The 3 Compliance Gaps Costing UK Landlords Under Awaab's Law

If you manage social housing or rental properties in the UK, you've probably heard about Awaab's Law. It came into force on 27 October 2025, bringing strict new timelines for how landlords must handle damp and mould reports and meet social housing compliance standards.

The Housing Ombudsman ordered Lewisham Council to pay £40,000 across three severe damp and mould cases in March 2024. The Regulator of Social Housing can now issue unlimited landlord fines - previously capped at £5,000. Around 40% of all compensation awards now relate to damp and mould failures.

Landlords are being fined right now for missing deadlines.

What Happened: The Awaab Ishak Case

Awaab Ishak was two years old when he died in December 2020 from prolonged exposure to mould in his family's social housing flat in Rochdale. His parents had been reporting the problem since 2017.

When the inquest investigated, they found that Rochdale Boroughwide Housing's CRM system wasn't being properly used. Reports were going in but not being acted on. The tragedy led Shelter and the Manchester Evening News to campaign for stronger protections. That's how Awaab's Law came about.

What the Law Requires: Emergency Hazard Response and Significant Hazard Investigation

Awaab's Law introduces strict timelines through the official UK government guidance:

Emergency hazard response (gas leaks, exposed wiring, serious damp threatening health):

• Make safe within 24 hours

Significant hazard investigation (damp, mould, broken heating):

• Investigate within 10 working days
• Send written summary to tenant within 3 working days
• Complete repairs within 5 working days

If you can't fix it in time under Awaab's Law, you must provide alternative accommodation at your expense. Hotel costs of £100-£150 per night add up quickly. For a family over two weeks, this becomes a significant expense.

Property Management Challenges: The 3 Gaps

Gap #1: Reports Get Lost

A tenant messages photos of mould at 9pm. Your property manager sees it next morning, forwards it on, notes to schedule an inspection. Then other emergencies hit - a boiler breakdown, a leak, noise complaints. By Friday, that message is buried under dozens of others.

Two weeks later, the tenant contacts the Housing Ombudsman. You've missed your 10-day deadline.

InventoryBase reports that 45% of UK councils struggle to hire enough Environmental Health Officers. Some areas have just 2.2 EHOs per 10,000 homes. This environmental health officers shortage means teams are stretched. Adding strict timelines to an already chaotic system creates more problems.

What works: Get all reports into one place - WhatsApp, email, phone calls, web forms. One system, one timestamp. Set alerts that flag cases sitting untouched. Under Awaab's Law, the 10-day window feels generous until you're on day 8 without an inspection scheduled.

Gap #2: Documentation Doesn't Exist

The official guidance requires landlords to keep "clear records of all correspondence with residents and contractors."

When the Housing Ombudsman investigates breaches, they commonly find:

• Email threads referencing phone calls that were never logged
• Deleted WhatsApp messages
• Handwritten inspection notes that can't be found
• Contractor quotes discussed verbally but never documented

The Ombudsman has reviewed over 100 severe cases on damp and mould. Incomplete documentation is a consistent problem.

What you need: Log every interaction. The initial report, timestamps, photos with dates, phone call records, every contractor quote, every access attempt. When proving you took "all reasonable steps" under Awaab's Law, vague claims won't work. You need timestamped evidence.

Gap #3: Contractor Coordination Breaks Down

You investigate within 10 days and find significant damp requiring a specialist contractor. Then you start calling:

• First contractor can't come for three weeks
• Second wants a site visit first (another week wait)
• Third is fully booked until next month

You're now past your 5-day repair deadline.

The National Housing Federation reports that 60% of social landlords struggle to secure contractors within required timescales. The problem worsens in winter when damp complaints spike. Manual tracking limitations make it nearly impossible to coordinate multiple contractors, tenant availability and statutory deadlines simultaneously.

What works: Build contractor relationships before you need them. Primary suppliers, backup options, emergency contacts with pre-agreed rates and response times. Some landlords pre-book slots during winter. Track every coordination attempt with timestamps - Awaab's Law requires proving you tried everything possible.

How Vindey Helps

Vindey was built to handle exactly these social housing compliance problems:

One screen, all channels: Reports from WhatsApp, email, SMS, phone and web chat go into one place. Every case gets timestamped. Tenants get automatic confirmation. Your team gets notified. Emergency cases are flagged immediately for 24-hour deadlines. See our property management automation tools for more.

Everything logged: Every interaction saved - photos, surveys, contractor messages, access attempts. Everything exports as a clean audit trail showing you met compliance requirements.

Tenant communication automation: Automated tenant communications and maintenance coordination keep tenants informed throughout the process.

Request a demo to see how it works.

The Bottom Line

Awaab's Law timelines are tight. Landlord fines for non-compliance are real. The documentation requirements are thorough.

Manual tracking doesn't work with 10-day investigation deadlines. Scattered documentation won't survive Housing Ombudsman reviews. Ad-hoc contractor coordination can't meet 5-day repair windows.

You need proper systems - whether that's Vindey or another solution. The "spreadsheet and good intentions" approach doesn't meet modern social housing compliance standards.

Awaab's Law FAQs

Does the law apply to private landlords?

Currently applies to social housing landlords only. However, the government guidance suggests expansion to private rentals is likely. Worth preparing now.

What if the tenant refuses access?

Document every attempt - dates, times, methods used. The defence of "all reasonable steps" only works if you can prove exactly what you tried and when.

What counts as a significant hazard?

Damp and mould that materially affects health. Assessments are person-specific, not property-specific. Mild mould might be acceptable for a healthy adult but significant for someone elderly with asthma.