Awaab’s Law

In December 2020 Awaab Ishak died aged two due to exposure to mould while living in social housing owned by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing.

This resulted in a law coming in to force in April 2024 (an amendment to the Social Housing Act) to enforce social housing providers to:

• Adhere to strict time limits to address dangerous hazards such as damp and mould in their properties.

• Social landlords will be required to take swift action to remedy any reported damp or mould and show every attempt to comply within the given timescale.

• It will no longer be blamed on the lifestyle choices of the tenants in the property, and it is recommended an investigation and repair work should be carried out by landlords as soon as possible within a fixed period.

• Landlords are expected to undertake an assessment of damp and mould issues within the property.  Investigation must take place within 14 calendar days from being reported and issue a report providing information of the hazards, the solution and the timeframe to remedy the issue.

• Action a plan to resolve any damp and mould issues as soon as possible.  Repair work should start within 7 days if there is deemed to be a significant risk to the health and safety of the occupant and repair work should be completed within a reasonable time period as defined in the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.

• 24 hours is the timeframe for emergency repairs.

• Alternative accommodation should be offered by social housing landlords if repairs cannot be completed in the above timeframes.

• A clear record of all correspondence between residents and contractors is required to be kept by social housing landlords.

How to meet the requirements:

It is now the landlord’s responsibility to identify and address the underlying causes of damp and mould. This could relate to poor ventilation or structural issues, so finding a solution is crucial, be that a ventilation system or adjustments to the property to rectify any issues. 

It looks likely that this will soon become law for private landlords also.

At EcoAdvisor as well as having a strong focus on making properties more environmentally friendly, reducing bills and their carbon footprints, we also believe that buildings should be healthy.

People in the UK spend an average of 80-90% of their time indoors.

We are always on hand to provide guidance to landlords and companies on how to make its buildings more healthy to support living, working and learning.