There’s a significant expansion of the Awaab’s Law requirements due to kick in on November 30.
From that date the 24-hour, 10-working-day and five-working-day timeframes that have applied to damp and mould since the law came into force in October last year will extend to other issues.
So they will also apply to excess cold, excess heat, falls, structural collapse, fire and explosion, electrical hazards, and domestic hygiene.
As before, this will apply only to social housing landlords at this stage – but there is a government commitment to extend this to the private rental sector in the longer term.
George Edwards, managing director of Timberwise, comments: “The same 24-hour, 10-day and five-day structure applies across every new hazard type.
“What’s changed is the breadth of what falls inside it.
“A broken banister, a boiler that failed in December, a smoke alarm that’s not working in an individual flat: these are now Awaab’s Law matters in exactly the way a mould-covered bedroom wall has been since last year.”
Edwards says the guidance places significant weight on the judgement made at the point a hazard is first reported, rather than on the repair work that follows.
The definitions of “significant” and “emergency” hazard both depend on what a reasonable landlord would do given what they know, or ought to know, about the household involved.
“The housing officer taking the call needs to know about a tenant’s asthma, or their mobility needs, or their children’s ages, at the point the report comes in, not weeks later when a survey turns up,” he says.
“Get that triage judgement wrong and every deadline downstream is already compromised.”
On damp and mould specifically, Edwards says the new phase of Awaab’s Law does not relax any existing requirements and, if anything, hardens the expectation that landlords tackle root causes rather than symptoms.
“A dehumidifier and a mould wash are a temporary measure, not a resolution” he states, insisting that landlords must begin, or demonstrably take steps to begin, the supplementary work needed to stop the problem recurring within five working days of an investigation concluding, with a 12-week absolute backstop where specialists or materials are not immediately available.
The Phase 2 guidance also includes worked timeline examples and a template for that written summary.
Neither is compulsory, but Edwards expects both to become reference points if a case is tested by the Housing Ombudsman or the courts, where the key question will be whether a landlord used “all reasonable endeavours” to comply.
