Published January 2024
New Emergency Repairs Requirements for Social Landlords
What is Awaab’s Law?
Awaab’s Law was introduced in response to the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who lost his life due to prolonged exposure to mould whereby the landlord failed to take appropriate action to resolve the issues. You can read more about Awaab’s Law and the new legal responsibilities for Housing Associations in our ‘Mould Management for Housing Associations’ article.
What are the proposed requirements?
According to proposals set out for Awaab’s Law, social landlords will be required to investigate hazards within 14 days and, if the hazard poses a ‘significant and imminent risk of harm’ to tenants, complete emergency repairs to resolve the identified hazard within 24 hours.
Landlords will be required to prove that every attempt has been made to comply with the proposed timescales to avoid any prolonged resolution of issues. Failure to comply could mean that the responsible landlord is taken to court and possibly pay compensation to tenants.
What is classed as an emergency repair?
These emergency repairs include, but are not limited to, resolution of:
- Gas leaks
- Broken boilers
- Electrical hazards (e.g. exposed wires)
- Significant leaks
- Prevalent damp and mould that is impacting a resident’s breathing ability
When will the requirements take effect?
In a December report, the Social Housing Quality Resident Panel agreed that the deadline for social landlords to investigate emergency issues should be no more than 2 weeks, with a one-week deadline being the preferential option. This two-week timescale has been proposed as part of a consultation, looking at proposals for the implementation of Awaab’s Law, as introduced by the Social Housing Act 2023. This consultation period began on the 9th of January and will be open for 8 weeks. After this 8-week period, legal obligations of social landlords will be confirmed.
What do social landlords need to do?
As a social landlord, you will be responsible for complying with all new rules and regulations set out as part of Awaab’s Law. It is important that you stay up to date with any updates to the new legal requirements, as well as planning ahead to ensure you comply with the upcoming changes. This may include ensuring your staff are equipped with the right training and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to keep them safe while carrying out investigations or emergency repairs in homes.
To read more about the ongoing Awaab’s Law consultation, you can visit the Gov.uk website here.
For advice on PPE requirements for mould remediation and other emergency repairs, please get in touch with us.
