mandatory repair timeframes and safety duties for social housing landlords in England. It forms part of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and is delivered through secondary regulations that make compliance legally enforceable.
It demands social landlords to investigate hazards, carry out repairs, and remove risks within fixed time limits. This law removes discretion and replaces it with statutory duties.
Awaab’s Law mainly concerns health and safety hazards in social housing, including damp, mould, and other serious risks covered under housing safety standards. It creates a system where landlords must respond within defined timeframes and provide written outcomes to tenants. The major purpose is to ensure that unsafe living conditions in social housing are handled as legal compliance failures, not service delays.
When Did Awaab’s Law Come Into Force?
Awaab’s Law entered into force on 27 October 2025. This date marks the start of its legal application within the social housing regulatory system in England.
The law was introduced through regulations made under the Social Housing Act 2023. From this point, compliance with repair timescales and hazard response duties became legally binding for social landlords.
Implementation is structured in phases, not as a single full rollout. The first phase began in October 2025, with further expansions scheduled for 2026 and 2027. Each phase adds additional hazards and regulatory duties to the legal framework. This shows that Awaab’s Law is not a one-off policy change but a staged regulatory system.
Who Does Awaab’s Law Apply To?
Awaab’s Law applies to the social housing sector in England. It places legal duties on organisations that provide and manage social housing under the regulated housing system.
The law applies to social landlords, including registered providers of social housing. This covers housing associations, local authorities, and other bodies that are formally registered to provide social rented accommodation.
It also applies across the social rented sector – which means properties let under social housing tenancies where landlords operate within the regulated framework.
In practical terms, it applies to:
- Registered providers of social housing
- Housing associations
- Local authority housing departments
- Social landlords operating within the regulated sector
| It does not apply to the private rented sector, owner-occupied homes, or private property management. The scope of the law is limited to regulated social housing providers in England. |
What Hazards Are Covered Under Awaab’s Law?
The regulatory framework is being introduced in phases, with different categories of housing hazards added over time. This approach expands legal coverage year by year, starting with the most serious health risks.
Phase 1 Hazards From October 2025
The first phase focuses on high-risk health hazards. This includes damp and mould as core regulated risks, along with emergency hazards that pose an immediate danger to life or health. This phase establishes the foundation of the system by treating damp, mould, and urgent safety risks as compliance issues, not maintenance complaints.
Phase 2 Expansion From 2026
From 2026, the scope expands to include additional serious housing hazards. These cover risks such as excess cold, excess heat, fire safety hazards, electrical dangers, structural risks, and serious hygiene-related conditions.
This phase widens enforcement beyond visible mould and moisture issues to include environmental, safety, and infrastructure-related risks that affect long-term health and living conditions.
Phase 3 Expansion From 2027
From 2027, the framework expands to cover most remaining hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). This completes the regulatory structure by bringing almost all major housing risks into the legally enforceable system.
Overcrowding is excluded from this phase and remains outside the scope of this regulatory framework. By 2027, the system operates as a hazard regulation model, covering health, safety, and environmental risks across social housing in England.
Awaab’s Law Timescales for Repairs
The regulations set fixed legal deadlines for how quickly hazards must be investigated and addressed. They are major requirements and apply once a hazard is reported or identified. Different deadlines apply depending on the severity of the risk.
Emergency Hazards
Emergency hazards are conditions that pose an immediate risk to life or serious harm. Once an emergency hazard is identified, the landlord must investigate within 24 hours and take immediate action within the same 24-hour period to remove or control the risk. This includes making the property safe, carrying out urgent repairs, or providing temporary protective measures.
Significant Hazards
Significant hazards are serious risks that are not immediately life-threatening but still pose clear health or safety dangers. For these hazards, landlords must investigate within 10 working days. A written summary of findings must be provided to the tenant within 3 working days of the investigation. Repairs must then begin within 5 working days after the findings are issued.
Landlord Duties Under Awaab’s Law
The regulations impose clear duties on social housing landlords. These duties replace informal service standards with fixed legal obligations. Compliance is measured against defined actions, timeframes, and documented processes. Each duty forms part of a structured compliance system rather than isolated responsibilities.
