Social Housing (Regulation) Act: Awaab’s Law in practice

The Social Housing (Regulation) Act received Royal Assent in July 2023, and makes provision regarding the regulation of social housing and the terms of approved schemes for investigation of housing complaints. It also formally introduces onto the statute books ‘Awaab’s Law’.

What is Awaab’s Law?

The Act is wide-ranging in the changes it introduces and includes: new powers for the Housing Ombudsman to issue guidance and a code of practice, and ability to order providers to self-assess their performance against such guidance; additional powers to the Social Housing Regulator; and a requirement that social housing managers have a recognised professional qualification.

In addition, the Act obliges (and subject to the enactment of future secondary legislation) social housing landlords to investigate and repair, within a specified timescale, “prescribed hazards“ which are reported from their housing stock, and may even in due course impose a duty to re-house tenants where a home cannot be made safe. These additional obligations will form part of tenancy agreements, and are intended to provide tenants with an enhanced course of redress against landlords who are considered to be failing in their maintenance duties.

This specific amendment to the Act followed the death of Awaab Ishak in December 2020, and the subsequent inquest which concluded in November 2022. Awaab died following exposure to environmental mould in his parent’s home and subsequent sub-optimal medical treatment.

After having heard all the evidence, the Coroner had a number of concerns arising from the evidence generally, including the fact that the 2006 Government document, ‘A Decent Home: Definition and Guidance for Implementation,’ did not give any consideration to the issues of damp and mould, nor did it provide any guidance as to the need for a property to be adequately ventilated (which is a contributory factor to mould growth). In light of her concerns, the Coroner issued a Prevention of Future Deaths Report to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, as well as the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, requiring them to outline the actions their departments would take to address this issue, as well as the others highlighted, and prevent a repeat of similar circumstances arising in the future.

In providing a joint response to the Coroner’s invite, the Secretaries of State confirmed that an amendment to the already existing Social Housing (Regulation) Bill would be tabled, to specify time limits within which landlords must investigate hazards and then act upon them where there were health concerns. These amendments subsequently became known as ‘Awaab’s Law’.

Whilst these measures, on the face of it, are extensive the proposals are not without their practical difficulties.

What impact will the Act have in practice?

To coincide with the Act’s progress prior to receiving Royal Assent, and as part of its “drive to make every home a decent home,” the Government earlier this year announced additional funding of £30 million for Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, to start making improvements in the quality of social housing.

Despite the allocation of additional funding, in reality this amount is unlikely to make much difference, once apportioned between multiple social housing providers and their individual properties.

Many social housing providers are established on a not-for-profit basis, with income being derived almost exclusively from rents supplemented by some public funding. Any excess is usually re-invested into the organisation for the benefit of tenants. Despite the headline-grabbing funding which is to be made available, without more long-term investment and increased funding streams, social housing providers are likely to continue to be placed in an impossible position – income allocated to address a known issue, will be unavailable for other projects, such as the funding of new builds. This may ultimately prejudice the tenants themselves, being those for whose benefit social housing is provided.

Likewise, it is not clear how the additional duties imposed by the Act are to be funded in the future. It was well-publicised following the inquest into the death of Awaab Ishak that Rochdale Boroughwide Housing’s funding to build new homes was suspended until it was able to prove that it was a responsible landlord. Going forwards, it is perhaps difficult to understand how such measures benefit tenants, who rely on the continued ability of social housing providers to meet their needs and to potentially re-house them were hazards cannot be rectified.

Whilst the objectives of the Act are to be welcomed, and it is only right that those who own and manage property have an obligation to ensure that it remains fit for purpose, the new provisions also require appreciation of hazards.

The circumstances of Awaab’s death served to shine a spotlight on the dangers of prolonged exposure to environmental mould, but its presence is not unique to the property involved in this case, nor even the North West as a whole, and is likely ubiquitous within UK property. For example, the Regulator of Social Housing undertook a nationwide survey in the aftermath of the inquest, which found that damp and mould was present in potentially upwards of 6% (around 240,000) of the nation’s four million social housing homes.

However, it was implicit during the inquest that the dangers of damp and mould were not well-known, as demonstrated by their lack of reference within the guidance which existed at the time. Whilst the Act is widely drafted, the Government has stated its aim to consult within six months to confirm the relevant timescales and clarify the definition of prescribed hazards.

What can providers do?

Overall the draft Act is to be welcomed, and serves to clarify what steps are to be taken by landlords on being notified of potentially hazardous circumstances within their housing stock over-and-above their existing obligations as landlord.

Pending its full implementation and further guidance/ regulations as to relevant timescales and definitions, there are a number of steps social housing providers can take now to ensure that they are well-positioned going forwards.

For example, they may wish to undertake proactive assessments of their entire housing stock, the types of property included and their repair performance, to identify potential areas of concern. Damp and mould is, to an extent, a seasonal issue, and it would be prudent for providers to undertake a rolling programme of surveys in order to obtain a year-round understanding of the condition of their properties.

This analysis and assessment will enable a risk-based approach to be adopted, based on clear data, which will provide a solid basis for improvement plans and appropriate response procedures. Given the recent spotlight on damp and mould, providers may wish to also clarify the scope, extent and content of their own inspection, maintenance and remedial procedures, to ensure that they remain fit for purpose.

Humidity is accepted as a contributory factor to mould growth, and technology exists to enable providers to remotely monitor levels within their stock. To be effective, staff will need to be trained and educated to identify levels of concern in individual properties.

Once remedial actions have been taken, it would also be prudent for providers to have in place follow-up procedures, to assess whether repairs have been effective. Where unsuccessful, such monitoring will allow for lessons to be learned and appropriate revisions to procedure to be incorporated going forwards.