What is Awaab's Law — and does it apply to private landlords?

Who was Awaab Ishak, and why does this law exist?

Awaab Ishak was a two-year-old who died in December 2020 after prolonged exposure to mould in his family’s social-housing flat in Rochdale. A coroner concluded the mould directly contributed to his death, and that complaints had been met with inaction. The public response led the government to legislate fixed, enforceable deadlines so that “we’ll get to it eventually” is no longer a lawful answer to a serious damp or mould hazard.

That history matters for how you read the law: it was written to stop dangerous hazards being left, not to punish landlords who act. If you’re a Croydon landlord reading this to get ahead of the issue, you’re already doing the thing the law is trying to encourage.

What Awaab’s Law actually requires (social housing)

Since 27 October 2025, registered social landlords — councils and housing associations — must work to strict timescales once they’re aware of a hazard:

• Emergency hazards: investigate and make safe within 24 hours.
• Significant damp and mould: investigate within 10 working days; provide the resident a written summary of findings within 3 working days of completing the investigation; and begin work to make the home safe within 5 working days.

Further hazard categories (excess cold and heat, falls, fire and electrical risks, structural problems, and hygiene) are being phased in for social landlords across 2026, with the remaining hazards following in 2027.

Does it apply to private landlords? (The honest answer)

Not yet. As of June 2026, Awaab’s Law is a social-housing duty only. The government’s plan is to extend equivalent obligations to the private rented sector through the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, whose wider reforms began rolling out from 1 May 2026 — but the specific extension of Awaab’s-Law-style deadlines to private landlords still needs secondary legislation and a consultation on the exact timescales. The earliest realistic date being discussed is 2027, and even that is not confirmed.

Beware of anyone — including other websites — telling you Awaab’s Law already binds private landlords today. It doesn’t. Getting this wrong is exactly the kind of thing that erodes trust, so we’d rather be straight with you.

But private landlords are already liable for damp

Here’s the part that matters most if you let property in Croydon: the absence of Awaab’s Law does not mean you have no duties. Private landlords are already legally responsible for damp and mould caused by disrepair or by the condition of the building, under:

• Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 — the duty to keep the structure and exterior in repair.
• The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 — the home must be fit to live in, which includes being free from serious damp and mould.
• The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) — Croydon Council’s environmental health team can inspect and serve enforcement notices where damp is a serious hazard.

So the practical message for a private landlord is simple: you are on the hook for damp today, and a deadline-based regime is coming. The smart move is to treat reports the way Awaab’s Law expects — investigate promptly, diagnose the real cause, fix it, and keep a written record.

What this means in Croydon specifically

Much of Croydon’s rented stock is exactly the kind of property where damp questions arise: Victorian and Edwardian terraces around Thornton Heath, Selhurst and South Norwood; solid-wall homes with no cavity to insulate; and 1960s–70s flats and converted houses where condensation collects in cold corners. A lot of what gets reported as “rising damp” in these homes is actually condensation or penetrating damp — and the fix is completely different. That’s why a proper diagnosis, not a guess, is what protects both tenant health and the landlord’s position.

If you’re a landlord who wants to get ahead of this

A compliant damp inspection does three things at once: it finds the real cause (so you don’t pay to “fix” the wrong thing), it gives you a written report that shows you took the problem seriously, and it tells you exactly what work is needed. As deadline-based duties move toward the private sector, that paper trail is worth having.