The tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in 2020, from a severe respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to black mould in his Rochdale social housing flat, highlighted systemic failures in how damp and mould was addressed in UK social housing.
A coroner’s inquest ruled that inadequate ventilation and persistent mould in the Greater Manchester home directly contributed to the youngster’s death. Complaints to the landlord, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing, had not been adequately addressed for years.
As a result, on 27th October 2025, the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, also known as Awaab’s Law, came into force. These regulations amend tenancy agreements and impose strict, legally enforceable duties on social landlords.
No less importantly, the introduction of Awaab’s Law – named in Awaab’s memory – signals a major shift. Whereas guidance on damp and mould previously existed but was non-binding, the new regulations place the emphasis on clear accountability, rapid responses, and evidence-based actions.
Awaab’s Law makes issues of tenant health and safety – particularly hazards from damp and mould – central to compliance, governance, and reputation. It elevates damp and mould from routine maintenance matters to high-priority risks, alongside fire safety or structural issues.
What does Awaab’s Law actually require landlords to do?
At the moment, Awaab’s Law is initially and primarily applicable to social landlords. This includes housing associations and councils. Although it did not immediately apply to the private rented sector, the expectation was that it would be extended to private landlords through the Renters’ Rights Act in the future.
Under Awaab’s Law, social landlords are required to investigate and address reported hazards. The regulations have a phased focus starting with damp and mould (and all emergency hazards), to be expanded on later.
The following requirements are included in Awaab’s Law:
- Initial investigation: within 10 working days of the landlord becoming aware of a hazard, they must investigate and identify the cause of the hazard. They are also required to provide a summary of findings within three working days of the investigation ending.
- Repair deadlines: if a significant hazard is identified, it is necessary for relevant safety works to begin and be completed within five working days after the investigation concludes. Supplementary preventative works, to address root causes and prevent recurrence, must start within five working days and be complete as soon as practicable (within 12 weeks at most if delayed).
- Emergency hazards: in the event of a potential emergency hazard being reported, such as severe mould posing a high-risk health threat, the landlord has a 24-hour window in which to investigate and take necessary action to remove the risk.
- Alternative accommodation: if a property cannot be made safe within the set timescales, the landlord is required to provide alternative accommodation.
- Recordkeeping: landlords are obliged to maintain detailed records of all actions taken, so that they can prove compliance.
- Prohibition of “lifestyle” blame: as well as the list of things that landlords must do in accordance with Awaab’s Law, there is a certain crucial thing they must not do: dismiss damp and mould issues as simply attributable to the tenant’s lifestyle.
Nor, under Awaab’s Law, is it sufficient for landlords to claim “best efforts” without evidence. This is because the legislation shifts the standard from reactive, subjective, or well-intentioned promises to strict, codifiable, and evidence-based compliance.
Who is responsible for Awaab’s Law and where do duties sit?
Awaab’s Law applies to rented social housing sector landlords in England. This encompasses local authorities, housing associations, and other registered providers letting under tenancy agreements.
Responsibilities under these new regulations span multiple teams, including:
- Housing management (tenant reports and communication)
- Compliance and health and safety (risk assessment)
- Assets and maintenance (inspections and repairs)
- Repairs and contractors (execution).
Cases of unclear ownership can bring major compliance risks. For example, a report may fall between teams, leading to delayed action and regulatory breaches.
A combination of documented responsibility, decision logs, and clear escalation paths can greatly help minimise these risks.
Why are response times and records central to compliance?
Short response times and comprehensive records are compliance cornerstones under Awaab’s Law. The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) and the Housing Ombudsman are likely to scrutinise such aspects as:
- Landlords’ timeliness against statutory maxima; landlords should act faster than the maximum legally permitted time window, where possible.
- Evidence of investigations, communications, actions, and completions.
- Root-cause addressing of issues to prevent recurrence.
Landlords subject to Awaab’s Law need to be aware of the critical distinction between completing the work and proving it was completed on time. If records are poor or missing, this will heighten the likelihood of enforcement actions, fines, and complaints.
How does Awaab’s Law change day-to-day housing management?
Awaab’s Law, having now come into force for England’s social rented housing sector, fundamentally changes how such accommodation needs to be managed on a day-to-day basis:
- Landlords can expect higher inspection volumes and follow-up actions for issues that tenants report to them.
- Issues with damp and mould in properties often link to wider problems such as leaks, poor insulation, ventilation failures, and structural defects.
- Landlords with responsibility for large housing portfolios may find it especially challenging to keep on top of their compliance management under Awaab’s Law.
- Related to the above point, if landlords persist with exclusively reactive and manual processes for managing compliance at their properties, they are likely to find this approach quickly becomes unsustainable. Such non-automated processes do not scale well, which can lead to missed deadlines and compliance inconsistencies.
Awaab’s Law as part of wider compliance: why can’t damp and mould be managed in isolation?
Awaab’s Law is largely associated with the need to proactively tackle the risks of damp and mould. However, landlords must not interpret this as a signal that they should be squarely focused on damp and mould, at the expense of losing focus on other aspects of property and compliance management.
Damp and mould, after all, are rarely “the disease” itself; they are usually symptoms of other underlying issues in a property. So, it will be an ineffective course of action for the landlord to treat only the mould in a given building without addressing the root cause.
As issues, damp and mould can very much overlap in a home with such other critical matters as fire safety, asbestos, legionella (related to the property’s water systems), and overall asset condition. If a landlord’s systems for managing these various risks are kept siloed, this can increase the risk of oversight failures.
For example, if poor ventilation in a building is contributing to damp and mould, it is crucial to be mindful of how this same poor ventilation may adversely impact on smoke control (and therefore fire safety) as well.
Joined-up risk management, then, supports the achievement of better compliance outcomes all-round. When a landlord can access a single view of their properties, risks, actions, and history, they will be better placed to prevent recurrence and drive holistic improvements.
Managing Awaab’s Law in practice: how can social housing providers stay compliant and in control?
If you are a landlord or housing provider in the social rented sector in England, you will hopefully now understand the need for integrated systems if you are to stay compliant and retain control.
Using Vision Pro Software as such an integrated system can enable you to:
- Consolidate risks, assets, and actions into a single platform
- Standardise inspections and assessments across teams and contractors to ensure consistency
- Track response times, actions, and remediation with automated audit trails and timestamps
- Access real-time dashboards to maintain oversight across your housing stock, thereby also putting yourself in a strong position to detect and act on issues early
- Support field inspections with photo and/or video evidence capture on mobile
- Link cases of damp and mould to broader asset and compliance data, such as Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) scores
- Generate clear evidence for audits, complaints, regulatory reviews, and/or court proceedings.
Final thoughts: how can landlords move from reactive responses to long-term control?
Ultimately, the introduction of Awaab’s Law is aimed at enforcing accountability, evidence, and timeliness to protect tenants. These new regulations underscore that a landlord being well-prepared and following structured processes matters more than reactive “firefighting”. After all, the rushing of fixes without the support of wider systems can easily lead to repeated failures.
In the long term, it is crucial for a landlord or housing provider to treat damp and mould within a broader risk management framework. This will allow them to improve tenant safety, reduce the scope for complaints and litigation, enhance reputation, and support regulatory compliance.
By implementing the right digital systems, you will be taking a big step towards ensuring the greatest possible control, efficiency, and better outcomes for yourself and your tenants. You will be playing your own part, then, in turning a tragic lesson into lasting change.
Contact the Vision Pro Software team today, and we will be happy to give you access to a demo of our system. This will allow you to see our cloud-based platform in action, so that you can make an informed decision on implementing it to support your compliance efforts.