Awaab’s Law Phase 2: Are You Ready for 30 November?

Social landlords across England spent 2025 and much of 2026 getting to grips with Awaab’s Law. Phase 1, which came into force on 27 October 2025, put strict statutory timescales around damp and mould hazards and emergency repairs. Many providers reorganised their repairs, contact centre and compliance functions to cope. But that was only the beginning.

Phase 2 of Awaab’s Law has now been laid before Parliament, with the new legal duties set to come into force from 30 November 2026 and apply to every registered provider of social housing in England. This next phase is considerably broader than the first, and for many organisations it will mean rethinking how repairs, asset management, contractors and compliance teams work together. If your organisation hasn’t yet mapped out what Phase 2 means in practice, now is the time.

What Is Awaab’s Law?

Awaab’s Law takes its name from Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old boy whose death in 2020 was linked to prolonged exposure to mould in his family’s social housing flat. His case brought national attention to the devastating consequences of poor housing conditions and exposed a wider failure across the sector to treat hazard reports with urgency.

In response, Awaab’s Law was introduced to establish legally enforceable timescales for investigating and resolving hazards that pose a risk to residents’ health and safety, ensuring concerns are addressed promptly and consistently rather than left to drift. Rather than leaving landlords to set their own timeframes for repairs, it puts hard statutory deadlines in place — with real consequences for providers who fail to meet them.

The law is being introduced in stages rather than all at once. Phase 1 came into force on 27 October 2025 and covered all emergency hazards, along with significant damp and mould hazards; a further phase is planned beyond Phase 2 to extend requirements to the remaining Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) hazards, excluding overcrowding. Phase 2, arriving on 30 November 2026, is the next major step in that rollout — and the one social landlords now need to prepare for.

A Quick Recap: What Was Phase 1?

Phase 1, which took effect on 27 October 2025, required social landlords to investigate and repair emergency hazards and significant damp and mould hazards within set timeframes, and that requirement continues to require a response to all emergency hazards within 24 hours. For most landlords, this sat largely within repairs, property services, and damp and mould specialist teams — a relatively contained operational change.

Phase 2 changes that picture considerably.

What’s Changing on 30 November 2026

From 30 November 2026, the scope of Awaab’s Law expands considerably, bringing seven additional Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) hazard categories within the framework.

These extend the fixed response deadlines for significant hazards beyond damp and mould to cover excess cold and heat, falls, structural collapse, fire and explosions, electrical hazards, and domestic and personal hygiene and food safety.

In short, the new requirements bring in serious HHSRS hazards, including excess cold, excess heat, electrical safety, fire hazards, structural collapse, falls, sanitation issues, and domestic hygiene, wherever they present a significant risk to occupants.

Many of the newly included hazards link directly into existing compliance regimes, including fire safety, electrical safety, building safety and asset investment programmes — meaning Phase 2 will pull in teams well beyond the traditional repairs function. Where Phase 1 compliance largely sat with repairs, property services and damp and mould teams, Phase 2 demands a much broader, whole-organisation response.

The Timescales You’ll Need to Hit

According to guidance published alongside the regulations, from 30 November 2026 landlords will be required to meet the following timescales for the newly included hazards:

• Immediate danger: investigate and make the property safe within 24 hours
• Serious but non-emergency hazards: investigate within 10 working days
• Written summary: provide residents with a written summary of findings and proposed actions within three working days of the investigation
• Urgent safety works: complete within five working days of the investigation
• Longer-term remedial works: commence within 12 weeks

This builds on the position since October 2025, where social landlords have been required to respond to damp and mould within strict statutory timescales whenever it presents a significant or emergency hazard.

It’s also worth noting that Phase 2 currently applies to local authorities, housing associations and other registered providers of social housing, and does not extend the same regime to private landlords. A third phase is planned further down the line, which will extend requirements to the remaining HHSRS hazards, excluding overcrowding — so this is very much a phased journey rather than a one-off deadline.

Why This Matters Beyond Compliance

The government has been clear that Awaab’s Law is intended to drive cultural change as much as operational change. This isn’t just about avoiding enforcement action — it’s about building the systems, relationships and contractor networks that let you genuinely identify and resolve hazards before they escalate.
That cultural shift only works if it’s backed by operational reality.

Written policies and updated triage matrices are a starting point, but they mean nothing if your repairs and maintenance teams — and your contractors — can’t physically deliver against the new deadlines.

What Social Landlords Should Be Doing Now

With just a few months until 30 November, providers should be reviewing:

Triage and reporting systems

Can your contact centre correctly identify and categorise the new hazard types the moment a tenant reports an issue? Misclassifying a serious electrical fault or a structural concern could mean missing a statutory deadline before the clock has even properly started.

Contractor capacity

Do you have reliable access to qualified electricians, gas engineers, roofers and general repairs contractors who can respond within the new working-day timescales — not just for damp and mould, but across fire safety, electrical hazards, structural issues and more?

Out-of-hours and emergency response

The 24-hour requirement for immediate danger hasn’t gone away — it’s simply been extended to cover a wider set of hazards. If your emergency repair provision was built around damp and mould and gas safety, it may need to be broadened.

Record-keeping and communication

The requirement to provide residents with a written summary within three working days means your inspection and reporting processes need to produce clear, timely documentation — not just a job completion note weeks later.

Asset data and stock condition

Knowing where your highest-risk properties are — in terms of electrical systems, fire safety, structural condition and heating — lets you get ahead of problems rather than reacting to them one report at a time.

How National Maintenance Services Can Help

Getting Awaab’s Law Phase 2-ready isn’t something most repairs teams can do alone, particularly when the new hazard categories span so many trades and disciplines. This is where a multi-sector maintenance partner earns its keep.

National Maintenance Services already works with housing associations and social landlords across the UK, and several of our core services map directly onto the areas Phase 2 brings into scope:

• Damp & Mould Services – our specialist team carries out expert diagnosis, tailored treatment plans and Awaab’s Law-compliant documentation, addressing the underlying causes of moisture problems rather than just the visible symptoms.
• Emergency Repairs – with the 24-hour response requirement now covering a wider range of hazards, having a genuine 24/7 emergency repair service on call is essential, not optional.
• Electrical Services – electrical hazards are one of the new Phase 2 categories, and our electrical contractors can support both investigation and rapid remediation.
• Domestic Gas Engineers – gas safety remains a cornerstone of resident wellbeing, working alongside the new excess cold and heat requirements.
• Fire Protection Services – fire and explosion hazards are explicitly named in the Phase 2 hazard list, and our fire protection team supports compliance across social housing stock.
• Reactive Maintenance – for the day-to-day repairs that keep properties safe between planned works, delivered with the responsiveness the new timescales demand.
• Preventive Maintenance – a planned maintenance programme reduces the number of hazards that ever reach the statutory reporting stage in the first place, easing pressure on your repairs team.
• Social Housing Support – see how we already work with housing associations and registered providers to keep residents safe and properties compliant.

Don’t Wait for November

Awaab’s Law Phase 2 isn’t a distant regulatory change — it’s a deadline with real operational consequences for repairs teams, contractors and compliance functions across the social housing sector. The organisations that will find 30 November straightforward are the ones reviewing their systems, contractor relationships and documentation now, not in October.

If you’d like to talk through how a multi-sector maintenance partner can support your Awaab’s Law Phase 2 preparations — from damp and mould through to electrical, fire and emergency repairs — get in touch with National Maintenance Services today.

This article is intended as general guidance and does not constitute legal advice. Social landlords should refer to the official government guidance and consult their legal advisers to confirm their specific obligations under Awaab’s Law Phase 2.