Awaab’s Law
What Awaab’s Law actually requires.
Made under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, it sets statutory timescales for hazards in social housing. The timescales differ by hazard type and severity, and they are widely stated wrongly.
There is no blanket 24-hour duty for damp and mould.
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The timescales
Four clocks, and only one of them runs in 24 hours.
For a significant damp and mould hazard:
10 working days
Investigate
Where a significant damp and mould hazard is reported, the landlord must investigate within 10 working days.
3 working days
Written summary to the resident
Within 3 working days of that investigation concluding, the resident must be given a written summary of the findings.
5 working days
Safety works
Safety works must be completed within 5 working days of the hazard being identified.
24 hours
Emergency hazards only
Where the hazard is an emergency, safety works must be completed within 24 hours. This is the only 24-hour duty.
From 30 November 2026 the same timescales extend beyond damp and mould to further significant hazards — excess cold, excess heat, falls, structural collapse, fire and explosions, electrical hazards and domestic hygiene. Phase 2 guidance, GOV.UK.
One message, 21:40 on a Friday
Rarely just a repair.
What the resident said
“…it’s in the , there’s and . It’s been like that . and she really feels the cold. , but no one has come out.”
Also captured to the property record: room, item and how long.
What key2housing heard
You can only manage what you know.
Typically, the contact centre will log the repair. It is the most obvious action. key2housing recognises damp and mould as a hazard with statutory timescales, and ensures the other three signals are not missed. The full context is used to triage and route the conversation according to your business process.
The landlord was aware at 21:40 — not when someone raised a case on Monday.
A person still decides, and nothing reaches the tenancy record without confirmation. What an officer opens on Monday is already triaged.
The hard part
The timescales are not the difficulty. Knowing when the clock started is.
Every duty above is counted from the point the landlord became aware. In the example above, that was 21:40 on a Friday — not when someone opened a case on Monday, and not when a repair was logged without the hazard being recognised.
key2housing recognises the hazard in the conversation itself and records when it was raised. A person still decides what happens next; the difference is that the clock is running from the right moment, and you can show it.
Questions