Awaab’s Law for Landlords: Damp & Mould Compliance Guide

What Awaab’s Law is

Awaab’s Law was introduced for social housing under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 following the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in Rochdale in 2020. A coroner found his death was caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his family’s social rented flat, and that the housing provider had failed to act on repeated reports.

The law sets statutory timescales for landlords to investigate and remedy prescribed hazards once they have been notified. The hazards covered include damp and mould, electrical and fire safety risks, gas safety, structural collapse, and excess cold. Each hazard category has its own response and remediation window.

Under the Renters’ Rights Act, Awaab’s Law extends to private rented sector landlords. The detail is set by secondary legislation, but the framework mirrors the social housing version: a fixed window to investigate after a report, a fixed window to make a property safe where an emergency hazard is found, and a longer window for full remediation.

Statutory timescales landlords must meet

For damp and mould, the social housing version requires the landlord to investigate within fourteen calendar days of being notified, provide written findings to the tenant within forty-eight hours of completing the investigation, and begin repairs within seven days where a significant hazard is identified.

Where an emergency hazard is found — anything posing an imminent risk to health or safety — the landlord must make the property safe within twenty-four hours, even if full repairs take longer. Failure to meet any of these windows is itself the breach; whether the underlying issue was the landlord’s fault is not a defence.

The clock starts on the first report. Landlords cannot reset it by asking for more information or scheduling a later visit. Documentary evidence of the report time — email timestamp, portal log, recorded phone call — is what the courts and the ombudsman will rely on.

The Decent Homes Standard

The Decent Homes Standard sits alongside Awaab’s Law as the underlying property-condition benchmark. A decent home must be free from category 1 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), in a reasonable state of repair, with reasonably modern facilities and effective insulation and heating.

Damp and mould fall under the HHSRS as a discrete hazard category. A category 1 finding triggers an enforcement obligation on the local authority. Under the Renters’ Rights Act, a Decent Homes failure also gives the tenant grounds for a Rent Repayment Order claim.

The standard is not new — it has applied to social landlords since 2010 — but its extension to the private rented sector means private landlords must now budget for retrofit work on stock that previously met building regulations of the era it was constructed in but does not meet modern decency thresholds.

What counts as a report

Any communication from the tenant, an authorised representative, or a third party such as the local authority that flags a potential hazard counts. There is no formal threshold of severity that the tenant must allege. A photograph of a small patch of mould attached to a routine email is enough to start the clock.

Landlords using a portal or property management system should ensure the system timestamps and stores reports automatically and routes them to a responsible person. A common failure mode in the social housing case law has been reports lodged through customer service systems but never transferred to the repairs queue.

Where the report is ambiguous, landlords have an obligation to clarify rapidly. Asking the tenant to explain further does not pause the fourteen-day investigation window.

Investigations and what they must cover

A compliant investigation must establish whether a prescribed hazard exists, the severity, and what remedial work is needed. The investigator must be competent — a damp and timber surveyor, a chartered building surveyor, or an experienced contractor with documented training.

A tenant is entitled to a written statement of findings within forty-eight hours of the investigation completing. The statement must include the cause, the remedial work proposed, and the timetable. Landlords should retain photographs, moisture readings, and ventilation surveys as evidence.

Where the hazard is found to fall below the prescribed threshold, the landlord must still document the conclusion in writing to the tenant. A subsequent escalation by the tenant to the ombudsman or the council will start with that document.

Remediation, recharges and disrepair claims

Repairs must begin within seven days of a significant hazard finding. The Act does not specify a completion date for full remediation — instead, repairs must be carried out within a reasonable time, with the tenant kept informed in writing of progress.

Landlords cannot recharge the cost of remediation to the tenant unless the damp or mould was clearly and demonstrably caused by tenant behaviour. Mould caused by inadequate ventilation, cold bridges, or rising damp is the landlord’s responsibility, and attempts to recharge in those circumstances generally fail in the courts.

Disrepair claims now sit alongside Awaab’s Law as a parallel route for tenants. A successful disrepair claim under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 can produce damages for the diminished value of the tenancy plus general damages for inconvenience. Awaab’s Law adds civil penalties on top.

Practical guidance for landlords

Stand up an inbox. Have a single, monitored email address and phone number for hazard reports. Do not rely on a generic agent inbox or a customer service line that does not route to a repair-decision-making person within hours.

Pre-instruct a damp surveyor. The fourteen-day investigation window is short. Landlords with portfolios should have a standing instruction with a competent surveyor to attend within five working days. Spot pricing the moment a report comes in costs days you do not have.

Address ventilation and insulation proactively. The cheapest mould remediation is the one you never have to do. Properties with single glazing, cold-bridged walls, or no extract ventilation in kitchens and bathrooms should be retrofitted as part of asset management, not when the first complaint arrives.