Awaab’s Law, giving landlords and their agents strict time limits to repair serious health and safety issues, is to be extended to the private rental sector. 

The government introduced Awaab’s Law to social housing last year, setting legal deadlines for landlords to fix dangerous damp and mould.

Now a government consultation will look at how it is introduced for private renters and what types of other accommodation should benefit in future. 

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook says: “Irrespective of tenure, all renters have the right to live in a safe and decent home and have complaints responded to in a timely manner. 

 “Awaab’s Law is already helping to drive up standards in the social housing sector. We’re now moving to extend it to private landlords so that England’s 11 million private renters can enjoy the same protections.” 

The government claims that around one in 10 private rented homes have a hazard at the most serious level (category 1), which already requires landlords to act. 

The Renters Rights Act recently introduced fines of up to £7,000 if these serious dangers are found. Awaab’s Law will go even further by forcing quick action on them.

The consultation closing on December 18 will help inform how Awaab’s Law is implemented in the private rented sector, including the timescale for these new protections to come into force.

In response to the launch of the consultation, Timothy Douglas – head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark – comments: “Everyone should have the right to live in a safe, decent home, and there can be no excuse for serious hazards being left to put tenants’ health and lives at risk. 

“Awaab’s Law is a significant reminder of the devastating consequences when dangerous housing conditions are not addressed, and extending these protections to private renters and other vulnerable households is an important step.

“The consultation now needs to ensure the law works effectively in practice. Early identification, clear reporting routes and timely access to competent contractors will be vital, alongside properly diagnosing the underlying cause of damp and mould rather than relying on short-term fixes.

“Responsible landlords and agents want tenants to live in safe homes, and clear, workable requirements will help deliver that. Getting the detail right will be critical to ensuring these protections translate into faster action and, ultimately, safer homes.”

Also in response, Ben Beadle – chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association – says: “The death of Awaab Ishak due to dangerous conditions in a social rented home was an unimaginable tragedy that should never have happened. 

“The law in his name must ensure that no landlord, regardless of sector or size, can expect to get away with letting sub-standard, dangerous housing.

“Today’s consultation rightly recognises that there are important differences between the private and social rented sectors, and for the law to be effective, it must be designed and applied appropriately.

“However, changing the law means nothing unless it is properly enforced without exception or favour, and irrespective of tenure. 

“For too long bad actors across the rental sectors have been able to ignore standards and regulations already in place because the chance of being held to account is too remote to cause concern. This must change.

“Alongside consulting on these measures, the government needs to deliver on its aspirations and put its words into action. 

“All good landlords are united in the desire to root out those rogue and criminal operators who put tenants at risk and undermine the reputation of the compliant majority. More regulation alone will not achieve that.”

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How Awaab’s Law currently works in the social housing sector

Awaab’s Law is the working name for the system set out in the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1042), made under section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. 

The regulations came into force on October 27 2025 and impose binding statutory deadlines on housing associations and council landlords for investigating and acting on hazards, typically relating to damp and mould and all emergency hazards.

Where a social tenant’s landlord misses one of the deadlines, the tenant can sue in the county court for breach of the implied tenancy term in section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.