Awaab’s Law: compliance, consequences, and oversight for social housing providers

This is the third instalment in our ongoing series of articles examining how social landlords can meet the requirements of Awaab’s Law.

We explore practical steps to ensure compliance, the risks and consequences of falling short, and the critical roles played by the Housing Ombudsman and the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in enforcing standards and accountability.

Steps for compliance

From 1 October 2025, social landlords must address significant damp and mould that pose a serious risk of harm within set timescales and complete emergency repairs within 24 hours.

From 2026, the law will expand to include other significant risks such as excess cold/heat, falls, structural collapse, fire, and electrical hazards.

From 2027, the law will cover all remaining hazards.

To prepare, social landlords should take the following steps:

• Audit: Conduct a thorough audit of current response times and identify areas for improvement and implement systems to ensure compliance with the new timelines. Schedule regular follow up audits to monitor ongoing compliance.
• Review procedures: Ensure repair teams can meet the required deadlines. Remember, the clock starts ticking as soon as you are made aware of an issue.
• Maintain records: Keep detailed records of inspections, work orders, and tenant communications. Good documentation may help provide a defence should a tenant bring a claim against you.
• Understand tenant needs: Gather and maintain data on tenant characteristics and vulnerabilities. This information is critical in assessing whether a hazard poses a significant risk.
• Board oversight: Boards must receive and review the right data, to get a clear understanding on stock and compliance with the requirements. They may, for example, need to see comprehensive stock surveys rather than just looking at response times for repairs and complaints. Your board should have a strong oversight of your stock’s condition, including damp and mould and other hazards. Effective management oversight is crucial for addressing these.
• Training and awareness: Train staff to identify and respond to hazards, especially those that qualify as emergencies and ensure that they are aware of the new requirements.

Your ability to properly deal with hazards including damp and mould will often depend on your staff being able to properly identify it as an emergency issue; this is particularly important as the timescales start as soon as the call comes in or the email is received.

Promote a proactive culture where staff actively look for hazards. Ensure staff understand their roles and responsibilities.

• Use stock survey data: Use stock survey data to identify properties at higher risk. Conduct regular inspections – do not wait for complaints.
• Engage with tenants: Inform tenants about the new law and how to report hazards and encourage them to do so. Make the process for reporting damp and mould and other hazards simple and accessible. Establish a clear escalation process.
• Complaints handling: Ensure tenants know how to raise complaints internally or via the Housing Ombudsman. Adhere to the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.
• Update service agreements: Update your service level agreements with your contractors to reflect the new requirements and deadlines. Maintain an up-to-date and reliable contractor list with sufficient capacity.

Consequences of non-compliance

Failure to comply with Awaab’s Law can lead to legal action, compensation claims, and reputational damage, which we explore below.

Breach of contract

Tenants may pursue legal action for breach of contract, and unfortunately there are no shortage of ‘ambulance chasers’ out there.

If a case does reach the court, and the landlord is found to be in breach, the court can order the landlord to do the repairs, pay compensation to the resident, or pay some or all the resident’s legal costs.

Defending these claims is costly and time consuming; it is far better to avoid them arising in the first place by ensuring that there is no case to answer. Maintaining thorough records can help demonstrate reasonable efforts and serve as a defence.

Housing Ombudsman

Alternatively, tenants may wish to complain to the Housing Ombudsman which has the power to:

• order repairs and compensation;
• publicly name and shame landlords, causing reputational harm;
• trigger regulatory intervention.

Regulator of Social Housing (RSH)

The RSH may take action, especially under the strengthened consumer standards regime. Increased government scrutiny may lead to stricter enforcement, with poor performers potentially being publicly held to account.

Reputational damage

Negative press can severely impact your organisation’s credibility and viability. Poor performance may attract hostile merger attempts or stakeholder disengagement.

Stakeholders

Partners and stakeholders may distance themselves from underperforming landlords. Political and public scrutiny can escalate quickly, leaving little room for recovery.

In summary

Historically, some social landlords have fallen short in prioritising tenant health and safety. Awaab’s Law marks a significant shift in the responsibilities of social landlords. It introduces clear standards and strict timelines for addressing hazards. Now is the time to ensure your systems, culture, and service delivery are fit for purpose.

If you would like support in navigating the requirements of Awaab’s Law, please contact Caroline Leviss or Hugo Stephens. The next article in this series will look at the challenges of gaining access to properties and strategies for managing situations where access is denied.