The non-statutory guidance has been released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) to help social landlords understand their duties in relation to Awaab’s Law
With the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, commonly referred to as Awaab’s Law, coming into force for the social rented sector on 27 October 2025, social landlords will be required to address all emergency hazards that present a significant risk of harm to tenants to fixed timeframes.
Named for 2-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died in 2020 from a severe respiratory condition after prolonged exposure to mould in his home which was not treated by the social landlord, the guidance explains that “living in hazardous conditions can have a substantial impact on people’s health, safety, and wellbeing. While many landlords take timely and effective action to address hazards, Awaab’s Law serves as a legal backstop for the cases where social landlords are failing to make repairs quickly enough, leaving their tenants at risk.”
Awaab’s Law applies to almost all social housing occupied under a tenancy and let by a registered provider.
Under the new legislation, upon being made aware of a hazard, social landlords should use all available information to initially determine if it is potentially a significant or emergency hazard, with fire and rescue authorities being one of the bodies that can notify a landlord of potential hazards.
The legislation also sets out stated timeframes within which the safety work must be completed, with relevant work to be completed within 5 working days of the investigation ending for significant hazards, and within 24 hours of the landlord becoming aware of the hazard for emergency hazards. The guidance also notes that these are the maximum statutory timeframes in which landlords must act, saying: “Landlords can and should act more quickly if circumstances require, especially in situations where other legislation requires a faster response and/or according to their policies and procedures.”
Repair work, both temporary and permanent, may impact other safety features, such as fire safety systems, and the guidance explains that tenants should be made aware of any such changes, such as the potential blocking of a fire escape route or changes to the extent of smoke alarm coverage.
Section 7.1 of the guidance specifically looks at the hazard caused by unsafe cladding and states that “Awaab’s Law does not cover cladding work. This is because remediating unsafe cladding is usually a longer-term project, and not an emergency repair.”
However, it goes on to explain that where cladding is a relevant factor in a reported fire safety hazard, the social landlord must still investigate and carry out other relevant safety works (outside of cladding) to make the property safe, and must keep the tenant updated as to the progress of works. It is also good practice to inform the relevant fire and rescue service should the circumstances of repair work require a change to the evacuation strategy for the building or impact any firefighting equipment installed.
“Social landlords should also consider on a case by case basis whether it would be necessary or appropriate to do any smaller scale or isolated cladding work to address other hazards (for example, to improve insulation to address a damp and mould hazard), and should complete these in line with wider policies, procedures, and existing duties to keep homes safe and make repairs.”
Any repair work done to meet the requirements of Awaab’s Law must be completed to the “required standard, by appropriately qualified staff or contractors” and must not compromise other safety features, such as damaging the fire compartmentation when working on improving ventilation.
Whilst the legislation is being introduced in a phased manner, the regulations will be extended to include additional hazards including fire and electrical hazards in 2026.
You can read the full guidance document here.