The Government has confirmed that Awaab’s Law Phase 1 will commence on 27 October 2025, subject to parliamentary approval. The ‘Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025’, known as Awaab’s Law, were laid in Parliament on 25 June 2025.
Based on our discussions with social housing providers, the sector has been gearing up for Phase 1 for some time, and so hopefully these latest developments will not result in landlords having to go back to the drawing board.
The Government has produced draft guidance Awaab’s Law, upon which they have asked for feedback to ensure that it is as helpful as possible, to socialhousingsafety@communities.gov.uk. The further clarity they offer is welcomed, although only a four-month lead-in time between guidance and implementation presents a challenge for the sector. It is imperative that social housing providers provide their feedback as soon as possible to ensure their voice is heard.
The Government has also acknowledged the potential risk of exploitation of vulnerable tenants when seeking assistance to address potential failures of the landlord in complying with the strict requirements of Awaab’s Law. The Minister for Housing and Planning and the Minister for Courts and Legal Service have announced their intention to launch a call for evidence in relation to claims management company referrals to solicitors on a no win no fee basis.
There is also a focus on electrical safety within the social housing sector.
Phase 1 Awaab’s Law – 27 October 2025
The requirements of Phase 1 relate to damp and mould hazards and emergencies and set out a timescale of 15 working days, unless there is an emergency, for social landlords to investigate, make a property safe and commence works.
The key points for those working in the sector are:
- If a social landlord becomes aware of a matter or circumstance in a social home that may be a hazard within scope, they must investigate within 10 working days to ascertain if there is such a hazard.
- The social landlord must produce a written summary of the findings of the investigation (in most cases) and provide this to residents within three working days of the investigation concluding.
- If the investigation finds that a hazard presents a significant risk of harm to the health or safety of a resident, the social landlord must, in most circumstances, within five working days of the investigation concluding, make the property safe (using temporary measures if necessary) and begin any further required works. The social landlord must satisfactorily complete repair works within a reasonable time period. If steps cannot be taken to begin the works within five working days, this must be done as soon as possible, and work must be physically started within 12 weeks.
- In an emergency situation, the social landlord must investigate and action any emergency repairs as soon as reasonably practicable and, in any event, within 24 hours.
- If the property cannot be made safe within the specified timescales for Awaab’s Law, then the social landlord must offer to arrange for the residents to stay in suitable alternative accommodation, at the social landlord’s expense, until required repairs are completed.
It is of note that the timescales have been clarified to be based on working days, thereby affording the landlord a little, but not much, more time to investigate and take appropriate action.
Communication throughout is a critical element to the service expected of the landlord, and it is clear that tenants must be kept updated throughout the process and given information on how to remain safe.
The guidance also clarifies that the law will apply to almost all types of residents although it will not apply to temporary accommodation, supported accommodation or other housing occupied under a licence. Neither will it apply to long leaseholds, other owner-occupied accommodation or low-cost home ownership homes, including shared ownership.
Landlords will have a defence where they have taken all reasonable steps to comply with the requirements but have been unable to do so for reasons genuinely beyond their control, such as:
- Where building control approval is required from the Building Safety Regulator or permissions are required from other external bodies for works, so long as the landlord can show that appropriate steps are being taken to obtain these.
- Where there have been access issues, so long as the landlord has taken reasonable steps to arrange a time to access the property within the timeframes.
- Where the landlord has been unable to source specialist contractors or materials within the timeframes but has made reasonable efforts to do so.
- Where the landlord has made reasonable efforts to secure suitable alternative accommodation but there may be no suitable properties which are a reasonable distance from the schools/places of work required by the tenant and their family, or in the local area. In this circumstance it would be expected that the landlord could work with the tenant to identify the next best option.
These are already familiar defences for social landlords in the context of housing conditions claims. Records keeping, as always, will be an essential element of the process for landlords in the context of Awaab’s Law, including retention of all correspondence with tenants, contractors and relevant external bodies, to evidence the attempts to comply with the law and to prove that any failure to comply was beyond the landlord’s control. As always, ‘reasonableness’ will be a fact specific assessment, and it will ultimately be for a judge to decide if there has been a breach of Awaab’s Law on the facts of each particular case.
Tenants will be able to challenge their landlords where they have not met their obligations in relation to Awaab’s Law, ultimately by pursuing a civil claim if necessary. The guidance states that tenants are encouraged to try and resolve concerns via their social landlord’s formal complaints procedure in the first instance. This is consistent with the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims (“the Protocol”) as it applies to ‘typical’ conditions claims. However, the practicalities of complying with the Protocol against the potential need for urgent action to remedy serious defects does appear to pose a challenge.
Whilst tenants should ensure that they have put their social landlord on notice of disrepair before engaging the Protocol, there is no requirement for them to have gone through a formal complaint procedure or Housing Ombudsman investigation before taking formal legal action. The guidance highlights that the timelines for Awaab’s Law will not usually run simultaneously with those in the Protocol. Time will tell how this is approached by legal practitioners in practice.
Claims farmer scrutiny
The Government has also acknowledged the need to ensure that both tenants and social landlords are not unfairly targeted by unscrupulous claims farming activity. The Call for Evidence, set to be launched later this year, will gather evidence on claims management companies with a view to reducing what could be considered unscrupulous claims farming activity. There are also plans to share insights on poor practices with the SRA and FCA in order to assist them with regulating inappropriate behaviours and practices. All of this will be welcome news for social housing providers.
The Government hopes to build on their “Make Things Right” campaign which already informs tenants on the use of complaints procedures and the Housing Ombudsman Service, by including information on the new requirements to be brought in by Awaab’s Law.
It will be interesting to see what changes, if any, the Call for Evidence leads to. However, social landlords will no doubt be hopeful that referral fees paid to claims farmers are scrutinised, along with the level of success fees which are payable by tenants to their solicitors.
Electrical safety
The electrical safety regulations that currently apply to the private rented sector are also to be extended to the social housing sector, requiring social landlords to carry out:
- Checks on electrical installations for social housing at least every five years; and
- In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment (ISIT) on all electrical appliances they provide as part of a tenancy (sometimes known as “PAT testing”).
Step 2 of the Awaab’s Law implementation will extend regulations to cover electrical hazards and so this increased focus on fire safety should help prepare social landlords in advance of this.
In summary, social landlords should be ready for the implementation of Awaab’s Law on 27 October 2025, at which point they will have to address all emergency hazards and all damp and mould hazards presenting a significant risk of harm in the prescribed timeframes. They should also be considering how to further amend their processes for Step 2, which will be introduced in 2026 and will extend the regulations to include the hazards of excess cold and heat; falls associated with baths etc. on level surfaces, stairs and between levels; structural collapse and explosions; fire and electrical hazards; and domestic and personal hygiene and food safety. Step 3 will follow in 2027 extending regulations to all remaining hazards apart from overcrowding.
The Housing Ombudsman’s statement regarding the Government’s draft guidance has also highlighted that social landlords should not wait until the last moment to make changes, and attention should be given to other hazards as soon as possible, especially when mould is present alongside other hazards in the same home or block. The Ombudsman is pushing for a culture change in housing management, with social landlords adopting a zero-tolerance culture towards hazards. Landlords therefore need to also have an eye on gearing up for Phases 2 and 3 now, in anticipation.
This insight is co-authored by Principal Associate, Clare Jones. clare.jones@weightmans.com
