The impact of Awaab’s Law on Social Housing – What You Need to Know
If you are in the social housing or retrofit sector, then you must be aware of Awaab’s Law and the upcoming changes. Awaab’s Law was introduced in December 2020 after two-year-old Awaab Ishak tragically died from a severe respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his social housing home.
The first phase of Awaab’s Law came into effect on 27 October 2025 for the social rented sector, with phase 2 due in 2026.
What is Awaab’s Law
Awaab’s Law was introduced to protect social housing tenants from emergency hazards, damp and mould. The first phase was introduced on 27 October 2025 and requires all social housing landlords to investigate significant damp and mould within 10 days of reporting.
Phase 2, which will come into force in 2026, will require social housing landlords to fix hazards for excess cold, heat, fire, electrical risks and hygiene within 15 days. This means all fire doors that are reported as a hazard will be required to be replaced within 15 days.
Phase 3 will be released in 2027 to all Housing Health and Safety Rating System hazards apart from overcrowding.
Who does Awaab’s Law affect?
Awaab’s Law affects social housing landlords in England, who will be required to act quickly to rectify hazards. Awaab’s Law will be embedded into tenancy agreements and give the Housing Ombudsman increased power to enforce compliance in social housing. As a result, suppliers and manufacturers to the social housing sector will be required to provide products that can meet the mandatory time frames, compliance and safety requirements moving forward.
The laws also impact social tenants and have been introduced to provide safer and better-quality living conditions in social housing.
What You Need to Do
If you’re a supplier to the social housing sector, then having solutions with a fast turnaround will be vital. It will also be critical that you supply compliant solutions, so ensure that you have accurate test data and are using trusted manufacturers. For this reason, we recommend finding trusted suppliers with primary test evidence and can meet the required time frames prior to the changes in 2026. This means that you will be able to supply compliant solutions to social housing to rectify any hazards within the required 15 days.
We also recommend keeping a record of any work you do, to mitigate any retrospective issues by having a record of work done.
Fire Compliance and Doors
Phase 2 will require social housing landlords to fix any hazards for excess cold, heat, fire and electrical risks within 15 days. This means that if a fire door is hazardous, it will need to be replaced within 15 days.
We have flat entrance, communal and internal doors available PAS 24, fire rated or non-fire rated doorsets available with up to 10 working day lead time. We also have primary test evidence we can share to give you confidence you are procuring a compliant solution. If you have any questions about Awaab’s Law, or doorsets you need for your social housing or retrofit projects, then speak to us today