Awaab’s Law and the Private Rented Sector

What has happened

On 9 October 2026 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) opened a consultation on extending Awaab’s Law to private rented homes in England. It also asks whether the rules should cover supported housing, temporary accommodation for homeless households and care leaver accommodation, where residents live under a licence rather than a tenancy.

The consultation closes at 11.59pm on 18 December 2026.

Awaab’s Law has applied to social landlords since 27 October 2025. It is named after Awaab Ishak, who died in 2020 aged two after prolonged exposure to mould in his family’s home in Rochdale.

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 already gave the government the power to apply it to private renting. This consultation is about how and when, not whether.

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said that regardless of tenure, all renters have the right to live in a safe and decent home. The government’s own figures make the case it is relying on: around one in ten private rented homes has a Category 1 hazard, roughly double the rate in social housing, and 22% failed the Decent Homes Standard in 2024.

The headline for landlords: nothing changes today. The consultation names 2027 as the earliest feasible start date and asks respondents to choose between 2027, 2028 and 2029.

What Awaab’s Law would actually require

At the moment a private landlord must carry out repairs within a “reasonable” time, judged case by case.

Awaab’s Law replaces that with a clock. The consultation uses the social housing rules as its starting point and, for most requirements, offers a shorter, matching or longer option for the private sector.

The clock would start when the landlord becomes aware of a potential hazard. That could be a tenant complaint, something spotted during maintenance, or a referral from a medical professional.

The rules would be written into every private tenancy as an implied term, so a tenant whose landlord misses a deadline could sue for breach of contract, with the court able to order repairs, compensation and costs. The new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman, expected in 2028, would also hear complaints.

There would be a defence where a landlord can show they took all reasonable steps and missed a deadline for reasons beyond their control. That defence will live or die on records.

Points still open

• Rehousing tenants. Social landlords must provide alternative accommodation, at their cost, if a home cannot be made safe in time. The government has flagged concerns about applying this to private landlords. For portfolio economics, this is the single most important detail to watch.
• Leasehold flats. Around 40% of private rented homes are leasehold. One option would require landlords to take reasonable steps to get the freeholder to fix hazards in parts of the building the freeholder controls.
• Tenant-caused damage. The proposal is to exclude hazards caused by a tenant breaching the tenancy, but guidance would stop landlords writing off damp and mould as tenant “lifestyle” without grounds.
• Who investigates. Options range from anyone the landlord judges competent through to a qualified HHSRS practitioner or surveyor.
• Managing agents. Landlords who use an agent would stay legally responsible for meeting the deadlines.

What landlords are already on the hook for

It is worth being clear that the absence of Awaab’s Law does not mean the absence of obligations.

Private landlords must already carry out most repairs under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and keep homes fit for human habitation. Since June 2026, councils have been able to fine landlords up to £7,000 for failing to take reasonably practicable steps to keep a property free of Category 1 hazards.

Section 21 “no fault” evictions ended on 1 May 2026. Tenants can now raise disrepair without the same fear of losing their home, so landlords should expect more hazard reports. Once Awaab’s Law arrives, each of those reports will come with a deadline attached.

The Drake Take

For well-run landlords, much of this formalises what good practice already looks like.

The real shift is that response times stop being a matter of judgement and become a matter of law, with a tenant able to enforce them directly. That has knock-on effects for how properties are bought, financed and managed, and that is where we spend our time with clients.

1. Liquidity matters more than it did

Fixed deadlines for emergency and significant hazards mean the money to fix them has to be available quickly. A landlord running a portfolio with no cash buffer, relying on next month’s rent to pay for a roofer, is more exposed under a 24 or 48 hour regime than under a “reasonable time” test. We would encourage clients to treat a maintenance reserve as part of the funding structure, not an afterthought, and to factor it in when deciding how much equity to release on a remortgage.

