Social landlords have just under four months to prepare for a major expansion of Awaab’s Law, after the government published Phase 2 guidance extending the legislation’s strict repair deadlines to a much wider range of home hazards.
From 30 November, the 24-hour, 10-working-day and 5-working-day timeframes that have applied to damp and mould since the law came into force in October last year will also cover excess cold, excess heat, falls, structural collapse, fire and explosion, electrical hazards, and domestic hygiene.
George Edwards, managing director of damp and timber specialist Timberwise, said the core mechanics of the law are staying the same, which should ease the transition for landlords already working to the Phase 1 rules.
“The same 24-hour, 10-day and 5-day structure applies across every new hazard type, so nobody has to learn a second system,” Edwards said. “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 said 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 said. “Get that triage judgement wrong and every deadline downstream is already compromised.”
On damp and mould specifically, Edwards said Phase 2 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 said. 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.
Edwards said correctly diagnosing the underlying cause, whether poor ventilation, thermal bridging or rising damp, and explaining it clearly in the written summary landlords must now issue, requires proper diagnostic input early in the process rather than after a second complaint.
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.
“If your organisation built solid triage and record-keeping habits around damp and mould last year, you’re most of the way there,” Edwards said. “If those habits were still bedding in, this is the moment to fix that, because from 30 November the margin for getting the first call wrong gets a lot narrower.”
Timberwise is a damp and timber treatment specialist. More information is available at timberwise.co.uk.
