Health & Safety Update: Awaab’s Law

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (“MHCLG”) has published draft guidance for social landlords in relation to Awaab’s Law. 

In November 2022, following the coronial inquest into the tragic death of Awaab Ishak, the Coroner sent a Prevention of Future Deaths Report (“PFD”) to Michael Gove (Minister for Housing at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (now MHCLG)) and Steve Barclay (Secretary of State for Health). In the PFD, the Coroner outlined concerns that should be addressed in order to prevent future deaths occurring. 

Such concerns centred around the lack of clear and accessible guidance for the housing sector in relation to the consideration and addressing of the issues of damp and mould. In the Coroner’s view, the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (“HHSRS”) data sheet relating to damp and mould was not reflective of the risks of damp and mould and the harm to health it can cause.

One of the steps being taken to address the Coroner’s concerns is the introduction of the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, referred to as Awaab’s Law, which were laid in Parliament on 25 June 2025. MHCLG has published draft non-statutory guidance to assist social landlords in preparing for Awaab’s Law to come into force on 27th October 2025 in relation to emergency hazards and to damp and mould. Devonshires’ Housing Management & Property Litigation team have written a helpful overview of the guidance (with links to the relevant documents) here: Awaab’s Law: Government releases its response to consultation and publishes draft guidance for social landlords

Although the guidance is in draft, and is of course therefore subject to change, it provides a helpful overview for all social landlords wanting to understand their investigation and implementation responsibilities in the health and safety context. Carrying out a suitable and sufficient health and safety investigation  is crucial in order to identify potential health and safety hazards in properties. The draft guidance highlights several areas of Awaab’s Law that social landlords should be prepared for in respect of investigating and identifying health and safety hazards. In summary, those are: 

1. Awareness, triage and categorisation of hazards: The day the landlord becomes aware of a potential hazard is counted as day ‘zero’, with day one of the relevant timeframes set out in Awaab’s Law commencing the following working day. The social landlord must ensure they assess the potential hazard and confirm whether there is a significant hazard or an emergency hazard.
2. Investigating whether there is a significant or emergency hazard: The social landlord must carry out an appropriate form of investigation (as set out in Awaab’s Law) to ascertain whether there is a significant or emergency hazard. A ‘significant hazard’ is one that poses a ‘significant risk of harm’ to the health or safety of a tenant of the social home. An emergency hazard is one that poses ‘an imminent and significant risk of harm’ to the health or safety of the tenant in the social home. This means issues that could cause immediate harm to the health or safety of tenants if not addressed quickly.
3. Requirement to take emergency action: If an emergency hazard is identified, the social landlord must, as soon as reasonably practicable and within 24 hours, investigate the emergency hazard and complete any necessary safety works.
4. Issuing a written summary to tenants: After an investigation has concluded, the social landlord must produce a written summary of their findings and issue this to the named tenant within 3 working days. If all required works are completed to address a significant or emergency hazard before the end of the 3 working day period, a written summary will not be required, although social landlords must inform the named tenant that the work has been completed.
5. Making the property safe and supplementary preventative works: Where an investigation has found a significant hazard and it, or a subsequent investigation, identifies relevant safety work or relevant supplementary preventative work, the social landlord must, within 5 working days of the investigation concluding, complete the relevant safety work (using temporary measures if necessary) and, within 5 working days of the investigation that identifies relevant supplementary preventative work concluding, begin or take steps to begin any relevant supplementary preventative work to ensure the hazard does not recur.
6. Securing suitable alternative accommodation: If the social landlord is unable to complete the relevant safety work within the initial remediation period (5 working days from the completion of the investigation for a significant hazard, or 24 hours for an emergency hazard), they must secure the provision of suitable alternative accommodation at their expense, until the relevant safety work has been completed.
7. Defence: Social landlords have a defence for a failure to comply with Awaab’s Law requirements if they can prove that they have used all reasonable endeavours to avoid it, meaning they have taken all reasonable steps to comply with the requirements of the regulations, but it has not been possible for reasons genuinely beyond their control.
8. Transitional Arrangements: The requirements under Awaab’s law are only triggered when a landlord becomes aware of a potential hazard after the relevant time, or if, after this time, the social landlord becomes aware of a material change to a potential hazard that they were aware of before that time. However, if the social landlord was aware of a potential hazard before the relevant time and a concern about it is reported to them after that time, this will trigger Awaab’s Law requirements from the point of the report. The relevant time is the time that the regulations come into force, or, if later, the time that the requirements of the regulations begin to apply in relation to the social home in question.
9. Other statutory and regulatory requirements and guidance: In addition to Awaab’s Law, landlords must still continue to comply with all other relevant statutory and regulatory requirements relating to housing conditions and health and/or safety. 

MHCLG state that they will publish finalised guidance in October 2025. If you have any queries in relation to health and safety investigations and the impact of Awaab’s law on them, please contact Kathryn Kligerman and Yaasica Hamilton-Haye.