If you’re responsible for housing, repairs, compliance or health and safety within a social landlord, 30 November 2026 is a date that needs to be firmly on your radar.
That’s when Phase 2 of Awaab’s Law takes effect.
And this isn’t simply a case of updating a policy and moving on.
The real challenge is making sure that, when a tenant reports a potentially serious hazard, the right people recognise it, investigate it, act within the required timeframe and can show exactly what they’ve done.
For many landlords, that means looking closely at everything from frontline training and contractor arrangements to record-keeping, tenant communication and board-level oversight.
So, what exactly is changing? And what should social landlords be doing now?
Let’s break it down.
What is Awaab’s Law?
Awaab’s Law is the name commonly used for requirements introduced through section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025.
From 30 November 2026, those Regulations will operate as amended by the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.
The legislation followed the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak after prolonged exposure to mould in his home.
At its heart, the law is about something very straightforward: when a serious hazard exists in a social home, tenants should not be left waiting indefinitely for something to be done about it.
The Regulations therefore place specific timeframes around investigating hazards and taking action.
Awaab’s Law applies principally to social housing in England let by registered providers, including local authority landlords and private registered providers such as housing associations.
It does not generally apply to ordinary private businesses or the private rented sector.
There are, however, important details around different tenancy types and landlords’ responsibilities for particular buildings or land. For individual cases, landlords should always refer to the Regulations and current Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government guidance.
What is already in force?
Phase 1 came into force on 27 October 2025.
Since then, social landlords have been required to deal with:
- All emergency hazards, apart from overcrowding.
- Damp and mould hazards that present a significant risk of harm.
The 24-hour emergency requirement is particularly important.
Once a landlord has reason to believe a potential emergency hazard exists, it must investigate within 24 hours of becoming aware of it.
If that investigation confirms an emergency hazard, the relevant safety work needed to make the property safe must be carried out as soon as reasonably practicable and within that same 24-hour period.
But there’s a bigger point here.
Phase 1 was never just about damp and mould.
It forced landlords to think about how information moves through their organisation.
When did you first become aware of the problem? Who triaged it? Was the person investigating competent? What was communicated to the tenant? What work was completed? And can you prove all of that afterwards?
Phase 2 takes those same questions and applies them much more widely.
What changes on 30 November 2026?
From 30 November 2026, the significant-hazard requirements expand beyond damp and mould.
Phase 2 will cover significant risks arising from:
- Damp and mould.
- Excess cold.
- Excess heat.
- Falls on the level, stairs and between levels.
- Structural collapse and falling elements.
- Fire and explosions.
- Electrical hazards.
- Domestic hygiene, including personal hygiene and food safety.
All emergency hazards other than overcrowding will also continue to be covered.
One important distinction is that Awaab’s Law is not the same thing as an HHSRS assessment.
An HHSRS assessment is not required under Awaab’s Law.
Instead, landlords need to look at the actual circumstances of the household. That can include factors such as age, health, disability and other vulnerabilities.
In other words, you cannot look at the property in isolation.
A condition that poses one level of risk to one household could be considerably more serious for another.
That means a hazard may require action under Awaab’s Law even where it would not be assessed as a Category 1 HHSRS hazard.
Fire also deserves particular attention. Fire hazards within a home can fall within Awaab’s Law, while areas regulated by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 are treated differently and sit outside its significant-hazard provisions.
Your teams therefore need to understand how these different duties fit together rather than treating each piece of legislation in isolation.
What are the Phase 2 deadlines?
This is where landlords need absolute clarity.
The Regulations set maximum response periods. They are not targets to aim for where a situation clearly requires faster action.
Potential significant hazards
Once you become aware of a potential significant hazard, you must investigate it within 10 working days.
If the investigation confirms a significant hazard, the relevant safety work must be completed within five working days beginning on the day after the investigation concludes.
A written summary must normally be provided to the tenant within three working days beginning on the day after the investigation concludes.
Potential emergency hazards
Potential emergency hazards move much faster.
