Awaab’s Law finally begins to take effect

Today, the long-awaited Awaab’s Law, giving social tenants stronger rights on hazardous conditions, starts to take effect.

The 'Awaab’s Law’ regulations - officially known as the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025 - are a testament to the strength and determination of Faisal Abdullah and Aisha Amin, the parents of toddler Awaab Ishak, who died in Rochdale in December 2020.

They’re also a testament to how change is possible when we all work together to demand stronger rights.

The legacy of toddler Awaab Ishak

Little Awaab died on 21 December 2020, only a week after his 2nd birthday. Aisha remembers him as: “Always full of smiles. He liked to joke and was full of life”. But his short life was blighted by the mould in the home his parents rented from Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH): a social landlord.

They’d reported the mould back in 2017, before Awaab was born. The advice given by their landlord to Faisal was to "paint over it". From Awaab’s birth in December 2018, the mould in the flat remained a continuing and recurrent issue. In 2019, the family applied to be rehoused.

By the following year, still stuck in the mouldy one-bedroom flat, they instructed solicitors to take action against their landlord for the disrepair. In July 2020, their health visitor supported their claim, expressing concerns about the impact of the mould on Awaab’s health. His GP confirmed that he attended the surgery more than most children.

A subsequent landlord inspection confirmed the presence of mould in the kitchen and bathroom. But no action had been taken to treat it by the time Awaab died a few months later, by which time significant mould was present in every room in the flat.

Faisal describes how it felt like he was begging for his concerns to be taken seriously: “The way I felt RBH conveyed the message to me is that, I come from Sudan so I should be grateful to be housed and that's it, get on with it," he said. "I think they treated me that way because they were racist towards me. I feel actually that they have not considered me to be a human being".

In November 2022, Rochdale Coroner Joanne Kersley issued a prevention of future deaths report. It concluded Awaab's cause of death was a severe respiratory condition due to prolonged exposure to mould in his home and made recommendations to the ministers responsible for housing and health to take action on concerns. Ms Kearsley said Awaab’s death ‘should be a defining moment for the housing sector’.

The campaign for Awaab’s Law

An investigation by campaigning journalist Stephen Topping of Manchester Evening News (MEN), found more households on the same estate had repeated problems with damp and mould - including three families whose children had been hospitalised with breathing difficulties.

Faisal and Aisha, working with their legal teams, local MPs, MEN, change.org and Shelter, fought to make sure Awaab’s legacy was that no other child’s life should be put at risk by hazards in their home. Faisal wanted to "protect other people who might be in the same situation".

Faisal and Aisha were backed by huge support from the public: over 177,000 people signed the petition for Awaab’s Law. On the day that Faisal handed it in to 10 Downing Street, the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 was voted through by Parliament, containing the Awaab’s Law clause. Using our housing expertise, Shelter supported them in getting it included in the legislation.

What does Awaab’s Law do?

Where previously there were none, Awaab’s Law sets clear mandatory timeframes for social landlords to investigate reports of serious health and safety hazards and set out remedial action plans. This includes a 24-hour timeline for emergency hazards. These timeframes, written into law, will drive landlords to deal with dangerous hazards in a more effective and timely manner, and help tenants to hold landlords to account (including through court action) where the landlord fails to do so.

Crucially, Awaab’s Law amends the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to include any hazard that poses a significant risk to the health and safety of the tenant it is affecting, taking account of individual circumstances. Previously, the narrow appliance to only the most dangerous hazards – known as Category 1 – did not consider whether, for instance, someone with respiratory-related health issues living with damp and mould might be more at risk of harm.

Delays and barriers

While it’s positive Awaab’s Law is now starting to be implemented, this is only the first phase. The measures - which take effect today - are for damp and mould (and all emergency hazards). The government has delayed implementation for other hazards, such as fire, until unspecified dates in 2026 and 2027.

It is now eight years on from the Grenfell Tower fire, almost five years on from the death of Awaab Ishak, and three years on from the Social Housing (Regulation) Act. These further delays mean social housing tenants will have to wait even longer for this vital protection. Delays can put lives at risk.

And tenants will continue to face barriers in enforcing their new rights for hazards to be dealt with in a timely fashion. Chronic underfunding of our legal aid system means it can be very difficult to access advice and advocacy to enforce rights due to ‘legal aid deserts’ or a lack of specialist housing advisers. Legal Aid is still restricted for disrepair cases. The government’s announcement on legal aid in the summer is welcome. It shows they understand the vital importance of legal representation for people with housing problems – in some cases it can be lifesaving. But the severe difficulties some tenants face in accessing legal aid must be addressed. Problems also arise with tenants using the Housing Ombudsman as a means of enforcement – the process takes months and so isn’t well-suited to securing urgent repairs.

Finally, there’s no date for when Awaab’s Law is being extended to private tenants.

What more must be done?

We support Faisal and Aisha in wanting Awaab's legacy to be a new era, where no family has to endure such appalling conditions in their home that their children’s lives are at risk. Or feel their ethnicity plays a part in them being ignored.

Almost five years on from Awaab’s tragic death, we’re pleased the vital protections of Awaab’s Law are finally starting to come into force. For too long, families have put up with homes riddled with serious hazards like damp and mould, while their complaints go unanswered.

The government must now fully and swiftly implement all phases of Awaab’s Law. To prevent further tragedies like the death of two-year-old Awaab, the second phase of the regulations, which includes measures to improve fire safety, must be implemented by January 2026, with the remaining phase brought in by January 2027.

It’s also vital that anti-racism and race equity is a key feature of the new Competence and Conduct Standard for social landlords, which will be introduced by the Regulator of Social Housing from next autumn. Social housing managers must be culturally competent, and their staff should be expected to be anti-racist in their conduct, including in the design and implementation of organisational policies.

We urge social landlords to implement the standard well-ahead of the unambitious transition periods (longer than originally proposed by the previous government) which give them until 2029/30 to ensure all their relevant senior staff hold, or are working towards, a professional qualification.

What can you do?

Awaab’s Law shows that when tenants are listened to, and when we all work together to fight for change, improved rights are possible, and lives can be saved.

Join our fight for home, so we can help more tenants fight to improve everyone’s rights to a safe, decent and well-managed home. And if you’ve experienced racism when accessing a social home, share your story with us, so we can show the regulator why a strong standard is needed.

Secondary author: Sam Bloomer

Image caption: Faisal Abdullah, father of Awaab Ishak, hands in the Awaab’s Law petition at 10 Downing Street, supported by campaigning barrister, Christian Weaver, and award-winning solicitor, Kelly Darlington, in June 2023.