In a written announcement today – 25 June 2025 – the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has laid out the implementation of ‘phase 1’ of Awaab’s Law, with regulations being laid today. These will take effect on 1 27 October 2025.

(Update 26 June – the Awaab’s Law regulations are here.)

Phase 1 covers emergencies and hazards of damp and mould. The details are:

o If a social landlord becomes aware of a matter or circumstance in a social home that may be a hazard within scope, they must investigate within 10 working days to ascertain if there is such a hazard.

o The social landlord must produce a written summary of the findings of the investigation (in most cases) and provide this to residents within 3 working days of the investigation concluding.

o If the investigation finds that a hazard presents a significant risk of harm to the health or safety of a resident, the social landlord must, in most circumstances, within 5 working days of the investigation concluding, make the property safe (using temporary measures if necessary) and begin any further required works. The social landlord must satisfactorily complete repair works within a reasonable time period.

o In an emergency situation, the social landlord must investigate and action any emergency repairs as soon as reasonably practicable and, in any event, within 24 hours.

o If the property cannot be made safe within the specified timescales for Awaab’s Law, then the social landlord must offer to arrange for the residents to stay in suitable alternative accommodation, at the social landlord’s expense, until required repairs are completed.

So, (except in emergencies), that is 15 working days to investigate, make the property safe and start works. Otherwise the landlord is in breach of its obligations under section 10A Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.

(Regulations on other hazards are to follow in 2026 and 2027.)

Also announced is the extension of the electrical safety regs to the social housing sector (as currently apply to the private rented sector). Social landlords will be required to carry out:

• Checks on electrical installations for social housing at least every five years; and
• In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment (ISIT) on all electrical appliances they provide as part of a tenancy (sometimes known as ‘PAT testing’).

(Update, the new Electrical Safety regs are here.)

It is clear that the voices of social landlords have been raised loudly and at length about their fears for the impact of Awaab’s Law for claims against them, as also announced is a forthcoming ‘Call for Evidence’ by the Minister for Housing and Planning and the Minister for Courts and Legal Services:

To ensure that the system of redress remains fair, that vulnerable tenants are not exploited and that both tenants and landlords are not unfairly targeted by unscrupulous claims farming activity – the Minister for Housing and Planning and the Minister for Courts and Legal Services are today also announcing their intention to launch a Call for Evidence this year. Through this we will gather evidence on Claims Management Company referrals to solicitors on a no win no fee basis to seek views on current practices and consider how to reduce unscrupulous ’claims farming’ activity in housing disrepair cases.

This, one very much suspects, will be a battle ground. Certain social landlords (and certain lawyers who only act for those social landlords) regard any claim against them as ‘unscrupulous’, despite the fact that they haven’t done the repairs (and continue not to do the repairs). On the other hand, there is certainly some extremely poor practice by claims farmers and the (often ‘new entrant’) firms that they feed, not least where these new entrants treat housing conditions cases as bulk claims, like PPI or low value RTA.

My frequently espoused solutions are threefold:

A) Ban referral (or ‘marketing services’) fees being paid to claims farmers (as with PI);

B) Limit success fees to 25% of damages (as with PI); and

C) Last and most importantly, re-instate civil legal aid for housing conditions claims, and make it a requirement that any eligible claimant has been informed of the availability of legal aid (with no success fees). This was always one of the stupidest of the LASPO cuts, as successful cases saw the legal aid costs repaid in full. The cost to the public purse was negligible, but the effect on a skilled, practical and knowledgeable sector of practitioners, (in these qualities, notably unlike those practices associated with claims farmers), was devastating.

You might have noticed an absence of posts lately. That is because I have been and am on holiday. But this announcement had to be noted (even if damp and mould are not an immediate concern of mine…).