You must investigate within 24 hours of becoming aware of the potential hazard.
If an emergency hazard is identified, any relevant safety work needed to make the home safe must be carried out as soon as reasonably practicable and within that same 24-hour period.
Preventing the problem from coming back
Making something temporarily safe may not be the end of the job.
Where supplementary preventative work is needed to stop a significant or emergency hazard recurring, you must begin the work, or take steps to begin it, within five working days of the investigation concluding.
If that cannot happen, the work must begin as soon as reasonably practicable and within 12 weeks at the latest.
That 12-week period is important, but it is often misunderstood.
It is a backstop for starting the supplementary preventative work, not a 12-week deadline for completing every remedial action.
Once work has begun, it must be satisfactorily completed within a reasonable period.
And what about the 15-working-day rule?
This can cause confusion.
The 15-working-day reference is not another repair deadline.
Instead, it forms part of the test used to determine whether a hazard presents a significant risk of harm. Broadly, the question is whether a reasonable landlord, knowing what is known about the hazard and household, would make it safe within 15 working days.
Keep that separate from the actual deadlines for investigation and safety work.
Finally, if relevant safety work cannot be completed within the required timeframe, the landlord may need to secure suitable alternative accommodation for the household at its own expense, subject to the detailed requirements of the Regulations.
Throughout all of this, tenants also need to be kept informed and given appropriate information about staying safe if they remain in an unsafe property.
Six things social landlords should be doing now
November may still feel some way off.
But if your systems, contracts and training need to change, the sensible time to find that out is now—not when the first Phase 2 case lands on somebody’s desk.
1. Follow a hazard report through your organisation
Start with a simple question:
If a tenant reported a serious electrical fault today, what would actually happen?
Not what the policy says should happen. What would happen in practice?
The same question could be asked about a broken staircase, dangerous heat, a structural concern or a serious hygiene issue.
Map every possible reporting route.
A tenant might speak to a call handler. A housing officer might spot something during a visit. A contractor could discover another problem while carrying out unrelated work. A managing agent may receive the first report.
That matters because the legal clock starts when the landlord becomes aware of a potential hazard, and not when the information eventually reaches the “right” team.
Make sure you can establish:
- Who received the information.
- When it was received.
- How it was triaged.
- Who took ownership.
- How an emergency is escalated.
- Where the date and time of awareness are recorded.
If any of those answers are unclear, you’ve found a weakness worth fixing.
2. Train the people who will actually encounter these hazards
A perfect policy sitting on a shared drive will not protect a tenant.
People will.
That means training cannot stop with your compliance or health and safety team.
Call handlers, housing officers, repairs planners, surveyors, maintenance teams, contractors and managers may all be the first person to recognise that something is wrong.
They need to know what to look for, what questions to ask and when to escalate.
Scenario-based training can be particularly useful.
For example:
A tenant calls to say their boiler has failed during a period of very cold weather. There is a baby and an elderly resident in the home. What happens next?
Or:
A contractor attends to fix a leaking tap, and notices exposed electrical wiring. Who do they tell, how quickly and how is it recorded?
Those conversations will tell you far more about your readiness than simply asking staff whether they have read the procedure.
3. Put your existing damp and mould cases under the microscope
Phase 2 expands the requirements. It does not make damp and mould any less important.
Your existing cases can actually be one of the best ways to test whether your current system works.
Take a sample of open and recently completed cases and follow them from beginning to end.
Can you see exactly when the landlord became aware?
Was vulnerability considered?
Was the underlying cause investigated?
Was the tenant kept informed?
Is there evidence of the work completed?
And, crucially, was the case closed because the actual problem was resolved or simply because somebody had cleaned the mould or carried out a temporary repair?
Be particularly cautious about assumptions around tenant “lifestyle”. The focus needs to remain on properly investigating the hazard and its causes.
4. Make tenant communication easy to get right
Under pressure, communication is often one of the first things to become inconsistent.
Good templates help.
Prepare clear, accessible templates covering investigation outcomes, safety advice, repair updates, alternative accommodation and complaints information.
