Awaab’s Law is named after Awaab Ishak, a 2-year-old who tragically died in 2020 from a lung condition caused by mould in his home. His parents told their social landlord about the mould many times over 3 years, but nothing was done to fix the problem. We want to say thank you to Awaab’s family for their work campaigning for a law to make sure social landlords make repairs to their homes within set timeframes. Awaab’s Law aims to make sure no one else has the same experience, and to make sure social landlords fix serious problems quickly.
What is this guidance for?
This guidance aims to help you to understand what Awaab’s Law means for you. It explains what landlords must do and what steps you can take if your landlord doesn’t meet their responsibilities.
Homes that are safe are essential for good health, so it is important to report hazards – particularly if they are having an impact on your health, or make you feel at risk. Your landlord cannot treat you unfairly for making a complaint. They should make clear how you can raise an issue.
A brief summary of Awaab’s Law can be found on the Make Things Right Campaign website.
Quick guide to Awaab’s Law
Emergency hazards and significant damp and mould hazards (as set out in Section 5) must be dealt with by your landlord within set timescales. You need to provide as much information as you can on the hazard and who lives in your home to your landlord, so they can make an accurate decision. Further detail on the information your landlord might need is in Section 6.
Summary of Awaab’s Law:
- emergency repairs must be done within 24 hours
- significant damp and mould hazards must be investigated within 10 working days and made safe within 5 working days
- if your home can’t be made safe in time, your landlord must offer you somewhere else suitable to stay until it is. More information on suitable alternative accommodation can be found in Section 9
- your landlord needs to tell you what is happening once you have reported an issue and if action they take is covered by Awaab’s Law. They must give you a written summary within 3 working days of an investigation finishing. More information on written summaries can be found in Section 8
- if you report an issue and it hasn’t been sorted or you’re not happy, you can complain to your landlord through your landlord’s complaints process
- if you’re not happy with your landlord’s final response to your complaint, you can take your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman
- you can also go through the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims. This is a process that helps tenants and landlords try to fix issues before going to court. More information on the routes to take if your landlord doesn’t act can be found in Section 11
2. What does Awaab’s Law include
Awaab’s Law means that social landlords must investigate significant hazards caused by damp or mould and all emergency hazards in your home and make them safe within set deadlines.
Awaab’s Law means:
- emergency hazards (for example, dangerous electrical faults, damaged external doors or windows and major leaks) must be investigated and made safe within 24 hours
- significant damp and mould hazards must be investigated within 10 working days of it being reported and then must be made safe within 5 working days of the investigation finishing
- your landlord must give you a written summary of what they found and how they will make the property safe within 3 working days after the investigation is finished
- if more work is needed to stop the hazard from coming back, your landlord must start the work or make plans for the work to begin within 5 working days of the investigation finishing. All work must begin within 12 weeks at the latest
- if your home can’t be made safe in time, your landlord must offer and find you somewhere else to stay for free, while they do the works needed to make your home safe for you to return
Your landlord must keep you updated throughout the process and give you advice on how to stay safe while repairs are being made.
For even more information on Awaab’s Law, please click the following link: Awaab’s Law: Guidance for tenants in social housing – GOV.UK