Investigation duty
Landlords must formally investigate reported hazards within the required legal timescales. This duty applies whether a risk is reported by a tenant, identified during inspections, or discovered through internal monitoring. Investigations must be properly carried out and not delayed through internal procedures or administrative processes.
Repair duty
Once a hazard is confirmed, landlords are legally required to carry out repairs or risk controls within the prescribed deadlines. This includes permanent repairs, temporary safety measures, or works needed to remove exposure to harm. The duty is not limited to scheduling work. It requires actual physical action to resolve the risk within the legally defined period.
Documentation duty
Landlords must produce formal written records of investigations, findings, and actions taken. These records must be clear, accurate, and properly documented. This creates an evidence trail that can be reviewed by regulators, ombudsman services, and courts if compliance is challenged.
Communication duty
Landlords are required to inform tenants in writing about investigation outcomes, identified risks, and planned actions. This duty ensures tenants are not left without information or clarity about their living conditions or safety risks.
Safety duty
Landlords have a continuing duty to ensure that properties are safe to occupy. This includes preventing exposure to known hazards and controlling risks while repairs are being carried out. Safety is taken as an ongoing legal obligation, not a one-time response to complaints.
Alternative accommodation duty
Where a property can’t be made safe within the required timeframe, landlords must provide alternative accommodation. This duty applies when risks cannot be controlled through temporary measures. This ensures tenants are not forced to remain in unsafe living conditions while compliance actions are pending.
Tenant Rights Under Awaab’s Law
The regulations create enforceable legal rights for tenants in social housing. These rights are not service expectations or policy standards. They are protections linked to legally assigned duties.
- Right to Investigation: Tenants have the legal right to a formal investigation of reported hazards within the required timescales. Landlords cannot delay assessments through internal processes or complaint systems. This guarantees that safety risks are treated as compliance matters, not customer service issues.
- Right to Repairs: Tenants have the right to timely repairs or risk controls once a hazard is identified. This includes permanent repairs or temporary safety measures where immediate resolution is not possible.
- Right to Written Findings: Tenants must receive written confirmation of investigation outcomes and identified risks. This includes documented findings and information on actions to be taken. This creates a formal record that can be used for enforcement or escalation.
- Right to Safe Housing: Tenants have the right to live in accommodation that is safe to occupy. Exposure to known hazards is treated as a regulatory failure. Safety is recognised as a legal entitlement not a service standard.
- Right to Escalation: Tenants have the right to escalate non-compliance through formal routes, including complaints systems, regulatory bodies, and legal processes. This ensures there is a clear enforcement pathway when obligations are not met.
- Right to Alternative Accommodation: Where risks can’t be controlled within required timescales, tenants have the right to alternative accommodation. This prevents continued exposure to unsafe conditions during prolonged repair periods. This right ensures protection of health and safety while compliance actions are underway.
Does Awaab’s Law Apply to Private Landlords?
No, the regulations do not apply to private landlords or the private rented sector. The legal framework is limited to regulated social housing in England and only applies to organisations that operate as registered providers and social landlords.
Private landlords, letting agents, and private property management companies are not covered by this system. They remain regulated under separate housing laws and safety standards, but they are not subject to these specific repair timeframes, duties, or enforcement structures.
There is currently no confirmed legislation extending these rules into the private rented sector. Any future expansion would require separate legal changes and new regulations. At present, the scope is strictly limited to social housing providers.
What Happens If a Landlord Fails to Comply?
Failure to comply is handled as a regulatory breach, not a service failure. Non-compliance can trigger formal enforcement processes, this can include:
- Regulatory action by housing authorities
- Complaints to the Housing Ombudsman
- Intervention by the Regulator of Social Housing
- Legal enforcement through the courts
- Formal breach of landlord obligations
Why was Awaab’s Law Introduced?
The regulations were introduced following systemic failures in social housing safety standards and the absence of enforceable repair obligations.
The death of Awaab Ishak in 2020, linked to prolonged exposure to damp and mould in social housing, exposed serious regulatory gaps in how hazards were managed, reported, and enforced. Investigations highlighted failures in response times and accountability.
The policy response was the creation of a framework that replaces discretionary repair systems with legally fixed timescale. The purpose of the law is to ensure that unsafe living conditions are handled as legal compliance failures, not administrative delays or service issues. Also that tenants are protected through rights rather than internal landlord policies.
