Module 3 · Health, Law and Duty
3.2 Awaab's Law — The Structure of the Duty
10 min read
Awaab Ishak died in December 2020, aged two, from a respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in the flat his family had repeatedly reported. The coroner's findings led to a statutory duty on social landlords with defined timescales, in force since October 2025 and extending in phases. As a surveyor you are frequently the person whose report starts the landlord's clock — so understanding the duty is not background, it is part of doing the job properly.
Learning objectives
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Describe the structure of the duty: investigate, report, act, rehouse.
- Identify who holds the duty and which tenures are currently in scope.
- Explain how a surveyor's report interacts with the landlord's obligations.
- Know where to verify the current timescales and scope rather than relying on memory.
Key terms
- Emergency hazard
- A hazard presenting a significant and imminent risk of harm. Carries the shortest response requirement — a matter of hours, not days.
- Significant hazard
- A hazard meeting the threshold for action but not imminent. Triggers the investigate-report-act sequence on the standard timescales.
- Written summary
- The landlord's obligation to give the tenant, in writing, what the investigation found and what will be done. Failure to provide it is a breach in its own right.
- Alternative accommodation
- Where a hazard cannot be made safe within the required period, the duty to offer suitable alternative accommodation at the landlord's expense.
Read the rest of Health, Law and Duty
Module 1 is free to read in full — Health, Law and Duty is part of the £299 practitioner course. Enrol with your email below, then buy on the course page: because you'll already be enrolled, that's one click straight to checkout, with nothing to type twice.