What is Awaab’s Law — and what should happen if you report damp or mould in your council or housing association home?

What is Awaab’s Law?

Awaab’s Law is named after Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old boy who died in 2020 after prolonged exposure to mould in a housing association flat in Rochdale. His death led to a change in the law that now sets strict, legally enforceable time limits for social landlords to investigate and fix hazards in the home — rather than leaving tenants to chase repairs for months, as his family did.

The law came into force on 27 October 2025 and applies across England’s social rented sector: council housing and housing association homes.

Does Awaab’s Law apply to you if you rent privately?

Not yet. Awaab’s Law currently applies only to social housing — if your landlord is a council or a housing association. The Renters’ Rights Act, which took effect on 1 May 2026, contains a power to extend the same strict deadlines to private landlords in future, but the government has said it will consult on how this should work for the private rented sector first. Most commentary suggests this is unlikely before 2027.

If you are a private tenant, you are not without protection in the meantime. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, your home must be fit to live in when you move in and throughout your tenancy — and serious damp or mould can legally count as making a home unfit. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 also requires your landlord to keep the structure, exterior and key installations (heating, water, electrics) in repair.

How quickly must a social landlord act if you report damp or mould?

Awaab’s Law sets out clear timeframes, and it is worth knowing the exact numbers so you can hold your landlord to them:

• Emergency hazards — within 24 hours. This covers gas leaks, a broken boiler with no heating or hot water, total loss of water, dangerous electrics, a significant water leak, a broken external door or window that leaves your home insecure, or damp and mould serious enough to pose an immediate risk. Your landlord must take steps to make the hazard safe within 24 hours of being told about it.
• Significant hazards — investigated within 10 working days. If a hazard poses a significant risk to your health or safety but is not an emergency, your landlord must formally investigate within 10 working days of finding out about it.
• Significant damp and mould — repairs started within 5 working days of the investigation confirming there is a genuine hazard.

For emergency issues, an initial investigation can be done remotely (for example, over the phone or by video call) so that action starts immediately, rather than waiting for someone to visit in person.

What happens if the repair cannot be finished in time?

This is one of the most useful protections in the whole law, and many tenants do not know about it. If your landlord cannot complete the necessary work within the required timeframe, they must offer you and your household free, suitable alternative accommodation until it is safe for you to return home. You should not be left living with a serious hazard simply because a repair is taking longer than the law allows.

What is changing from October 2026?

The first phase of Awaab’s Law, from October 2025, focused mainly on damp and mould. From October 2026, a second phase widens the list of hazards covered by the same strict deadlines to include:

• Excess cold and excess heat
• Falls (for example, from stairs or a poorly fitted handrail)
• Structural collapse
• Fire, electrical hazards, and explosions
• Hygiene and food safety issues (such as a broken kitchen extractor fan or pest infestations affecting food storage)

This matters particularly if you are over 55 and live in social housing: excess cold and fall hazards are two of the leading causes of serious injury and hospital admission among older people at home, and until now landlords have not faced the same hard legal deadline to fix them that already applied to damp and mould.

What should you do if your landlord does not respond in time?

If you have reported a hazard and your council or housing association has missed the legal deadline, you have several routes open to you:

• Put it in writing. Even if you reported the problem by phone, follow up with an email or letter stating the date you first reported it, so there is a clear record of the timeline.
• Make a formal complaint through your landlord’s official complaints procedure — this is usually the first step before anyone else can look into it.
• Contact the Housing Ombudsman Service if your landlord’s own complaints process does not resolve things. The Ombudsman investigates disputes between tenants and social landlords free of charge and can order landlords to carry out repairs or pay compensation.
• Get advice from Shelter or Citizens Advice if the problem is serious or ongoing — both offer free, practical guidance on your rights and, in some cases, can help you take legal action for a court order or compensation.

Keep photographs of the damp or mould, note down every phone call and its date, and ask for repair visits to be confirmed in writing. This record can make a real difference if you need to escalate your case.