Awaab's Law is named after Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old boy who died in December 2020 from a respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his family's social housing flat in Rochdale. The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 introduced Awaab's Law for social housing. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 extends it to the private rented sector in England from 1 May 2026.
If you are a private landlord in England, Awaab's Law now applies to your tenancies. When a tenant reports a health-threatening hazard, especially damp and mould, you must investigate and respond within prescribed timeframes or face enforcement action.
What the law requires
Awaab's Law imposes mandatory response timeframes on landlords when a tenant reports a hazard that poses a risk to health or safety. The core obligations are:
- Acknowledge and investigate within 14 calendar days. When a tenant reports a hazard (in writing or verbally), you must acknowledge the report and carry out an investigation within 14 days. The investigation must assess the nature, cause, and severity of the hazard.
- Provide a written action plan. Within the same 14-day window, you must provide the tenant with a written action plan setting out what remedial works are needed, who will carry them out, and the timescale for completion.
- Emergency hazards, 24 hours. If the hazard poses an imminent risk to life or serious injury (e.g. carbon monoxide leak, structural collapse, severe water ingress), you must take emergency action within 24 hours.
- Complete remedial works within a reasonable timeframe. The action plan must set a completion date. What is 'reasonable' depends on the severity, minor mould remediation might be 28 days; major structural damp might require longer with interim measures to protect the tenant's health.
- Keep records. You must retain records of the report, your investigation, the action plan, and evidence of completed works for at least six years.
What counts as a hazard
Awaab's Law operates within the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) framework established by the Housing Act 2004. Hazards are assessed under 29 categories, but the most relevant for Awaab's Law are:
- Damp and mould growth, the primary focus of the law. This includes condensation damp, rising damp, penetrating damp, and any visible mould growth.
- Excess cold, inadequate heating or insulation leading to indoor temperatures below 18°C.
- Carbon monoxide and fuel combustion products, faulty boilers, gas appliances, or blocked flues.
- Falls, broken stair rails, uneven flooring, missing window restrictors.
- Electrical hazards, exposed wiring, outdated consumer units, overloaded circuits.
- Structural collapse, subsidence, cracking walls, unsafe lintels or beams.
Hazards are rated as Category 1 (serious, poses an imminent risk) or Category 2 (less serious but still unacceptable). Awaab's Law applies to both categories, but the urgency of your response should reflect the severity.
Penalties for non-compliance
- Civil penalties, local authorities can issue civil penalties of up to £30,000 for a failure to comply with Awaab's Law timeframes.
- Rent Repayment Orders, the tenant can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a Rent Repayment Order of up to 12 months' rent if the landlord fails to address a reported hazard.
- Improvement Notices and Prohibition Orders, the local authority can require works or prohibit use of the property.
- Banning Orders, persistent non-compliance can result in a banning order preventing you from letting property in England.
- Prosecution, in the most serious cases (e.g. a tenant suffers significant harm), criminal prosecution under the Housing Act 2004 remains available.
What landlords should do now
- Set up a hazard-report process. Give tenants a clear way to report hazards, email, online form, or a dedicated phone number. Log every report with a date and time stamp.
- Create a response template. Have a standard acknowledgement letter and action plan template ready to send within 14 days. Our Awaab's Law Damp/Mould Response Template (pre-order, £19) provides exactly this.
- Inspect your properties proactively. Do not wait for a tenant report. Walk every property at least annually and check for signs of damp, mould, condensation, ventilation issues, and structural problems.
- Address condensation damp honestly. The old 'lifestyle damp' defence, blaming tenants for not opening windows, is no longer sufficient. If condensation damp is caused or worsened by inadequate ventilation, insulation, or heating provision, that is a landlord obligation.
- Keep an evidence trail. Photograph hazards, retain contractor invoices, keep copies of all correspondence. If a case reaches the tribunal, your evidence trail is your defence.
- Brief your agent. If you use a letting agent, ensure they have a compliant process for receiving hazard reports and escalating them to you within the 14-day window.
The cheapest response to Awaab's Law is prevention. An annual property inspection with a damp and mould checklist costs nothing but an afternoon, and it is vastly cheaper than a £30,000 penalty or a Rent Repayment Order.
How Awaab's Law interacts with other duties
Awaab's Law does not replace your existing obligations, it adds to them. You must still comply with the Fitness for Human Habitation requirement (Homes Act 2018), gas safety regulations (annual Gas Safety Certificate), electrical safety regulations (EICR every five years), smoke and CO alarm duties, and EPC requirements.
If a hazard report overlaps with a gas or electrical safety issue, you must address the most urgent obligation first. A carbon monoxide concern, for example, requires an emergency gas engineer visit within 24 hours under both Awaab's Law and gas safety regulations.
Our Landlord Annual Compliance Checklist (£19) covers Awaab's Law alongside every other compliance duty, with a month-by-month inspection schedule.