2. Property selection and due diligence

Older stock, solid-walled terraces, basement and lower ground flats, and homes with a history of condensation have always carried more maintenance risk. Under Awaab’s Law that risk carries a deadline and a legal claim. When buying, a lender’s mortgage valuation is carried out for the lender, not for you, and it is not a substitute for a proper survey. On properties where damp is likely, the cost of an independent survey is small next to the cost of inheriting a problem you have to fix to a statutory timetable.

3. Raising money to put things right

Where a property needs work on ventilation, heating, insulation or damp, landlords have options. Depending on the property and the borrower, that might be a further advance from the existing lender, a remortgage with capital raising, or for acquisitions of run-down stock, refurbishment bridging with a buy-to-let exit once the works are complete. Damp-related works often overlap with energy efficiency improvements, and the government has proposed a minimum EPC rating of C for private rented homes, with a compliance deadline of 1 October 2030. Planning both together can make better use of one round of borrowing and one set of trades.

Every lender assesses these cases differently, particularly where a property has known defects at the point of application. This is an area where whole-of-market access genuinely changes the outcome.

4. HMOs and multi-unit blocks

More occupants and more units mean more opportunities for a report, and more tenants potentially affected by a single defect such as a failing roof or a communal ventilation problem. HMO and MUFB landlords are already used to licensing and higher management standards, but they should look hard at contractor cover and response processes across the whole building, not unit by unit.

5. Leasehold flats and freeholder risk

If a hazard sits in the structure or common parts, the landlord may depend on a freeholder or managing agent to fix it. Depending on how the final rules land, landlords could carry the deadline without controlling the repair. That is worth weighing when buying flats in blocks with a poor maintenance record or a slow-moving freeholder.

6. Records are the defence

The “all reasonable steps” defence depends on evidence. Every tenant contact about damp, mould or other hazards should be logged with a date and time and followed up in writing, along with what was done and when. If you use a managing agent, check that their contract and reporting meet that standard, because the legal responsibility stays with you.

7. Watch the rehousing question

If private landlords end up having to fund alternative accommodation when a home cannot be made safe in time, that changes the risk profile of a portfolio, particularly for single-property landlords. It is worth checking now whether your landlord insurance includes alternative accommodation or loss of rent cover, and on what terms.

Where holiday lets fit

On what has been published so far, the consultation is aimed at private rented tenancies and certain licence-based accommodation such as supported housing, temporary accommodation and care leaver housing.

Short-term holiday lets are not let on tenancies, so on the face of it they sit outside the proposals.

Owners who are thinking about switching a holiday let to a long-term tenancy, for example in response to changes in local tax or planning treatment, should factor Awaab’s Law into that decision, along with the wider Renters’ Rights Act regime. We will update this view once the final rules are published.

Key dates

• 27 October 2025 – Awaab’s Law begins for social housing (damp, mould and emergency hazards)
• 1 May 2026 – Section 21 abolished under the Renters’ Rights Act
• June 2026 – Updated HHSRS and new council fines of up to £7,000 for Category 1 hazards
• 9 October 2026 – Consultation on extending Awaab’s Law to private renting opens
• 18 December 2026 – Consultation closes
• 2027 – Earliest feasible start for private landlords (options of 2027, 2028 or 2029)
• 2028 – Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman expected
• 2035 – Decent Homes Standard applies to private rented homes

Awaab’s Law in England is separate from Scotland, where repair timescale regulations for private and social landlords took effect on 6 October 2026.

What we would be doing now

• Respond to the consultation. Practical evidence from landlords and agents will shape the final deadlines, particularly on trades availability and rehousing.
• Check how tenant reports are logged and followed up, whether you manage yourself or use an agent.
• Test your contractor cover. Could a trade attend within 24 hours for an emergency? Agree a backup if not.
• Identify your higher-risk properties: older stock, homes with past damp complaints, poor ventilation, and leasehold flats where the freeholder controls key repairs.
• Build or review a maintenance reserve before releasing equity elsewhere in the portfolio.
• If works are needed, plan damp and energy efficiency improvements together and talk to us about the most efficient way to fund them.