Does Awaab's Law apply to private landlords?

Awaab's Law in England is the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, made under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and in force since 27th October 2025. The regulations apply to registered providers of social housing, both local authorities and housing associations, for almost all social housing occupied under a tenancy. They do not apply to housing occupied under a licence, to long leaseholds or to shared ownership, and they do not apply to private landlords. Phase 2, from 30th November 2026, widens the hazards covered; it does not widen the landlords covered.

What does apply to private landlords in England

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 requires a rented home to be fit for human habitation at the start of the tenancy and throughout it. Serious damp and mould can make a home unfit, and a tenant can take the landlord to court for a breach. Alongside that, local authorities assess hazards in private rented homes under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), the same framework Awaab's Law draws its hazard categories from, and their environmental health teams can take enforcement action against landlords. Neither regime sets the fixed 10, 5 and 3 working day and 24 hour timescales that Awaab's Law imposes on social landlords.

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 extension

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 gives ministers the power to extend Awaab's Law to the private rented sector. That extension needs its own regulations, following a consultation, and the government's implementation roadmap places it in the final phase with no date attached. Until those regulations are made and commenced, the answer for a private landlord in England remains no. We will update this page when a date is announced; we do not forecast one.

Scotland took a different route. Rather than limiting the duties to social landlords, the 2026 Regulations amend the Repairing Standard in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, which applies to private tenancies of a house let for human habitation, as well as the Right to Repair Scheme for social tenants. The Repairing Standard now includes a requirement that the house is substantially free from damp and mould, and the investigation and commencement duties are written into section 14 of the 2006 Act. Any private tenancy the Repairing Standard already applied to is covered. Occupancy agreements that are not tenancies, and mobile homes, are not.

What a private landlord in Scotland must do

• ·Investigate within 10 working days of being notified of, or otherwise becoming aware of, possible damp or mould, using a competent person. The clock runs from the day after the report.
• ·Give the tenant a written summary within 3 working days of the investigation concluding, naming who investigated, setting out the findings and stating whether the house is substantially free from damp and mould.
• ·Commence the repair within 5 working days of the investigation concluding where substantial damp or mould is found, and complete it within a reasonable time after the investigation.
• ·Have regard to the Scottish Government guidance when deciding whether the house meets the Repairing Standard.

A private tenant who believes the Repairing Standard is not met can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber). The regulations require the Tribunal to consider whether the landlord complied with the Awaab's Law duties. It can issue a Repairing Standard Enforcement Order, failing to carry out the work ordered without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence, and the Tribunal can make a Rent Relief Order restricting the rent payable until the order is complied with. There is no 24 hour emergency tier in Scotland and no fixed completion deadline for private landlords; both are covered in our Awaab's Law in Scotland guide.

In Scotland the duties are live and the steps below are requirements. In England they are preparation: the 2018 Act and HHSRS already expect damp and mould to be dealt with, and the Awaab's Law timescales are the benchmark any later extension would be built on.

1. 1.Log every report on the day it arrives. By phone, email, text, through an agent or in passing. A written record of when you became aware is the foundation of every later step.
2. 2.Investigate promptly and in person. Identify the cause, not only the visible mould: leaks, failed damp proof courses, inadequate ventilation, insulation or heating.
3. 3.Put the findings in writing to the tenant. What was found, what will be done, and when it will start. In Scotland this is a statutory written summary with a 3 working day deadline.
4. 4.Treat the cause with proper mould remediation, not a surface wipe. The Scottish guidance says a mould wash on its own is unlikely to be a suitable repair, and the English guidance treats cleaning as a temporary measure that does not stop the clock on the underlying problem.
5. 5.Do not attribute reports to tenant lifestyle. Both governments' guidance says everyday cooking, bathing and drying laundry are not a reason to refuse to act.
6. 6.Keep records that would stand up to scrutiny: dates, photographs, correspondence, contractor reports and completion evidence.

Awaab's Law places its duties on the landlord in both nations, but agents sit inside the clock. In England the social landlord guidance says that where a managing agent for the landlord becomes aware of a potential hazard, that is likely to establish the landlord's awareness, and the same logic would follow in any private sector extension. In Scotland a letting agent may draft and send the written summary, and may be the route a report arrives by, but the landlord remains responsible for meeting the 10, 3 and 5 working day deadlines. Agents managing Scottish private tenancies should already have a logging, investigation and written summary process in place; agents in England who build one now will not need to rebuild it later.

• ·Awaab's Law: guidance for social landlords, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
• ·Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018: guide for tenants, gov.uk. The Act applies in England to tenancies from 20th March 2019 and lists damp and mould growth among the hazards a court will consider.
• ·HHSRS operating guidance, gov.uk.
• ·The Investigation and Commencement of Repair (Scotland) Regulations 2026, SSI 2026/173, in force 6th October 2026.
• ·Awaab's Law: guidance for landlords in Scotland, Scottish Government.
• ·On this site: Awaab's Law explained, the timescales, Phase 2, Scotland and the Scotland and England comparison.

This page describes the law as it stood on 28th October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.