Awaab’s Law: knowing your tenants and having the right data

This is the second instalment in our series of articles exploring what social landlords should be doing to ensure compliance with Awaab’s Law. Here we focus on the importance of accurate tenant data and how it can be used to prioritise hazards effectively.

Awaab’s Law and consumer standards

Awaab’s Law brings together the key obligations imposed on social landlords by the new consumer standards; in particular:

• the transparency, influence and accountability standard which requires meaningful engagement with tenants; and
• the safety and quality standard which requires an accurate and up to date understanding of the condition of their tenants’ homes.

Together, these standards reinforce the need for landlords to know their tenants and understand their homes.

The concept of relevant knowledge

A key concept which runs throughout the draft Awaab’s Law guidance is ‘relevant knowledge’.

This plays a crucial role in determining how social housing providers must respond to hazards, particularly in the first phase of implementation, which focuses on damp, mould, and emergency hazards.

The draft guidance states that relevant knowledge is the knowledge that the landlord of the social home has, or reasonably ought to have, about the health and circumstances of the tenant. This includes both:

• actual knowledge: information the landlord already holds (eg medical conditions disclosed by by the tenant, previous complaints or inspection reports);
• constructive knowledge: information the landlord should be aware of through reasonable diligence (eg patterns of complaints, known vulnerabilities, or poor property conditions).

This is crucial, as the extent of a landlord’s relevant knowledge directly influences how a hazard is classified as either:

• a significant hazard (requiring action within a reasonable timeframe); or
• an emergency hazard (requiring urgent investigation and repair).

For example, if a tenant with a known respiratory condition reports mould in their home, the landlord’s relevant knowledge of the health vulnerability may elevate the risk to an emergency hazard.

Accurate data matters

Social landlords are responsible for identifying the type of hazard present and whether it qualifies as an emergency or significant hazard. The assessment should be based on all information available to them including the specific circumstances and the characteristics of the tenant. As relevant knowledge includes constructive knowledge, social landlords need to ensure that they have:

• accurate, easily accessible and current data;
• details of tenant characteristics, such as disabilities, long-term health conditions, pregnancy or the presence of young or elderly people;
• information on communication and language needs.

Without this data, landlords risk misclassifying hazards and failing to act within the required time limits.

The role of local housing officers

Whilst the law does not require the reintroduction of local housing officers, many social landlords are recognising the value these roles bring in fostering meaningful tenant engagement. Whilst technology, IT and even AI can support data collection and analysis, face-to-face contact remains irreplaceable when it comes to understanding tenants’ needs.

Some social landlords are reorganising their housing management teams to re-introduce patch-based local housing officers who are responsible for specific areas and who build relationships with tenants.

IT and data integration

As categorising risk is key to ensuring compliance with Awaab’s Law, social landlords cannot simply react to problems as they arise, they must become pro-active and look to identify potential issues before they become problems. Clearly having local housing officers who know the tenants and the properties on their patch will be invaluable, but the real game changer as regards being pro-active is the effective use of IT and proper data integration. This means:

• using IT systems to predict and prevent hazards;
• ensuring data is accurate, accessible and current;
• integrating data from multiple sources, including:
  • stock condition surveys;
  • repair history;
  • tenant complaints and surveys;
  • site visits;
  • safety checks (eg gas, electrical);
  • asset lifecycle data (eg windows, boilers).

The challenge lies in joining up these data resources to create a complete picture of both the property and the tenant. This requires investment in systems, processes, and staff training.

Conclusion

The expectations under Awaab’s Law are high, and rightly so. The Regulator is closely monitoring performance against the consumer standards and the Housing Ombudsman is taking a firm stance on tenant complaints.

For social landlords, this is not just a compliance issue, it’s a chance to transform how they engage with tenants, manage risk, and deliver safe and decent homes.