The written summary should explain whether a significant or emergency hazard was identified and, where relevant, what it was.
If further action is required, the tenant should understand what is going to happen and the target timescales for starting and completing it.
If no further action is required under Awaab’s Law, explain that too and explain why.
Most importantly, write for the tenant.
A technically perfect letter is not particularly useful if the person receiving it cannot understand what happens next.
Build translation, accessibility and reasonable-adjustment requirements into the process from the beginning.
5. Check whether your contractors can keep up
Outsourcing work does not outsource your responsibility.
That makes your contractor arrangements a critical part of Awaab’s Law readiness.
Consider what happens when materials are unavailable, specialist approval is required, access fails, or a contractor identifies a completely different hazard while on site.
Who gets told?
How quickly?
What evidence comes back?
And who takes control when a deadline is at risk?
Contracts, service specifications and escalation arrangements should reflect those realities.
You should also understand whether contractors and managing agents may be acting as your agents for the purposes of awareness under the Regulations. Do not assume that information does not count until somebody inside your central team sees it.
6. Give senior leaders information they can actually use
Awaab’s Law cannot live solely inside the repairs department.
Boards and executive teams need enough information to understand whether the organisation is meeting its obligations consistently and not just whether a handful of high-profile cases have been resolved.
Useful measures could include:
- Emergency investigations and safety work completed within 24 hours.
- Significant-hazard investigations completed within 10 working days.
- Relevant safety work completed within five working days.
- Written summaries issued on time.
- Supplementary preventative work approaching the 12-week backstop.
- Repeat hazards.
- Access failures.
- Use of alternative accommodation.
- Contractor performance.
The aim is not reporting for reporting’s sake.
It is giving leaders enough visibility to spot patterns before those patterns turn into serious failures.
Common mistakes to watch for
Some of the biggest risks are not dramatic failures. They are everyday process gaps that gradually become normal.
Watch for teams:
- Treating Awaab’s Law as a damp and mould exercise.
- Starting the clock when a central team receives the case rather than when the landlord first became aware.
- Assuming contractor or managing-agent knowledge can never count as landlord awareness.
- Relying on photographs where an in-person investigation is required.
- Closing cases after cleaning or temporary repairs without addressing the underlying problem.
- Assuming everyday tenant activities caused the hazard.
- Failing to consider the actual household and its vulnerabilities.
- Sending a written summary but failing to keep the tenant updated afterwards.
- Assuming a contractor or warranty provider carries the landlord’s legal responsibility.
- Recording a decision without retaining the evidence behind it.
The principle here is simple:
If you cannot clearly reconstruct what happened, when it happened, who decided what and why, you may struggle to demonstrate that your process worked.
What happens if a landlord gets it wrong?
Awaab’s Law implies terms into relevant social housing tenancy agreements.
If a landlord fails to comply with the Regulations, a tenant may take action through the courts for breach of contract.
A court may order repairs, award compensation and require the landlord to contribute towards legal costs.
Tenants can also use the landlord’s complaints process and escalate complaints to the Housing Ombudsman.
The Regulator of Social Housing does not generally resolve individual complaints, but wider or systemic failures may raise questions about compliance with regulatory standards and potentially lead to regulatory action.
There is also an “all reasonable endeavours” defence, but this should never become Plan A.
If circumstances genuinely outside the landlord’s control prevent compliance, you will need evidence showing the reasonable steps you took.
That could include records of access attempts, contractor arrangements, approval applications and communications with the tenant.
Ultimately, whether that defence succeeds is a matter for the court.
A practical Awaab’s Law readiness check
Before 30 November 2026, ask yourself whether your organisation can confidently say yes to the following:
- We can recognise every hazard category covered by Phase 2.
- We record exactly when we first become aware of a potential hazard.
- Our teams can identify and escalate potential significant and emergency hazards.
- We consider the circumstances and vulnerabilities of the actual household.
- We have competent people available to investigate within the statutory timeframes.
- We can meet the 24-hour requirements for potential emergency hazards.
