{"id":273,"date":"2026-01-16T06:53:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T06:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/housing-law-wales\/?p=273"},"modified":"2026-01-15T14:34:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T14:34:53","slug":"awaabs-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/housing-law-wales\/awaabs-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Awaab’s Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy new year.\u00a0 In the last post of 2025, I considered whether Wales should have a general enforcement duty on local authorities as England will do after implementation of the Renters Rights Act.\u00a0 In this post, I want to ask whether Wales should adopt and incorporate Awaab’s Law, which has been done (in part) in Westminster under the Regulation of Social Housing Act 2023 and the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025<\/a>, which came in to force on 27th October 2025.<\/p>\n

Awaab Ishak’s death<\/strong><\/p>\n

Awaab Ishak died on 21st December 2020.\u00a0 He was two years old.\u00a0 He lived in a social housing flat.\u00a0 The Coroner’s narrative conclusion<\/a> was<\/p>\n

Awaab Ishak died as a result of a severe respiratory condition due to prolonged exposure to mould in his home environment. Action to treat and prevent the mould, was not taken. His respiratory condition led to a respiratory arrest.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The flat had extensive mould.\u00a0 Awaab’s parents and others on their behalf had complained about the state and condition of the flat for some time; his mother was pregnant; the family had asked for re-housing.\u00a0 The provider had said that the mould was due to “family lifestyle” (those of us who have done disrepair over the years will recognise that kind of phrasing).\u00a0 Awaab’s parents instructed solicitors, who sent a letter before claim, but the provider had a policy of not undertaking repairs without the consent of the solicitor (ditto).\u00a0 The Coroner’s prevention of future deaths report said:<\/p>\n

The court heard evidence that the impact on health from damp and mould is a widespread national issue. Of particular \u00b7importance is the fact this is not simply a social housing issue.\u00a0 The same concerns apply as much to the private landlords, where evidence suggests the problem is worse.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I have written before, please do listen to the harrowing, shocking podcast of Daniel Hewitt, The Trapped<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Awaab’s law<\/strong><\/p>\n

The issue with which Awaab’s Law is concerned arises from the vagueness in the substantive law.\u00a0 This requires that landlords deal with disrepair and fitness for human habitation issues “within a reasonable time”.\u00a0 This is classic lawyer talk – it provides this kind of rule because it is dealing with different circumstances in different properties.\u00a0 From that perspective, it seems the right way of going about things.\u00a0 Awaab’s law is designed to provide greater specificity of time within which investigations and actions must be taken in respect of hazards giving rise to unfitness for human habitation.\u00a0 The regulations are complicated (unfortunately), and divide up the hazards between emergency hazards, significant hazards, significant risk of harm, imminent and significant risk of harm, and issues of concern; but they do prescribe certain actions and when those actions must take place.<\/p>\n

There is plenty of guidance online<\/a>, plenty of angst-ridden commentary<\/a> about the regulations by providers and their representatives, new training courses, and quite a lot of anxiety<\/a> being expressed about the numbers of potential civil claims and ombudsman complaints.<\/p>\n

Now, I’m not sure I have much empathy with the sector concerns about liability, as their job is to provide safe and affordable homes; not homes which are hazardous to health and safety.\u00a0 But there are some issues with the Regs which we might consider:<\/p>\n

(i) The Regs only cover certain of the hazards.\u00a0 The idea is that they will be rolled out to other hazards over time, with more coming this year.\u00a0 Damp, mould and fungal growth is the one prescribed area alongside emergency hazards.\u00a0 This is good, in a way, and the days of “lifestyle” reports are numbered, I suspect.<\/p>\n

(ii) The complexity in the Regs is highlighted by the length and detail of the definition regs.\u00a0 Just consider the following:<\/p>\n

\n

(a) <\/span>\u201csignificant hazard<\/span>\u201d means, in relation to a social home, a relevant hazard that poses a significant risk of harm to the health or safety of an occupier of the social home;<\/span><\/p>\n

(b) <\/span>\u201csignificant risk of harm<\/span>\u201d means a risk of harm to the occupier\u2019s health or safety that a reasonable lessor with the relevant knowledge would take steps to make safe as a matter of urgency (but not within 24 hours);<\/span><\/p>\n

(c) <\/span>\u201cemergency hazard<\/span>\u201d means, in relation to a social home, a relevant hazard that poses an imminent and significant risk of harm to the health or safety of an occupier of the social home;<\/span><\/p>\n

(d) <\/span>\u201cimminent and significant risk of harm<\/span>\u201d means a risk of harm to the occupier\u2019s health or safety that a reasonable lessor with the relevant knowledge would take steps to make safe within 24 hours.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

(iii)\u00a0Given the findings of the Coroner, it is interesting that the law applies only to certain social housing leases (s. 10A(1)(b), Landlord and Tenant Act 1985) and not the private rented sector.\u00a0 There is some tenure-based prejudice which one might suggest is going on here.<\/p>\n

(iv) We should not lose sight of the fact that the reason why we have this civil law is because of a lack of enforcement by local authorities.\u00a0 For me, this is a massive point because:<\/p>\n