Awaab’s Law: From Rationale To Reality

This article begins a series on Awaab’s Law, reflecting on whether it has achieved its aim, what lessons can be learned and how the regime may develop as it extends to further hazards and, eventually, the private rented sector.

This instalment focuses on the position before Awaab’s law and why reform was necessary. It is from the perspective of our Paralegal, Freya Richardson, who is new to this area of law and examines how the previous legal position and the rationale for reform have contributed to shaping the current legal framework.

Why existing duties were not enough

Before Awaab’s Law, social landlords already had repairing obligations and tenants could raise complaints or bring claims where hazards were not addressed. The weakness was not an absence of duties but a lack of clear, legally binding timescales for investigating and addressing serious hazards.

The law was introduced in memory of Awaab Ishak, who died in 2020 from a severe respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his home. His parents had complained repeatedly for three years, but Rochdale Boroughwide Housing failed to act.

Awaab’s death highlighted the need for landlords to respond consistently, promptly and transparently when serious hazards are identified, and to face stronger accountability when they fail to do so.

Addressing a culture of inaction

Before the legislative reform, the Housing Ombudsman was particularly critical of the way some social landlords responded to complaints. Its main criticisms focused on dismissive attitudes, poor record keeping, repair delays and the tendency to blame tenants’ lifestyle choices for hazards such as damp and mould.

These hazards are among the most significant health concerns in social housing and highlight the close links between your health and housing. As such, Awaab’s Law seeks to ensure that responses are proactive and timebound. It acts as a legal backstop when tenants are left at risk and hazards go unaddressed.

The law has the potential to act as a catalyst, prompting landlords to strengthen and refine their processes to ensure that cases are handled in a timely and effective manner.

Clear and enforceable deadlines

The focus is therefore on timing. Social landlords are now required to investigate significant hazards within 10 working days and complete relevant safety works within five working days of the investigation concluding. For emergency hazards, investigations and relevant safety works must be carried out within 24 hours.

This addresses the previous absence of specific deadlines, which allowed dangerous conditions to persist.

Tenant vulnerability has become an increasingly important factor when prioritising hazard repair work. Awaab’s Law means social landlords can no longer overlook vulnerability when assessing repair requests. Instead, they must identify and prioritise cases involving vulnerable residents, ensuring investigations and repairs are escalated where the risk of harm is greater.

In this way, the law clarifies expectations and seeks to ensure that reports are properly managed and prioritised.

Tellingly, the issue went beyond slow repairs. It reflected broader failings in accountability, resident treatment and organisational culture, all of which prevented tenants from accessing safe housing. Awaab’s Law seeks to address those failures by turning expectations into clear and enforceable obligations.

Whether these safeguards are delivering meaningful change in practice is the focus of the next instalment, in which Jakub Mikulecky, a legal adviser in our team, will examine how the law is operating and whether it is achieving the aims explored here.