- We can investigate potential significant hazards within 10 working days.
- We can complete relevant safety work for significant hazards within the required five-working-day period.
- We can issue written summaries within the required three-working-day period.
- We can manage supplementary preventative work within the required timescales and 12-week backstop.
- We know when and how to provide suitable alternative accommodation.
- We keep tenants informed rather than leaving them chasing for updates.
- We can demonstrate contractor competence and performance.
- Senior leaders and the board receive meaningful information about performance and risk.
- Someone is responsible for checking the latest Regulations and official guidance for changes.
Any “no”, “sometimes” or “we think so” is worth investigating before November.
What about Phase 3?
The Government has stated that Phase 3 is expected to extend Awaab’s Law to the remaining HHSRS hazards, other than overcrowding, where they present a significant risk of harm.
That is another reason not to build a Phase 2 process that only works for the specific hazards currently listed.
Think bigger.
A strong system should be capable of handling hazard reporting, investigation, communication, repair control and governance consistently as the requirements expand.
How accuSafe can help
Getting ready for Awaab’s Law is not about adding another document to the compliance library.
It is about knowing that your system will actually work when somebody needs it.
That means asking some uncomfortable but useful questions.
Will frontline teams recognise the hazard?
Will information reach the right person quickly enough?
Can your contractors deliver?
Are responsibilities clear?
And if a director or board member asks for evidence that the system is working, can you give them a confident answer?
accuSafe can help social landlords test those questions before the deadline does it for them.
We support housing organisations with health and safety governance reviews, competent person support, risk reviews, management system audits, contractor arrangements, leadership assurance and relevant training.
That support can be built around a defined Awaab’s Law readiness review, a specific preparation project or flexible ongoing health and safety support.
The important thing is not simply being able to say, “We have an Awaab’s Law procedure.”
It is being able to say:
“We know what happens when a tenant reports a serious hazard, we know who owns it, and we can prove we acted when we needed to.”
With 30 November approaching, now is the time to test that.
Frequently asked questions
Does Awaab’s Law apply to private landlords?
No. Awaab’s Law applies principally to social housing in England within the scope of the Regulations.
Private landlords have separate legal duties covering matters such as repairs, housing conditions and fitness for human habitation.
What is Awaab’s Law Phase 2?
Phase 2 comes into force on 30 November 2026.
It extends the time-bound duties for significant hazards beyond damp and mould to areas including excess cold and heat, falls, structural collapse, fire and explosions, electrical hazards and domestic hygiene.
How quickly must an emergency hazard be dealt with?
A potential emergency hazard must be investigated within 24 hours of the landlord becoming aware of it.
If the investigation confirms an emergency hazard, relevant safety work needed to make the property safe must be carried out as soon as reasonably practicable and within that same 24-hour period.
Other legislation may require an even faster response depending on the circumstances.
Is an HHSRS assessment required for every Awaab’s Law case?
No.
An HHSRS assessment is not required under Awaab’s Law, although HHSRS guidance can help landlords understand different hazard categories.
The important point is that an Awaab’s Law assessment needs to consider the actual tenant, household and property circumstances.
What must be included in the written summary?
The written summary must explain whether the investigation identified a significant or emergency hazard and, where applicable, identify the hazard.
Where further action is required under Awaab’s Law, it must explain what needs to happen and provide target timescales for beginning and completing the work.
Where no further action is required, it should say so and explain why.
The tenant must also be given information about how to contact the landlord.
What is Phase 3 expected to cover?
Phase 3 is expected to extend Awaab’s Law to the remaining HHSRS hazards, other than overcrowding, where they present a significant risk of harm.
As further requirements are introduced, landlords should check current official announcements, Regulations and guidance rather than relying on projected dates.
Where can social landlords find official guidance?
The GOV.UK Awaab’s Law in the social rented sector collection brings together the relevant Regulations, Phase 2 guidance for social landlords and separate hazards guidance.
Landlords should refer to the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, as amended for Phase 2, alongside the latest Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government guidance.
