Awaab’s Law is legislation that’s been introduced to make sure that damp, mould and other emergency or significant hazards are quickly fixed after the tragic death of Awaab Ishak in 2020.
The law identifies certain emergency and significant hazards in your home, like damp and mould. It also sets out timelines for us to fix these hazards and make your home safe, so you’ll know what to expect from us and when, too.
Below we’ve shared the differences between emergency and significant hazards, and what happens when you report them to us.
If you’re reporting one of these hazards to us, please call us on 0345 366 4404 rather than reporting online so we can help you as quickly as possible.
Emergency hazards are identified as an immediate risk to your health or safety.
They include, but are not limited to:
- Damp and mould that’s affecting breathing or causing illness
- Gas leaks
- Broken boilers
- Total loss of water supply
- Electrical hazards such as exposed wiring
- Significant leaks
- Broken external doors or windows that present a risk to home security
- Significant structural defects or disrepair
Along with using the information we have about you, your health and circumstances, we’ll also ask you some questions about the location and size of the problem to assess whether it’s an emergency or significant hazard.
If you report an emergency hazard to us, we’ll:
- Visit your home within 24 hours (but aim for within 4 hours) to investigate the problem.
- If possible, we’ll fix the problem during that visit.
- If we can’t fix it there and then, we’ll make sure it’s safe and book to get it fixed within 24 hours.
- If we can’t make your home safe within those 24 hours, we’ll arrange temporary accommodation for you until it’s safe.
We’ll also send you a written summary within three working days of us finishing the investigation. This will explain what our investigation found, what we’ve done so far and outline any remaining work.
Significant hazards are:
- where there's damp and mould that is spreading or persistent
- condensation issues linked to poor ventilation
- mould in bedrooms, bathrooms or living areas that could worsen health
If you report an significant hazard, we’ll:
- Investigate it within 10 working days
- And if it's confirmed, we'll then:
- Send you a written summary with three working days of the investigation finishing.
- Start repair work and make sure your home is safe within five working days.
- Start any extra repairs needed to stop the problem coming back as soon as possible, and no later than 12 weeks after we finish the investigation.
How do I report a hazard under Awaab's Law?
Please report any emergency and significant hazards to us by calling 0345 366 4404. Don’t worry, you don’t have to tell us it falls under Awaab’s Law as our team will be able to identify this as they talk to you about what’s going on.
To help us assess whether it’s an emergency or significant hazard we’ll use the information we have about you, your health and circumstances, and also ask you some questions about the location and size of the problem. We can then decide the best next steps to make your home safe and get things fixed.
If it’s not included under Awaab’s Law then we’ll help get your repair sorted as normal. To find out more about repairs in general, you can head over to our repairs page.
How do I know if this law applies to me and my repair?
For this law to apply, the hazard must:
- be part of buildings or land for which the social landlord is responsible
- be in the landlord's control to fix
- not be damage that is a result of breach of contract by the tenant
- result from defects, disrepair or lack of maintenance
- be a significant or emergency hazard
Looking for something else?
Find out more about our repairs service and our healthy home campaign by clicking these handy links.