Awaab's Law and the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023: A Landlord's Guide
← Part of Landlord Laws & LegislationWhat changed under the Renters' Rights Act 2025
Section 21 abolished. Fixed-term assured tenancies abolished. Ground 8 threshold raised to 3 months. Information Sheet required for every tenancy by 31 May 2026. Read the full guide.
The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 was prompted by the death of Awaab Ishak from prolonged mould exposure. Section 42 — known as 'Awaab's Law' — gave the Secretary of State power to make regulations imposing strict timescales on social landlords for responding to specified hazards. Implementing regulations took effect from October 2024 for damp and mould, with phased extension to other hazards through 2025-2026. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 extended the principle to the private rented sector with implementing regulations expected in 2027 and commencement in 2028. This page covers the Act's broader social housing reforms, the Awaab's Law timescales, the tenant remedies, the PRS extension timetable, and what PRS landlords should be doing now to align with the framework.
What the Act did and what "Awaab's Law" means
The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 was prompted by the death of Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old boy who died in December 2020 from prolonged exposure to mould in a flat managed by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing. The coroner's inquest in November 2022 found that Awaab's death was caused by environmental mould exposure that had been repeatedly reported by his parents and not addressed. The case attracted national attention and prompted demands for legislative action — both to strengthen the position of social housing tenants and to set strict timescales within which landlords must respond to housing hazards.
The Act received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023. Section 42 — informally known as "Awaab's Law" — gave the Secretary of State power to make regulations imposing strict timescales on social landlords for responding to specified hazards. The implementing regulations came into force in October 2024 for the most serious categories of hazard (damp and mould), with further categories phased in through 2025 and 2026. Awaab's Law in its initial form applies only to social housing — local authority and housing association tenants. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 extended the principle to the private rented sector, but with a delayed commencement timetable subject to consultation; the PRS extension is expected to take effect post-2028.
For private landlords, the Act's relevance in 2026 is partly anticipatory and partly indirect. The strict timescales do not yet apply to PRS lettings directly, but the policy direction is clear, the cultural expectation has shifted, and tenants' advocacy organisations now expect responses on Awaab-style timescales regardless of the strict legal position. A PRS landlord whose response to reported damp is "we'll look at it next month" faces growing risk under existing fitness, repairing, and HHSRS regimes — even before Awaab's Law itself reaches the PRS.
What the Act does — beyond Awaab's Law
The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 is broader than just Awaab's Law. The Act:
- Strengthened the Regulator of Social Housing with new enforcement powers and a tougher regulatory framework.
- Introduced "Tenant Satisfaction Measures" — standardised metrics for the regulator to assess social landlords' performance.
- Required social landlords to comply with prescribed standards on tenant complaints handling, with significant penalties for breach.
- Empowered the regulator to issue Performance Improvement Plan Notices requiring social landlords to address identified weaknesses.
- Made provision for emergency repairs powers allowing tenants direct routes to action where landlords fail to respond.
- Improved the Housing Ombudsman framework with new powers including a Code of Practice for complaint handling.
The framework as a whole is designed to drive substantially improved performance from social landlords. For PRS landlords, much of this is not directly applicable — the regulatory architecture is specific to social housing — but the Code of Practice, the tenant satisfaction measures, and the broader cultural shift do affect the tenor of tenant expectations across the sector.
Awaab's Law — the timescales
The implementing regulations under section 42 set strict statutory timescales for social landlords responding to specified hazards. The current timescales (with phased implementation):
Damp and mould (first category, October 2024)
- Investigate within 14 days of the tenant raising a concern about damp or mould.
- Provide a written summary of findings within 3 working days of the investigation completion.
- Begin repair works within 7 days of the investigation summary, where the landlord considers the property unfit or finds a hazard.
- Complete repair works within a reasonable period, depending on the nature of the works.
- Make emergency repairs within 24 hours where the hazard presents an immediate risk to health or safety.
Other hazards (phased through 2025-2026)
The Government has indicated that the strict timescales will be progressively extended to other hazard categories — damp and mould being the priority because of the Awaab Ishak case, but other hazards under the HHSRS framework (excess cold, fire safety, electrical hazards, etc.) following on a defined timetable.
The current expectation is that all 29 HHSRS hazards will be subject to strict statutory timescales by 2027 in the social housing sector, with the framework then extended to PRS lettings post-2028.
Tenant remedies under the framework
Where a social landlord fails to meet the prescribed timescales, tenants have direct remedies:
- The Housing Ombudsman can investigate and require remediation, plus award compensation.
- The Regulator of Social Housing can take regulatory action, including Performance Improvement Plan Notices and (in serious cases) appointing managers.
- The tenant can sue in the County Court for damages, specific performance, and injunctive relief — using the Awaab's Law timescales as evidence of breach of repairing covenant under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018.
Cumulatively, the framework has produced substantially faster response times and better outcomes for social tenants in the early years of operation. Compensation awards by the Housing Ombudsman in cases involving Awaab's Law breaches have routinely exceeded £5,000 per tenant, with some awards exceeding £20,000 for severe and prolonged failures.
Extension to PRS — the timetable
The Renters' Rights Act 2025 included provisions extending Awaab's Law to private rented sector lettings. The current expectation is:
- Implementing regulations for the PRS extension are expected during 2027.
- First commencement for damp and mould is expected in 2028, subject to consultation.
- Phased extension to other hazards through 2028-2029.
The timetable is provisional. Welsh implementation has been ahead of England under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016's separate framework — Welsh equivalents of Awaab's Law have applied since the Act came into force in 2022, with detailed timescales for fitness response.
What PRS landlords should be doing now
Although strict statutory timescales do not yet apply to PRS lettings, landlords should treat the Awaab's Law framework as a working benchmark for several reasons:
1. The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 already imposes a parallel duty. A PRS tenant complaining of damp or mould can sue the landlord directly under the 2018 Act for damages and specific performance. The "reasonable time" test in the 2018 Act is increasingly being interpreted by the courts in line with Awaab's Law timescales — the existence of strict standards in the social housing sector makes it harder for PRS landlords to argue that longer response times are reasonable.
2. The HHSRS and local authority enforcement. Local authorities can serve improvement notices under the Housing Act 2004 where a property has Category 1 hazards. Failure to act within prescribed timescales triggers civil penalties under the Housing and Planning Act 2016. Awaab's Law has hardened local authority expectations about reasonable response times.
3. Insurance and reputation. PRS landlords whose properties produce serious health outcomes from delayed responses face insurance consequences (claims refused), reputational consequences (damaged tenancy applications, negative reviews), and litigation risk that goes beyond strict statutory liability.
4. Coming compliance. PRS landlords who establish Awaab-compliant operational practices now will be ahead of the curve when the framework formally applies. Building the systems takes time; better to do it before regulatory obligation than under it.
A PRS landlord operating in line with the framework would:
- Acknowledge tenant reports of damp, mould, or other hazards within 24 hours.
- Investigate within 7-14 days.
- Provide a written summary of findings to the tenant within 3 working days of the investigation.
- Begin remedial work within 7 days of the investigation where unfitness or hazards are identified.
- Complete remedial work within a reasonable timescale (typically 4 weeks for routine issues, 24-48 hours for emergencies).
- Document everything — communications, investigations, work done, costs.