More than six months have passed since the changes to landlord and tenant law in England that have become known as Awaab's Law began to take effect.
We have produced a detailed briefing that considers the implications of Awaab's Law for construction, facilities management, and maintenance & repair contracts. If you missed our Insight, you can find it here.
Awaab's Law now requires all registered providers of social housing (RPs) to address emergency hazards (that include damp and mould) within prescribed timeframes. While seven out of ten RPs have said that they are able to meet these deadlines 90% of the time, the three out of ten RPs that indicated that they are not able to meet the deadlines, and the 10% of time the deadlines are missed (in any event) raises questions about how best RPs can ensure compliance and address resident safety – especially as Phases 2 and 3 of Awaab's Law (which come into force later this year and in the autumn of 2027) will pose further complications for RPs.
By way of a recap, Phase 1 of Awaab's Law requires RPs to:
- Investigate potential emergency hazards (those with an imminent and significant risk of harm to the occupier, such as broken boilers, gas leaks and electrical hazards) and undertake the rectification of such hazards within 24 hours of becoming aware of them.
- Investigate potential significant hazards (those where a reasonable lessor would take steps to make the hazard safe as a matter of urgency) within ten working days of becoming aware of them.
- Provide their resident(s) with a written summary of investigation findings within three working days of the investigation's conclusion.
- Undertake the remediation of significant hazards within five working days of the investigation concluding.
- Take steps to begin supplementary preventative work to prevent identified significant or emergency hazards recurring within five working days of the end of the investigation concluding (if steps can't be taken within five working days, this must be done as soon as possible, and work must start within 12 weeks).
- Satisfactorily complete the above-mentioned supplementary preventative works within a reasonable time period.
- Provide and fund suitable alternative accommodation for their resident(s) if relevant safety work cannot be completed within the above timeframes.
- Keep their resident(s) updated throughout the process and provide information on how they can keep safe.
The new requirements on RPs are not only extensive, but also strict; they provide the maximum statutory timeframes for action. It therefore comes as no surprise that there was a 14% rise in empty properties in December 2025 as significant damp and mould cases required residents to be decamped for adequate repairs.
Since Phase 1 came into force in the autumn, two key areas that have concerned our RP clients:
- the approach they should take to hazard categorisation ('significant' and 'emergency' hazards); and
- how best to put in place and maintain robust record-keeping arrangements.
At the same time, two wider concerns have come to the fore:
- how can RPs procure housing stock in a way that will assist them with compliance of Awaab's Law, when the need for a cost-effective increase to housing stock arises, considering compliance with Awaab's Law may well require high spec, energy efficient homes capable of reducing the likelihood of damp and mould; and
- how can RP's best secure suitable and cost-effective temporary accommodation in circumstances where they are simply unable to procure the completion of the required safety work within the applicable timescales.
Later this year, the government will introduce Phase 2 which will extend Awaab's Law to include hazards of excess cold and excess heat, falls associated with baths, structural collapse and explosion, fire and electrical hazards and domestic, personal hygiene and food safety, where they present a significant risk of harm.
In 2027, Awaab's Law will be further extended by the introduction of Phase 3, which will cover all of the remaining Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) hazards (with the exception of overcrowding), where they present a significant risk of harm.
As Phases 2 and 3 come into full force and effect, the above wider considerations will become more important for RPs and devising practical approaches to deal with the risks that RPs face will become critical. Innovative solutions may be found by using industrialised construction to build new homes.
Components built in a factory setting tend to be higher spec by design, given that the production of entire pods, and/or closed system components can be manufactured with services built in. Modular systems can be built to include triple glazing, greater insulation, built-in underfloor heating and built in ventilation systems that can help ensure all the services required to prevent hazards (including damp, mould, cold or excessive heat) can be in place, and functional.
While such services and specs can be implemented on traditional builds, the installation of these services in prefabricated modules reduces the likelihood of the specifications being reduced via on-site variations (often for cost-related reasons) and mitigates the possibility of these systems not working as designed when they are installed into traditionally constructed buildings by sub-contractors.
When using industrialised construction methods, the implementation of these high spec items can be more seamless (being incorporated into the factory build of modules, components, or kits of parts) without adding further elements to the on-site construction timetable, which could, in turn, lead to delays and further expenses for RPs acting as employers.
Using modern construction methods for building new social housing has already been realised in schemes such as Ealing Council's Northolt project, where the 'fabric first' approach that was implemented led to outstanding insulation and energy bills as low as £23 a month for residents, all of which would reduce the likelihood of the properties being hazardously cold and could help reduce the likelihood of damp and mould.
While the above may be useful, when it comes to preventing hazards in new build social properties, the question remains how industrialised construction can help RPs when an unexpected hazard in their housing stock results in residents having to be decanted and relocated. Enter demountable temporary housing delivered via industrialised construction, which has already been demonstrated by Rollalong (a UK based modular building manufacturer) in their showcase of their temporary modular housing solution at Romford Market in Essex.
The design, build and delivery of these temporary housing solutions can take as little as 90 days and, once designed and built (subject to site constraints), there is the potential for them to be moved from one location to another. This would mean that, if an outbreak of hazards occurs in an RP's housing stock, that RP could relocate the residents to the affordable, high spec and, most importantly, hazard- free temporary housing delivered by industrialised construction. RPs could (again, subject to site constraints) potentially move their pre-manufactured demountable temporary housing onto brownfield sites, such as disused car parks, close to the housing stock which is no longer habitable under Awaab's Law.
It is recognised that some hazards in social housing may not be open to quick fixes by RPs and temporary housing of residents while hazards are rectified may become more long term. Industrialised construction presents a quick, cost effective and hazard free way of providing temporary accommodation when these situations arise; also presenting the possibility of moving the temporary housing to a suitable location for the residents whose property has become hazardous under the new law.
In light of the above, it can be seen that industrialised construction may well hold the key to unlocking the door to innovative approaches that would deliver solutions to the two key questions that RPs now face when complying with Awaab's Law, both as it stands today (under Phase 1) and also how it will develop under the future phases, as it can help avoid hazards in new build social housing stock and provide cost effective and hazard free temporary accommodation if hazards take longer to rectify then hoped.
We have written about the evolution of industrialised construction in the UK. You can find our thought leadership pieces here.
