Landlords, agents, managing agents & housing associations
Ten working days, in force since 27 October 2025.
Awaab's Law gives social landlords in England fixed, countable timescales for investigating and fixing damp and mould. Phase one has applied since 27 October 2025. Phase two, widening the hazards covered, follows on 30 November 2026. Private landlords aren't covered yet — an extension is under government consultation, with no date confirmed.
- 10WORKING DAYS
Complete an investigation
Runs from the moment you become aware the property is or may be affected by damp or mould — whether that comes from a tenant report, your own inspection, or any other means.
- 3WORKING DAYS
Issue a written summary to the tenant
Setting out what the investigation found. Due within three working days of the investigation being completed.
- 5WORKING DAYS
Commence any necessary work
Where the investigation concludes that work is required to make the property free of damp and mould, that work must start within five working days of the conclusion being reached.
Where circumstances outwith your control prevent compliance, you must set out in writing to the tenant why, and the timescale in which you expect to comply. Where the damp or mould is not the result of a building defect, landlords are expected to work with tenants and signpost appropriate advice and guidance.
The practical problem
Ten working days is a diary problem, not a legal one.
Every social landlord and agent in England is subject to the same clock, and there is a finite number of PCA-qualified damp and timber surveyors in the country. When phase two lands on 30 November, the ones with capacity will be the ones who booked ahead.
Get on the list before phase two
A standing arrangement for landlords, agents and managing agents: a named response window for damp and mould investigations, a report format written to evidence the investigation duty, and a plain-English written summary you can pass straight to the tenant.
No retainer for portfolios under — properties. Priced per inspection, with agreed rates fixed for twelve months.
DampCheck
We also build and run DampCheck England, a free tool that helps tenants identify what they are looking at and report it to their landlord properly, in writing and dated. Pointing a tenant there early tends to produce a clearer report than a phone call does — which makes your ten working days a good deal easier to work with.
England Landlord Damp & Mould Compliance Pack
The paperwork built around the clock above: a working-days calculator so the 10/3/5 deadlines are worked out rather than guessed, a full compliance guide, an investigation record and tenant notices — 512 fillable PDF fields you can complete on site.
Get the Compliance Pack →The wider legal picture
What already applies
— and what's changing next.
Awaab's Law sits on top of duties that have been in force for years. Damp and mould were never optional.
Phase one of Awaab's Law has applied to social housing in England since 27 October 2025 — the 10/3/5 timescales above, for investigating and fixing the most serious damp and mould hazards. Phase two follows on 30 November 2026, widening the hazard types covered and tightening the clock further.
The private rented sector is not yet covered. The Renters' Rights Act gives government the power to extend Awaab's Law to private landlords, but no start date has been confirmed — a consultation on how it should apply is open, closing 18 December 2026. Getting ahead of it now, rather than waiting for the deadline, is the sensible position for any landlord.
Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 · Awaab's Law
The Housing Health and Safety Rating System applies across all tenures in England, not just social housing. It's how a local council assesses damp and mould as a Category 1 hazard — the most serious band — and it can force a landlord to act by serving an Improvement Notice, whether or not Awaab's Law applies to that tenancy.
Housing Act 2004, Part 1
Most residential tenancies in England carry an implied repairing covenant under section 11: the landlord must keep the structure, exterior, and installations for water, gas, electricity, heating and sanitation in repair. English case law (Quick v Taff-Ely Borough Council, 1986; Lee v Leeds City Council, 2002) has wrestled with whether condensation caused by a building's design, rather than disrepair, falls within that duty.
That distinction is exactly why an independent diagnosis matters. Whether the cause is disrepair — covered under s.11 — or a design and ventilation issue that isn't automatically covered changes a landlord's legal position, and a competent survey is what tells you which one you're dealing with.
Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, s.11
In flats and converted properties the defect causing damp is frequently in shared fabric: the roof, an external wall, a communal downpipe. Who decides, and who pays, is set first by the lease terms and, for the shared parts, by the freeholder's or management company's own repairing obligations.
A landlord's repairing duty under s.11 doesn't evaporate because the defect is in common parts. Our reports locate the defect precisely, which is what freeholders, managing agents and other leaseholders need before agreeing to fund a repair.
Social landlords are additionally answerable to the Regulator of Social Housing and the Housing Ombudsman Service, and must meet the Decent Homes Standard — currently under review to bake in explicit damp and mould hazard removal. Awaab's Law adds fixed, auditable timescales on top of that, so investigation records, dated written summaries and evidence of work commencing become the compliance trail.
Where a mortgage valuation or a RICS HomeBuyer Report or Building Survey flags damp, a lender may hold back funds in retention until a specialist report is produced. This affects landlords buying and selling stock as much as it affects homeowners. A dated specialist report with a costed schedule of works is normally what releases the funds.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 our services must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time, for a reasonable price where none has been agreed. Where a contract is agreed at your home rather than at our premises, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give you a 14-day right to cancel, and we will give you that notice in writing before you sign anything.
Note also that England's limitation period differs from Scotland's: under the Limitation Act 1980 most contractual claims in England must be brought within six years, longer than Scotland's five-year prescriptive period under the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973. It is worth knowing where guarantees and defect claims are concerned.
This page summarises English housing law as we understand it for the purposes of explaining our survey work. It is not a substitute for legal advice on your circumstances. Verify against the current legislation at legislation.gov.uk, or take independent advice.
LAST REVIEWED — 20 OCTOBER 2026 · PREPARED BY — JEFF WEBB · NEXT REVIEW — 30 NOVEMBER 2026