Beyond Damp and Mould: What Awaab’s Law Phase 2 Will Cover in 2026

Awaab’s Law was introduced to the UK’s legislative framework in October 2025, and represented a significant shift in focus for the social housing sector. It specifically targeted damp and mould issues, one of the most common sources of housing disrepair complaints in social housing. But this was just phase one of the Awaab’s Law rollout, and in 2026 landlords need to be prepared for phase two, which will put similar controls over other potential disrepair issues.

What is Awaab’s Law phase one?

In 2020, two-year-old Awaab Ishak died in his parents flat in Rochdale having been exposed to damp and mould for an extended period. An Inquest into his death in 2022 called for legislative change and the Social Housing Act came into force to realign standards relating to social housing, which was also prompted by the Grenfell Fire Disaster. Awaab’s Law formed a significant part of the Social Housing Act and placed statutory, time-bound obligations on landlords to inspect and identify issues with damp and mould early, and to investigate, react and resolve reported issues of damp and mould within a strict timeframe.

As well as proactively inspecting all properties for damp and mould issues on a regular basis, from October 2025 landlords in social housing had to adhere to a new timeline:

• Emergency Repairs: If a damp and mould hazard poses an immediate threat to the life or safety of the tenant, the landlord must attend and make it safe within 24 hours.
• Investigation: Any other damp and mould issue deemed ‘significant’, must be investigated within ten working days.
• Resolution Plan: After the investigation of a significant hazard, the landlord must provide the tenant with a written summary of what was found and what they plan to do within three working days.
• Resolving the problem: Actual repair work of the damp and mould issue must start within five working days of the completion of the investigation.
• If the landlord cannot resolve a problem within a reasonable timeframe, they must offer the tenant alternative, and appropriate, temporary accommodation, at no extra cost.

The introduction of this legislation has forced landlords to address their processes and procedures, and has resulted in much tighter restrictions relating to damp and mould issues. However, it was always intended to extend the scope of Awaab’s Law to include other common disrepair issues identified in social housing, and this is what comes under phase two.

Understanding the requirements of Awaab’s Law phase two

Awaab’s Law phase two brings a much wider range of important compliance issues into the scope of the new legislation, and therefore requires social landlords to make preparations for how they need to adapt their processes and procedures. Essentially, phase two extends the same mandatory deadlines as phase one to additional hazards commonly found in social housing, but reinforces a new approach that ensures landlords focus on a successful outcome, i.e. the safety of the tenant.

The focus of Awaab’s law phase two is ‘other serious hazards’ where there is a significant risk to the health and safety of a tenant. The categories that will be included in phase two include:

• Excess cold and heat – which could be caused by broken heating systems or poor insulation
• Fire safety
• Electrical hazards – such as faulty or damaged wiring
• Falls associated with stairs, baths and level surfaces
• Structural instability and collapse
• Domestic hygiene, sanitation, water supply, drainage and food safety risks

Although all these hazards are already included in regulatory standards and form part of a landlord’s basic responsibilities to their tenants, they will now be included within a compliance framework that ensures landlords have to react within the same statutory timeframe as damp and mould issues. Importantly, phase two of Awaab’s Law is also seeing these protections extended beyond social housing and into private tenancies for the first time. So during 2026, private landlords will have the same duties placed on them relating to standards and response times.

The importance of Awaab’s Law phase two

Although it has been widely recognised that damp and mould is the main cause of housing disrepair issues in social housing, it is also generally understood that many disrepair issues overlap, and in most cases there are a number of hazards which combine to compound health and safety issues for social housing tenants. This is particularly important given the number of vulnerable people living in social housing, such as children, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions or disability issues.

The expanding of Awaab’s Law to cover additional hazards aims to create a wider understanding of what makes a home unsafe. In other words, there is a renewed focus on looking beyond single issues and taking a more systematic approach, which is intended to encourage landlords to move on from urgent, reactive repairs to more proactive hazard management. While damp and mould is usually the prominent issue which causes ill health, it will most likely be caused by poor ventilation, which could be caused by an electrical fault or a structural issue. Phase two encourages a more holistic approach to housing disrepair which encourages landlords to find the root cause of a disrepair issue, therefore helping to prevent reoccurrence. There will also be a phase three rollout in 2027, which aims to introduce more comprehensive safety checks.

Awaab Comply app helps with phase two of the new legislation

The Awaab Comply app is already proving successful in helping social landlords investigate and resolve damp and mould issues in line with the new timeframe requirements. The app helps to capture evidence and mandatory data, generate professional reports and keep a log of separate inspections. It is easy to use and assists with full legislative compliance. It can also be used to investigate the additional hazards introduced by phase two of the Awaab’s Law legislation. So if you need smart, professional and comprehensive support with Awaab’s Law compliance, contact our team for more information and to book a free demo today.