Property Standards for Private Landlords: Awaab's Law, Decent Homes and Repair Duties

If you let property in England, three separate things now govern the condition your home has to be in: your long-standing repair duties, the new Decent Homes Standard, and Awaab's Law. For private landlords, Awaab's Law is the headline — it puts a stopwatch on how fast you deal with serious hazards like damp and mould. This guide pulls all three together so you can see the whole picture, understand the 2026-2035 timeline, and know what you actually have to do rather than juggling three half-remembered rules.

TL;DR: what property standards must private landlords meet?

Private landlords in England already have to keep the structure, exterior and key installations in repair (Landlord and Tenant Act 1985) and keep the property fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy (Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018). On top of that, the Renters' Rights Act 2025 is bringing two new layers: Awaab's Law, which will set legally enforceable timeframes for fixing serious hazards, and a modernised Decent Homes Standard, confirmed to apply to the private rented sector from 2035. Awaab's Law is already live in social housing (from 27 October 2025); no start date has been set for the private-sector version. Meanwhile, the maximum civil penalty for ignoring a council request to fix a serious hazard rose from £30,000 to £40,000 on 1 May 2026, and since 22 June 2026 councils can impose a penalty of up to £7,000 where a landlord fails to remove a Category 1 hazard it was reasonably practicable to remove (GOV.UK).

What is Awaab's Law and does it apply to private landlords?

Awaab's Law is named after Awaab Ishak, the two-year-old who died in 2020 after prolonged exposure to mould in his family's socially rented home. It was first introduced for social housing through the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, with the first phase of regulations coming into force on 27 October 2025, according to the government's Guide to the Renters' Rights Act.

Yes — Awaab's Law is being extended to the private rented sector. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 gives ministers the power to require private landlords to address hazards such as damp and mould within a specified time period. Crucially, the government has confirmed the mechanism: in line with the social-housing approach, Awaab's Law will imply terms into private tenancy agreements. That means once the regulations are set, meeting Awaab's Law timescales becomes a contractual duty you owe your tenant — and if you miss it, tenants can bring enforcement action through the courts, or, once it is running (expected in 2028), complain to the new PRS Landlord Ombudsman.

The detail — including the exact deadlines and the start date — has not yet been set. There is no confirmed commencement date for the private-sector version; the government has said it will set out further detail "in due course." Don't wait for the starting gun to get your repairs process in order.

Awaab's Law doesn't ask you to be perfect. It asks you to act fast, and to prove you did.

The statutory clock: what must happen by when (social-housing template)

The private-sector regulations aren't published yet, but the social-housing version of Awaab's Law — already in force — gives you the clearest picture of the shape the PRS clock will take. Use it now as your working standard:

1. Day 0 — report received. Log the date and time a tenant reports a hazard such as damp, mould, excess cold or a dangerous repair. This is when your clock starts.
2. Within 24 hours — emergency hazards. Anything posing an immediate significant risk to health or safety (e.g. a gas leak, exposed wiring, no heating in winter) must be made safe within 24 hours.
3. Within 10 working days — investigate. For non-emergency hazards, the social-sector rules require an investigation to begin and findings to be shared with the tenant within 10 working days, according to the NRLA.
4. Within 5 further working days — written plan. The landlord must set out, in writing, what was found and the plan and timescale for repair.
5. Within a set number of working days — start the work. Repairs then begin within a defined window agreed with the tenant, prioritised by severity.

Treat this as the floor, not the ceiling, until the private-sector regulations confirm the exact figures — a faster response is always safer than a slower one.

What timescales does Awaab's Law set?

The private-sector timescales are not yet fixed, so the honest answer is: confirm the figures when the regulations are published. But the social-housing version is the template, and it is instructive. According to the National Residential Landlords Association, the social-sector rules require landlords to deal with emergency repairs within 24 hours and to investigate damp and mould within a set number of working days (NRLA reports a 10-working-day investigation window). Expect the private-sector regime to follow a similar shape: investigate quickly, write to the tenant with your findings and a repair plan, start work within a defined window, and treat genuine emergencies as same-day.

