Awaab's Law: What the November 2026 Changes Mean for Housing Disrepair Claims
From 30 November 2026, Awaab's Law will be extended to cover a wider range of serious housing hazards, placing additional legal responsibilities on social landlords in England. The changes mark another significant step towards improving housing standards, protecting tenants and ensuring that dangerous living conditions are addressed promptly.
For solicitors handling housing disrepair claims, the expansion introduces further statutory requirements that may become relevant when assessing landlords' responses to reported hazards.
What is Awaab's Law?
Awaab's Law was introduced following the tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in 2020, who died after prolonged exposure to mould in his family's social housing home in Rochdale.
His death highlighted serious concerns about the handling of housing complaints, particularly where damp, mould and other hazardous conditions pose risks to tenants' health and safety.
The legislation was introduced to strengthen tenant protections by imposing legally enforceable timescales on social landlords to investigate and address serious housing hazards.
The first phase came into force in England on 27 October 2025, requiring social landlords to respond to significant damp and mould hazards and all emergency hazards, other than overcrowding, within prescribed timeframes.
The second phase, taking effect on 30 November 2026, will extend these requirements to additional categories of significant hazards.
What's changing in November 2026?
The second phase of Awaab's Law broadens the range of housing conditions that social landlords must investigate and address within statutory deadlines.
Seven additional hazard categories will be covered:
- Excess cold: Inadequate heating, insulation or other conditions that expose occupants to dangerously low temperatures.
- Excess heat: Conditions that cause excessive indoor temperatures and create risks to occupants' health.
- Electrical hazards: Dangerous wiring, defective electrical installations and other electrical safety risks.
- Fire and explosion risks: Conditions that increase the likelihood of fire, explosion or associated injury.
- Falls: Unsafe stairs, uneven flooring, unprotected changes in level and other features that create serious risks of falling.
- Structural collapse and falling elements: Dangerous structural defects, including unstable building components that could cause injury.
- Domestic hygiene: Serious conditions affecting sanitation, cleanliness and hygiene, including certain pest infestations.
Previously, the significant-hazard provisions focused on damp and mould. The November expansion will bring a much wider range of serious property conditions within the same statutory framework.
However, not every maintenance issue or minor defect will automatically fall within Awaab's Law. A hazard must meet the relevant statutory threshold for a significant or emergency risk.
What are the legal timescales for landlords?
One of the most important features of Awaab's Law is the introduction of clear deadlines for investigating and addressing dangerous living conditions.
Social landlords are required to comply with the following timescales:
|
Requirement |
Statutory timescale |
|---|---|
|
Investigate a potential significant hazard |
Within 10 working days of becoming aware of it |
|
Provide a written summary of investigation findings |
Within 3 working days of concluding the investigation |
|
Complete work necessary to make a significant hazard safe |
Within 5 working days after the investigation concludes |
|
Investigate and make safe an emergency hazard |
Within 24 hours of becoming aware of it |
|
Begin work to prevent a significant or emergency hazard recurring |
Within 5 working days of concluding the investigation, or take the prescribed steps where this is not possible |
|
Commence longer-term preventative works where an immediate start is not reasonably practicable |
As soon as reasonably practicable, and within 12 weeks |
|
Complete supplementary preventative works |
Within a reasonable period |
Where a landlord cannot make a property safe within the required timeframe, suitable alternative accommodation must be arranged for the affected household at the landlord's expense.
The legislation distinguishes between making a property safe and completing longer-term works to prevent a hazard from recurring. Temporary safety measures may therefore be appropriate in some circumstances, but they do not remove the obligation to undertake necessary preventative repairs.
These deadlines are maximum permitted periods rather than recommended response times. Where circumstances require more urgent intervention, landlords should act sooner.
What does this mean for housing disrepair claims?
The expansion of Awaab's Law could have important implications for housing disrepair litigation, particularly in cases involving serious hazards and alleged delays in responding to complaints.
For solicitors representing tenants, the legislation introduces additional statutory obligations against which landlords' conduct can be assessed.
- Greater scrutiny of landlords' responses
- Clear investigation and repair deadlines may make it easier to establish whether a landlord has acted within the required timeframe.
- Cases involving persistent heating failures, unsafe electrical installations, dangerous structural defects and other serious housing conditions may require particular consideration under the expanded rules.
- Increased importance of documentary evidence
- Complaint histories, inspection reports, photographs, expert assessments, repair records and correspondence between tenants and landlords are likely to remain central to establishing the circumstances of a claim.
- The requirement to provide written investigation findings may also create an important documentary record of when hazards were identified, how they were assessed and what remedial action was proposed.
- Potential breaches of statutory obligations
Where a landlord fails to meet the prescribed requirements, the circumstances may give rise to a claim for breach of the relevant tenancy obligation.
However, non-compliance with Awaab's Law does not automatically establish an entitlement to compensation. The appropriate remedy will depend on the legal basis of the claim, the circumstances of the breach and any resulting loss or harm.
Landlords may also rely on a statutory defence where they can demonstrate that they used all reasonable endeavours to comply with the relevant requirements.
Interaction with existing housing disrepair legislation
Awaab's Law does not replace existing legal protections, including repairing obligations under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and requirements relating to fitness for human habitation.
Instead, it introduces additional obligations designed to ensure that serious hazards are investigated and addressed within clearly defined periods.
For claimant solicitors, it will therefore remain important to consider the full statutory and contractual framework when assessing potential housing disrepair claims.
What about private rented properties?
Awaab's Law currently applies to qualifying social housing tenancies in England rather than the private rented sector generally.
However, further changes are being considered.
On 9 October 2026, the Government published a consultation concerning the extension of Awaab's Law to private rented tenancies and certain licences.
If introduced, this would extend important protections to a wider group of tenants and place additional responsibilities on private landlords.
The proposal is particularly relevant to the housing disrepair sector, where complaints concerning damp, mould, defective heating, electrical safety and other serious hazards are not limited to social housing.
Any extension would require careful consideration of how the statutory deadlines interact with existing private landlord obligations and enforcement arrangements.
For now, the consultation represents a proposed reform rather than an extension already in force.
What happens next?
The Government intends to introduce Awaab's Law in three phases.
October 2025 – Phase 1: Significant damp and mould hazards and emergency hazards brought within the statutory framework.
November 2026 – Phase 2: Seven additional categories of significant housing hazards brought within the requirements.
2027 – Phase 3: Planned expansion to the remaining hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, with the exception of overcrowding.
The phased approach is intended to give social landlords time to adapt their procedures while progressively strengthening protection for tenants.
For housing providers, this means reviewing how hazards are reported, assessed, investigated and remedied. Effective record-keeping, communication with tenants and prompt action will be increasingly important.
For solicitors handling housing disrepair claims, the changes reinforce the need to understand the statutory thresholds, applicable deadlines and evidence required when assessing potential breaches.
Looking ahead
The November 2026 expansion of Awaab's Law represents an important development in housing law in England.
By extending statutory deadlines to a wider range of serious hazards, the legislation aims to reduce the time tenants spend living in unsafe conditions and increase accountability among social landlords.
Its wider significance may extend beyond individual housing disrepair claims, encouraging improvements in housing management, complaint handling and preventative maintenance.
With further legislative developments planned for 2027 and the potential extension of similar protections to the private rented sector, Awaab's Law is likely to remain an important area of development for housing professionals, landlords, tenants and legal practitioners alike.
This article is intended for general information and does not constitute legal advice. It reflects published legislation and government guidance available as at 13 October 2026.
