Awaab's Law

What is Awaab’s Law and what does it mean?

Awaab’s Law has been introduced in response to the tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who sadly died because of prolonged exposure to the damp and mouldy conditions in his Rochdale home.

The new law came into effect from 27 October 2025, and requires all social housing landlords to fix serious problems like damp, mould, and other safety hazards within strict timeframes.

We’ve already changed how we work to make sure your home is safe and healthy. Check out how we’ve improved our services based on your feedback.

What’s changing?

Under the new Hazards in Social Housing Regulations, known as ‘Awaab’s Law’, serious mould problems are classified into emergency or significant categories.

• Emergency hazards are issues that could cause immediate harm, for example widespread mould making it difficult to breathe. These must be dealt with within 24 hours.

• Significant hazards are serious problems that could harm a customer’s health or safety, but are not an immediate threat. Landlords are required to investigate these within 10 working days.

From 2026 onwards, the new law will be extended to include issues such as excess cold or heat, hygiene and sanitation, and other potential safety risks.

You can read more on the Gov.uk website: Awaab’s Law – Gov.uk

How repairs will be prioritised under Awaab’s Law

There are new timescales for fixing the most serious issues, relating to things such as damp and mould.

At Salix Homes, we use a tool recognised by the government to assess any risks that could impact the health and safety of our customers, which is known as the Housing, Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

The word ‘hazard’ in this system refers to anything that could cause harm or discomfort.

Emergency hazards

• We’ll investigate the issue within 24 hours.
• We’ll do any urgent safety work within 24 hours.

Significant hazards

• We’ll inspect the problem within 10 working days.
• We’ll send you a summary of what we found within 3 working days of the inspection.
• We’ll carry out any urgent safety work within 5 working days.
• We’ll start any further repairs within 5 working days, and begin complex repairs work within 12 weeks.

Other issues (outside of Awaab’s Law)

• We’ll start repair work on other low hazard problems within 20 working days. Any repairs that fall outside of this have now been reduced to 45 working days.

What happens when you report a repair

• You can see the process we follow when you report a repair to us in our Repairs Flowchart.

What does this mean for you?

You will still need to report any incidents of damp and mould in the same way as before.

This can be done by using your MySalix account or by calling 0800 218 2000.

Please help us to help you – Open the Door for your appointment so we can get things sorted as quickly as possible.

If you have any concerns about damp, mould, or hazards in your home, please report them to us as soon as possible. We’re here to help.

What we’ve been doing to get ready

Salix Homes started working on a new and improved repairs service, and an enhanced MySalix customer portal in 2024. Both launched in early 2025, designed to better meet the needs of our customers.

A significant rise in demand for repairs and an increase in complaints prompted us to conduct an in-depth review of the service, helping us to identify the root causes and make meaningful improvements.

We listened to feedback from our customers and other stakeholders, which led to the introduction of several new measures. This includes:

• Expanded appointment times with evening and weekend slots.
• Recruiting additional operatives to reduce waiting times and improve overall efficiency.
• Upgrading our online customer portal, MySalix, to make it easier for customers to book repairs. The enhanced portal allows users to simply upload photos, book multiple repairs in one go, and make changes to their appointments at any time, day or night, without needing to wait for office hours.
• Introduced virtual video inspections, providing an even more convenient way for customers to report issues and receive quick, efficient assessments.
• In response to customer feedback, we also removed the chatbot to create a smoother, more intuitive user experience.
• Opened a brand-new state-of-the art repairs hub with a larger stock supply and a digital stock management and ordering system, providing our operatives with the tools and resources they need to complete more jobs on the first visit, helping to provide a faster, more efficient service.
• Giving our staff and contractors extra training.
• Making sure we log, track and prioritise repair requests efficiently.
• Keeping you better informed, so you always know what’s happening and when.
• Checking our homes to find and fix problems early.

Our wider improvements over the past year mean we’re already well placed to meet the new standards introduced as part of Awaab’s Law, because putting customers’ safety and wellbeing first has always been central to how we work:

Read more in our news story