Home › Awaab's Law Phase 2: Repair Timescales from 30 Nov 2026
From 30 November 2026, Awaab’s Law in England extends from damp, mould and emergency hazards to seven further hazard types: excess cold, excess heat, falls, structural collapse, fire and explosions, electrical hazards, and domestic hygiene. Where a hazard presents a significant risk of harm, a social landlord must investigate within 10 working days, give the tenant a written summary within 3 working days of that investigation concluding, and carry out relevant safety work within 5 working days of it concluding. Emergency hazards must be investigated and made safe within 24 hours. This page is an archived reference and is not a repairs service; it cannot carry out, arrange or advise on work at any property.
What Awaab’s Law is
Awaab’s Law sets legally binding timescales for social landlords in England to investigate and act on specified hazards in a tenant’s home. The timescales are inserted into the tenancy agreement, so a failure to meet them is a breach the tenant can act on rather than a matter purely for the regulator.
The regulations behind it are The Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/1042, as amended. GOV.UK publishes the amended regulations covering Phases 1 and 2 and keeps the guidance together in its collection on Awaab’s Law in the social rented sector.
Phase 1 applied from 27 October 2025 and covered all emergency hazards plus all damp and mould hazards presenting a significant risk of harm. Phase 2 is the next tranche.
What Phase 2 adds from 30 November 2026
The government’s Phase 2 guidance for social landlords states that from 30 November 2026 the regulations are extended to the following hazards where they present a significant risk of harm:
- excess cold
- excess heat
- falls on the level, falls on stairs and falls between levels
- structural collapse and falling elements
- fire and explosions
- electrical hazards
- domestic hygiene, including personal hygiene and food safety
Phase 2 also covers all emergency hazards other than overcrowding. The press release announcing the phase, Safer homes for 4m tenants with quicker action on dangerous homes, was published on 13 July 2026, the same day the Phase 2 regulations were laid in Parliament and the guidance published. It describes the domestic hygiene category as including pest infestations, and puts the number of social housing tenants in scope at 4 million.
The timescales in full
The guidance sets out the following requirements. Timeframes generally start on day 1, the day after the landlord becomes aware of the hazard or after the investigation concludes; the 24-hour emergency clock starts when the landlord becomes aware.
| Requirement | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Investigate an emergency hazard | 24 hours of becoming aware |
| Complete relevant safety work for an emergency hazard | 24 hours of becoming aware, or of the investigation concluding |
| Investigate a potential significant hazard | 10 working days of becoming aware |
| Provide a written summary to the tenant | 3 working days after the investigation concludes |
| Carry out relevant safety work for a significant hazard | 5 working days after the investigation concludes |
| Begin supplementary preventative work | 5 working days after the investigation concludes |
| Complete supplementary preventative work where a 5-day start is not practical | As soon as reasonably practicable, and within 12 weeks |
| Carry out a renewed in-person investigation on request | 10 working days of the tenant’s request |
Two of these are easy to misread. The written summary is a separate obligation from the repair: the tenant must be told in writing what was found and what the landlord intends to do, within 3 working days of the investigation concluding, whether or not work has started. And “relevant safety work” makes the hazard safe — it is not necessarily the full, final repair. Longer-term preventative work sits under the supplementary limb, with its 12-week backstop.
The “significant risk of harm” test
Nothing in Phase 2 obliges a landlord to treat every reported defect as an Awaab’s Law hazard. The trigger is that the hazard presents a significant risk of harm, assessed against the Housing Health and Safety Rating System categories. The guidance frames the two tests as: for a significant risk of harm, make safe within 15 working days; for an imminent risk, the emergency route, 24 hours. The 13 July 2026 press release summarises the combined effect as homes made safe within 15 days or less, with longer-term repairs beginning within 12 weeks.
That assessment is the landlord’s to make, and it is where most disputes will arise. For a tenant, the practical implication is to report in writing, describe the effect on health and safety rather than only the cosmetic symptom, say who in the household is affected, and keep a dated record. The date the landlord became aware starts every clock in the table above.
What tenants and leaseholders should do
Awaab’s Law is enforced through the tenancy agreement and through the existing complaints system. It does not create a new body to call.
- Report it to your own landlord first, in writing, and keep the reference. Only your landlord can carry out or arrange work at your home.
- Use your landlord’s formal complaints procedure if the timescales are missed. GOV.UK’s guidance on social housing complaints explains the route.
- Escalate to the Housing Ombudsman Service if the complaint is not resolved. Its guidance on when to get help from the Housing Ombudsman explains the stage at which it can take a case, and the service is free to residents.
- Where there is an immediate danger — a suspected gas leak, an electrical fault causing sparks or burning, or a structural collapse — treat it as an emergency and use the emergency services and your landlord’s out-of-hours number rather than a complaints process.
Landlords and managing agents should work from the GOV.UK guidance and the amended regulations directly rather than from summaries, because the hazard definitions and start-of-clock rules are where compliance is won or lost.
What comes next
Two further developments are live as of October 2026.
Phase 3. The government has said Phase 3 will extend the regulations to all remaining Housing Health and Safety Rating System hazards except overcrowding, where they present a significant risk of harm. The 13 July 2026 press release places this in 2027; no commencement date has been published.
The private rented sector. A consultation on extending Awaab’s Law to private rented tenancies and to licences opened on 9 October 2026 and closes at 11.59pm on 18 December 2026. It proposes using the social housing requirements as a starting point, covering all 21 HHSRS hazards except overcrowding, with a possible 10-working-day investigation deadline, a 3-working-day written summary, 5 working days to make significant hazards safe and 24 hours for emergencies. It also asks whether landlords should have to provide alternative accommodation where a home cannot be made safe in time — which the consultation itself flags as contentious — and seeks views on applying the duties to supported housing, temporary accommodation for homeless households and care leaver accommodation.
No start date for the private rented sector has been set. The consultation notes separately that private landlords are expected to join a Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman in 2028, and that the Decent Homes Standard is to apply to private rented homes from 2035.
Frequently asked questions
Does Awaab’s Law apply to private landlords now?
No. As of October 2026 it applies to social housing in England. The extension to private rented tenancies is only at consultation stage, open until 18 December 2026.
Which hazards are covered from 30 November 2026?
Damp and mould and all emergency hazards from Phase 1, plus excess cold, excess heat, falls, structural collapse and falling elements, fire and explosions, electrical hazards, and domestic hygiene including pests — where each presents a significant risk of harm.
What happens if my landlord misses a deadline?
The timescales are implied into the tenancy agreement, so a missed deadline is a breach. In practice the route is the landlord’s complaints procedure first, then the Housing Ombudsman Service, which is free for residents.
Is a written summary required even if the repair is done quickly?
Yes. The guidance requires a written summary of the investigation’s findings and the intended action within 3 working days of the investigation concluding; it is a distinct obligation from the repair itself.