Healthy homes / Tenant safety / England
Awaab’s Law: a safer home starts with action
Social landlords in England now have legal deadlines to investigate significant damp and mould and make homes safe. Here is what tenants can expect, and why fixing the cause matters.
The law is named in memory of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died in 2020 after prolonged exposure to mould in his home. Its first phase took effect on 27 October 2025.
At a glance
The key deadlines
These are maximum timeframes for the hazards covered in Phase 1. A landlord may need to act faster when the circumstances call for it.
Awaab’s Law / Phase 1
When a home is unsafe, the clock is ticking.
24 hours
Investigate and make emergency hazards safe
10 days
Investigate potential significant damp or mould (working days)
3 days
Send written findings after investigation (working days)
5 days
Make a significant hazard safe after investigation (working days)
The non-emergency deadlines are working days.
Expand the deadline explanation
- Emergency: investigate and, if an emergency hazard is found, complete the relevant safety work as soon as reasonably practicable and within 24 hours of the landlord becoming aware.
- Significant damp or mould: investigate within 10 working days of becoming aware of the potential hazard; make the home safe within 5 working days after the investigation ends.
- Written update: give the resident the investigation summary within 3 working days of its conclusion, subject to the exception where the work has already been started and completed in that period.
- If the home cannot be made safe in time: offer suitable temporary accommodation at the landlord’s expense until the home is safe.
01 / The basics
What is Awaab’s Law?
It puts enforceable repair duties into social housing tenancy agreements. It covers all emergency hazards and, in its first phase, damp and mould hazards that present a significant risk of harm.
It applies to social housing tenancies in England, including homes let by councils and housing associations. Some temporary and supported accommodation is covered where it is occupied under a social housing tenancy; a licence arrangement may be different.
These Phase 1 deadlines do not currently apply to ordinary private tenancies or owner-occupied homes. Other duties to maintain safe housing can still apply.
Risk depends on the people living there
A landlord must consider the hazard and the circumstances of the household. For example, a young child or someone with a respiratory illness can affect how serious or urgent a damp and mould problem is.
Report any damp or mould. The landlord has to assess it; tenants do not need to decide whether it meets a legal threshold before reporting it.
02 / What the landlord must do
Investigate, explain and make the home safe
The timescales begin when the landlord becomes aware of a potential hazard. The emergency route and the significant damp and mould route have different clocks.
01
Emergency hazard
Investigate and, if confirmed, finish the work needed to make the home safe as soon as reasonably practicable, within 24 hours of becoming aware.
02
Significant damp or mould
Investigate a potential significant hazard within 10 working days of becoming aware of it.
03
Written findings
Give the tenant a written summary within 3 working days after the investigation finishes, unless the work has been started and completed within that period.
04
Make the home safe
Complete relevant safety work within 5 working days after the investigation finishes for a confirmed significant hazard. If that cannot be done in time, offer suitable temporary accommodation.
After the immediate danger: work needed to prevent the hazard returning must begin, or steps to begin it must be taken, within 5 working days of the investigation ending. Where it cannot start immediately, it must start as soon as reasonably practicable and within 12 weeks.
03 / Finding the cause
Why does the damp or mould keep coming back?
Removing visible mould can be a useful first step, but a lasting repair depends on finding the source. The cause might be a leak, rain penetration, a cold wall, insufficient heating or ventilation that does not remove enough moisture. Several problems can occur together.
Government guidance explicitly warns landlords against assuming damp and mould are caused by a tenant’s “lifestyle”. Cooking, bathing and drying laundry produce moisture in any occupied home; these everyday activities are not, by themselves, a reason to avoid investigating.
Look at the whole home
Check the building as a system, including water ingress, cold surfaces, heating and ventilation.
- Check gutters, roofs, plumbing and other sources of water ingress.
- Check cold surfaces, thermal bridges and insulation gaps.
- Check bathroom and kitchen extraction and the path for replacement air.
- Check whether heating is effective and affordable to use.
- Check whether earlier retrofit work changed airflow or moisture behaviour.
Where a landlord-controlled deficiency such as missing ventilation or poor insulation causes a hazard, the guidance says the landlord must address that underlying cause.
04 / For tenants
What to do when you spot damp or mould
Report it promptly through your landlord’s repairs route. For an urgent danger, use the emergency reporting route or phone number. Explain where the problem is, how long it has been there and whether anyone in the household has health needs that may increase the risk.
- Make a clear report. Give the location, the extent of the problem, any leaks or broken fans and the date you first noticed it.
- Keep a record. Save dated photos, your report reference and copies of messages. You do not need a special camera app.
- Help arrange access. Agree a practical inspection time and tell the landlord about any access needs.
- Ask what happens next. Request the investigation findings, safety work plan and dates in writing.
If the landlord does not act
Use the landlord’s complaints process. After its final response, or where the complaint is otherwise eligible, you can contact the Housing Ombudsman. Tenants can also seek advice about legal action for a breach of tenancy obligations.
The GOV.UK guide for social housing tenants explains the process and where to get free advice.
05 / For landlords
A repair system needs to see the risk early
Reports need prompt triage, capable investigation and clear communication with residents. A repair logged as “mould on a bedroom wall” may point to a roof leak, a ventilation failure or a cold surface elsewhere in the building.
Make the home safe within the relevant deadline, then arrange the necessary work to stop the hazard recurring. Keep the resident updated throughout.
- Train the people who receive and inspect hazard reports.
- Record the date the organisation first became aware of the issue.
- Consider the circumstances of everyone living in the home.
- Document findings, communication, safety work and follow-on work.
- Inspect whether repairs actually resolved the cause.
06 / The retrofit connection
A warmer home also needs a moisture plan
Good insulation can raise surface temperatures and reduce heat loss. Good ventilation removes everyday moisture. Effective heating helps maintain comfort. These systems need to work together, especially after a home has been made more airtight.
Improving one measure without checking the others can leave damp, condensation or cold spots unresolved. The right solution starts with a proper diagnosis of the building and the household’s needs.
MyWarmHome’s view
Check the building fabric, insulation, ventilation and heating as one system. A mould wash may remove the visible symptom; repairing a leak, improving extraction or correcting a cold bridge may be what prevents it returning.
07 / What changes next
The law is expanding in phases
Phase 2 is scheduled to start on 30 November 2026. Until then, Phase 1 covers all emergency hazards and significant damp and mould hazards; other existing housing safety duties continue to apply.
From 27 October 2025
Phase 1
All emergency hazards and damp and mould hazards presenting a significant risk of harm.
From 30 November 2026
Phase 2
Significant hazards also include excess cold and heat, falls, structural collapse, fire and explosions, electrical hazards and domestic hygiene.
Planned for 2027
Phase 3
Further extension to the remaining Housing Health and Safety Rating System hazards, excluding overcrowding.
For the full Phase 2 list and explanation, read our Awaab’s Law Phase 2 guide.
A better standard for healthy homes
Warm. Dry. Ventilated. Safe.
Awaab’s Law sets deadlines for action when serious hazards arise. Preventing them from returning calls for careful inspection, clear communication and repairs that address the actual cause. For damp and mould, that often means looking at the whole home.
Keep reading
Related guides
Sources: GOV.UK Awaab’s Law collection, Phase 1 landlord guidance and tenant guidance. Checked 23 September 2026. The article is general information; individual cases depend on the facts and the applicable tenancy.