The NRLA has pressed government to make the private-sector version workable for smaller landlords, who make up the majority of the sector and don't have in-house maintenance teams. Whatever the final numbers, the practical takeaway is the same: a documented, fast response to hazard reports is about to move from "good practice" to "the law."

Damp and mould triage: condensation, penetrating or rising damp?

Most disputes start here — the tenant and landlord disagree about the cause, and the cause determines the fix. Before you commission any works, work out which type you're dealing with:

• Condensation damp. The most common cause in rented homes. Appears as black mould on cold surfaces (external walls, window reveals, behind wardrobes), often worse in winter and in bathrooms/kitchens. Usually linked to poor ventilation, drying clothes indoors, or insufficient heating — but can also be made worse by a landlord's failure to provide adequate extraction or insulation, so don't assume it's automatically the tenant's doing.
• Penetrating damp. Water entering from outside — a failed gutter, missing roof tiles, cracked render, a leaking pipe. Typically shows as a damp patch that tracks a specific pattern (e.g. worsens after rain) rather than general condensation blooms.
• Rising damp. Rarer than often claimed. Caused by groundwater rising through a wall where the damp-proof course has failed or is missing. Usually confined to ground-floor walls up to around a metre, with a tidemark.

Evidence to record at inspection: date and time, room-by-room photos, a damp meter reading if you have one, weather conditions, any visible defects (guttering, render, extractor fans), and the tenant's account of when it started and what ventilation/heating they use.

When to instruct a specialist: if the cause isn't obvious within your first inspection, if the mould covers a significant area, if a tenant has a vulnerability (young children, respiratory conditions, elderly occupants), or if you suspect rising damp — get an independent damp survey rather than relying on a contractor who also quotes for the remedial work, to avoid any suggestion of bias.

Tenant reports mould — your 14-day response template

This 14-day shape is a practical, defensible standard landlords can apply today — faster for anything dangerous — while we wait for the private-sector Awaab's Law regulations to confirm exact statutory windows.

Records to keep: the tenant's original report, your written acknowledgement, inspection notes and photos, the written findings-and-plan letter, contractor invoices and reports, and the completion confirmation. Store these centrally rather than in email threads you might lose — see our guide to document storage for landlord compliance for how to keep this evidence organised and ready to produce if a council or tribunal ever asks.

What is the Decent Homes Standard for private rented homes?

The Decent Homes Standard (DHS) is a minimum quality benchmark. It has applied to social housing for years, and the Renters' Rights Act 2025 extends a modernised version to the private rented sector for the first time. The government has confirmed the new DHS will apply to both the social and private rented sectors from 2035, according to its New Decent Homes Standard policy statement.

To meet the modernised standard, a private rented home will broadly need to: be free of the most serious ('Category 1') hazards; be in a reasonable state of repair; have reasonably modern facilities and services; provide thermal comfort; and be free from damp and mould. One welcome change for landlords: the old rule forcing kitchens and bathrooms to be replaced once they reach a set age is being scrapped, so a kitchen in genuinely good condition won't have to be ripped out on age alone.

Don't read "2035" as "do nothing until then." The government's policy statement is explicit that landlords should start works earlier where feasible. And one element bites much sooner: the requirement to be free of Category 1 hazards (Criterion A of the DHS) already exists in law and is being reinforced ahead of the wider standard. For context on why this matters, 21% of privately rented homes failed the Decent Homes Standard as of 2023, according to the government's consultation response — so this is not a niche problem.

How do Awaab's Law and Decent Homes fit with existing repair duties?

This is where landlords get confused, so here is the map. You have three layers, and they overlap rather than replace one another.

Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, you must keep in repair the structure and exterior and the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating — this is implied into virtually every tenancy of under seven years and you cannot contract out of it. The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 added a duty (via a new section 9A of the 1985 Act) that the home be fit for human habitation, letting a tenant take you to court directly rather than waiting for the council. The Housing Health and Safety Rating System under the Housing Act 2004 is the tool councils use to score hazards as Category 1 or 2.

Think of it this way: the 1985 and 2018 Acts say your home must be repaired and safe. Awaab's Law adds how fast you must react. The Decent Homes Standard adds a baseline the property must clear in the first place. Get the fundamentals right and you are largely meeting all three at once.

