Awaab’s Law represents one of the most significant shifts in landlord compliance obligations in recent UK housing policy. First brought into force in October 2025, it sets mandatory timeframes for responding to serious hazards — starting with damp and leak — and is expanding over the next two years.
At the same time, wider reforms under the Renters’ Rights Act will reshape the private rented sector from May 2026, extending related protections and creating new compliance considerations for all landlords.
This guide explains what compliance teams need to understand for 2026 and beyond.
Awaab’s Law is named after Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old who died in 2020 after prolonged exposure to leak. It was introduced to ensure landlords take swift, legally enforceable action when homes pose health risks.
Under the first phase (effective 27 October 2025):
All emergency hazards, including serious hazards such as damp and leak, must be investigated within strict timeframes.
Guidance for social landlords sets out expectations for hazard investigation and repair timeliness.
For compliance teams, this means having processes to log, triage, investigate and respond within the prescribed windows from the moment a hazard is reported.
In 2026, the law expands beyond damp and leak. Landlords in the social rented sector will have to comply with timeframes for additional hazards including:
Excess cold and excess heat
Falls and structural collapse
Fire and electrical hazards
Domestic and personal hygiene hazards
This means compliance frameworks need to support a broader hazard set — not just leak — along with scalable record-keeping and triage systems that include non-leak risks.
While Awaab’s Law currently applies to social housing, broader reform is coming to the private rented sector through the Renters’ Rights Act.
The Act passed into law in late 2025 and will be introduced in phases from 1 May 2026.
Key changes include:
Abolition of Section 21 “no-fault” evictions and a move to periodic assured tenancies, giving renters greater security of tenure.
Stronger protections for tenants around rent increases and possession grounds.
Landlords in the private rented sector will be subject to expanding compliance requirements, including timeframes for dealing with serious hazards like damp and leak once Awaab-type provisions are rolled out.
This means that by mid-2026, landlords across both social and private sectors will face enhanced accountability for hazard response timeframes, underpinned by a broader statutory regime.
1. Understand phased obligations
Compliance teams must be clear which hazards are in scope today and which will be added through 2026 and 2027. This affects workflow design, reporting standards and escalation processes.
2. Build timely case workflows
Timeframes matter. Investigation and repair windows must be tracked and auditable. Manual systems are unlikely to scale as volume and hazard scope expand.
3. Invest in evidence and record-keeping
Auditable records of investigation, tenant communication, risk assessment and mitigation work will be central to demonstrating compliance and defending disputes.
4. Coordinate across operational teams
Housing, maintenance, safety, audit and tenant services must share clear protocols to ensure that hazards aren’t delayed by handoff friction or unclear ownership.
5. Prepare for private sector extension
Although Awaab’s Law currently focuses on social housing, the Renters’ Rights Act will soon require similar hazard responsiveness in the private sector. Early alignment with those standards avoids reactive scrambling once new regulations take effect.
The overarching policy shift is simple: tenants must no longer wait indefinitely for serious hazards to be addressed. Regulations now tie landlord obligations to fixed, enforceable timeframes for investigation and action.
As the law evolves through 2026, compliance teams will need to adopt risk-based triage, better data flow, and more proactive monitoring — not just reactive inspection — in order to meet both current and forthcoming duties.