Phase 2 · Environmental health and pest control
Awaab's Law Phase 2 and environmental health: what changes on 30 November 2026
Domestic hygiene comes into scope on 30 November 2026. HHSRS hazards environmental health professionals already assess acquire fixed statutory repair deadlines for social landlords.
Published 31 July 2026 · Based on MHCLG guidance dated July 2026
Domestic hygiene, including personal hygiene and food safety, comes into scope under Awaab's Law on 30 November 2026.
Environmental health professionals know the underlying framework better than most: these are HHSRS hazard categories, and the government intends to extend Awaab's Law to the remaining HHSRS hazards, other than overcrowding, in a third phase. What Phase 2 changes is not the assessment of the hazard. It is that a social landlord now carries fixed statutory deadlines to investigate it, report to the tenant in writing and complete safety work, enforceable by the tenant as a breach of the tenancy agreement.
What comes into scope on 30 November 2026
Phase 2 adds seven hazard groups to the two already covered. The groups most relevant here are Domestic hygiene (including personal hygiene and food safety). The full Phase 2 list is: damp and mould, excess cold, excess heat, falls, structural collapse, fire and explosions, electrical hazards, and domestic hygiene, wherever they present a significant risk of harm to an occupier. All emergency hazards other than overcrowding remain in scope as they have been since Phase 1.
Awaab's Law applies to registered providers of social housing in England, both local authorities and housing associations, for almost all social housing occupied under a tenancy. It does not apply to housing occupied under a licence, to long leaseholds or to shared ownership.
The deadlines, which do not change
Phase 2 does not alter the timescales. It applies the existing ones to a much wider hazard list:
- 24 hours
- Investigate a potential emergency hazard and complete the relevant safety work, both within 24 hours of the landlord becoming aware of it.
- 10 working days
- Investigate a potential significant hazard within 10 working days of the landlord becoming aware of it.
- 3 working days
- Give the tenant a written summary of the investigation findings within 3 working days of the investigation concluding.
- 5 working days
- Complete relevant safety work within 5 working days of the investigation concluding, where a significant hazard is identified.
- 12 weeks
- Begin supplementary preventative work within 5 working days of the investigation concluding; where that is not possible, begin as soon as reasonably practicable and in any case within 12 weeks.
Timeframes usually start the day after the triggering event. The exception is the 24 hour emergency clock, which starts as soon as the landlord becomes aware of a potential emergency hazard.
Where the 24 hour clock bites
The regulations use two thresholds. A significant hazard is one a reasonable landlord, knowing what they know about the tenant and the home, would make safe within 15 working days. An emergency hazard poses an imminent and significant risk of harm and must be investigated and made safe within 24 hours.
Notably, the guidance is explicit that landlords must not write hazards off as a tenant "lifestyle" issue. Everyday cooking, bathing and drying laundry are not a reason to refuse action. That is a familiar argument in environmental health casework and Phase 2 puts a statutory deadline behind it.
What it means commercially
Because the duties are implied into tenancy agreements by the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, tenants can enforce them through the courts as a breach of contract, alongside the landlord's complaints procedure, the Housing Ombudsman and the Regulator of Social Housing. That sits alongside, rather than replacing, the enforcement routes local authorities already hold.
For anyone advising or contracting with social landlords, the practical shift is one of pace and evidence. Landlords will need to show when they became aware, when they investigated, what they told the tenant and when the work completed.
Why this is coming from a mould training provider
A fair question. UKAME is not an authority on fire, gas or electrical engineering, and this page does not pretend otherwise. You know your trade considerably better than we do.
What we have is a year of watching what these particular deadlines do to an organisation. Damp and mould went first: it has been under Awaab's Law since 27 October 2025, and mould remediation is the trade that has already had to learn what a statutory clock does to triage, reporting and contractor relationships. Phase 2 hands that same experience to seven more hazard groups at once, four days before winter. The transferable part is the compliance machinery, not the technical work, and that is the only part we teach.
Our Awaab's Law training is delivered by Tristan Hemsley, a Specialist Disrepair and Awaab's Law Consultant with 25+ years in housing property services across social housing, local authorities and main contractors.
Phase 2 in other sectors
Phase 2 pulls in several trades at once. The same deadlines, read from a different bench:
The full guidance and the hazards annex are on gov.uk. For the whole picture, see our Phase 2 explainer.
About UKAME: UKAME (UK Academy of Mould Experts) is a training and membership provider for damp, mould and housing-compliance professionals. UKAME training courses cover mould remediation and Awaab's Law compliance for contractors, surveyors and housing teams.
Contact: info@mouldexperts.org.uk · mouldexperts.org.uk