What are the penalties for poor property standards?

The financial risk has just gone up. Under the Renters' Rights Act, the maximum civil penalty for failing to address serious hazards after a council request rose from £30,000 to £40,000 from 1 May 2026, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Separately, since 22 June 2026 councils can impose a penalty of up to £7,000 where a Category 1 hazard existed and it was reasonably practicable for the landlord to remove it but they did not (GOV.UK).

For deliberate or repeat offenders, the picture is worse: tenants or councils can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a rent repayment order, and serious cases can lead to prosecution. This sits alongside the wider enforcement changes covered in our guide to landlord penalties for non-compliance from May 2026.

A worked example: damp report in a Manchester terrace

Say you let a three-bed terrace in Manchester and a tenant emails on a Monday to report black mould spreading across a bedroom wall. Here is a sensible response that keeps you on the right side of all three layers of the rules.

1. Acknowledge and log it the same day. Reply in writing, note the date and time, and treat the email as the moment your clock starts. A dated paper trail is your best defence.
2. Investigate quickly. Arrange an inspection within days, not weeks. Damp and mould is a named hazard under the HHSRS, so establish the cause — condensation, a failed gutter, penetrating damp — rather than just wiping it down.
3. Write to the tenant with findings and a plan. Set out what you found, what you'll do and when. This mirrors the social-housing Awaab's Law duty and will likely be required in the PRS version.
4. Do the work within a reasonable time — faster for anything dangerous. Fix the root cause. If the home can't safely be occupied while you work, consider whether alternative arrangements are needed.
5. Keep the evidence. Invoices, photos before and after, contractor reports. If a council or tribunal ever asks, you can show you acted.

Handled like this, you satisfy your section 11 repair duty, the fitness-for-habitation duty, and the spirit of Awaab's Law — long before the private-sector regulations force the issue. For the full breakdown of the Decent Homes Standard's practical requirements, see our guide to the Decent Homes Standard for private landlords in England, and for the wider picture of day-to-day duties, see our overview of landlord responsibilities for repairs and maintenance.

The 2026-2035 timeline at a glance

For how these dates sit within the wider reform programme, see our Renters' Rights Act timeline of key dates and our overview of everyday landlord responsibilities for repairs and maintenance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Awaab's Law apply to private landlords yet?

Not yet in operational form. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 contains the power to extend Awaab's Law to private landlords, but the detailed regulations and timescales have not yet been made. No start date has been confirmed, so check GOV.UK for the current position before relying on any specific deadline.

When does the Decent Homes Standard apply to private rented homes?

The government has confirmed the modernised Decent Homes Standard will apply to the private rented sector from 2035. However, the requirement to be free of the most serious (Category 1) hazards already exists under the Housing Act 2004, and the government expects landlords to begin improvement works before 2035 wherever feasible.

What is a Category 1 hazard?

A Category 1 hazard is the most serious rating under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), which councils use to assess risks to health and safety under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004. Examples include serious damp and mould, excess cold, and dangerous electrics. Local authorities must take action where a Category 1 hazard is identified.

What is the maximum fine for failing to fix a serious hazard?

Under the Renters' Rights Act, the maximum civil penalty for failing to address serious hazards following a council request rose from £30,000 to £40,000 on 1 May 2026, according to MHCLG. Since 22 June 2026 there is also a penalty of up to £7,000 where a landlord fails to remove a Category 1 hazard it was reasonably practicable to remove.

Do my existing repair duties still apply under the Renters' Rights Act?

Yes. Your duties under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 remain fully in force. Awaab's Law and the Decent Homes Standard add to these obligations rather than replacing them, so a landlord who keeps a property in genuine good repair is well placed to meet all of them.

How do I tell the difference between condensation, penetrating and rising damp?

Condensation damp is the most common in rented homes and appears as mould on cold surfaces, often linked to ventilation and heating. Penetrating damp comes from outside — a defect in the roof, guttering or render — and tends to follow a specific pattern linked to weather. Rising damp is rarer and confined to ground-floor walls where a damp-proof course has failed. If the cause isn't clear from your own inspection, instruct an independent damp survey before commissioning remedial works.