Awaab's Law Phase 2: Is Your Organisation Ready for 30th November?

Next month, phase 2 of Awaab's Law comes into force. Social landlords in England will have to meet strict, legally binding deadlines for a much wider range of hazards than before, including excess cold, falls, electrical hazards and fire.

Whether your organisation is still getting to grips with Phase 1, wondering what's changing next month with Phase 2, or planning ahead for Phase 3, this blog will cover everything you need to know, from the mandate itself to the tools that can support you.

What is Awaab's Law?

Awaab's Law exists to make sure social housing tenants are not left living with dangerous conditions in their homes. It was introduced through the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and sets legal timeframes for social landlords in England to investigate and fix hazards, and to keep tenants informed while they do.

The law is being rolled out across three phases, with phase 1 already in force. As of October last year, landlords face fixed legal deadlines for the first time. Emergency hazards must now be investigated and made safe within 24 hours, and significant damp and mould hazards must be investigated within 10 working days with safety work completed within 5 working days of the investigation concluding. Tenants must receive a written summary of the findings, and landlords must offer alternative accommodation where a home can not be made safe in time.

Phase 1 has changed how many landlords handle repairs reporting, triage and tenant communication. Phase 2 now applies those same rules to a much wider set of hazards.

Phase 2: what changes on 30th November 2026

Building on Phase 1, Phase 2 covers significantly more hazards, applying the same strict timeframes to each of them. Here are the six key points social landlords must prepare for:

1. More hazards are in scope

Alongside damp and mould, landlords must now act on the following hazards where they present a significant risk of harm:

• Excess cold and excess heat
• Falls, including on the level, on stairs and between levels
• Structural collapse
• Fire and explosions
• Electrical hazards
• Domestic hygiene, including personal hygiene and food safety

All emergency hazards remain in scope, except overcrowding.

2. Fixed legal deadlines

Landlords must adhere to the following, requirement-specific deadlines:

What’s important to note here is that these are maximums. The government's guidance is clear that landlords should act faster where the situation calls for it.

3. Alternative accommodation

If a home cannot be made safe in time, landlords must offer suitable alternative accommodation, at their own expense, until the work is done.

4. Communication with tenants

Tenants must receive a written summary of the investigation and be kept updated on progress and timings. Where they stay in the home, they should be given advice on staying safe in the meantime.

5. Record keeping is key to compliance

Clear and accurate records are how you show you are meeting your obligations. The rules are written into tenancy agreements, and tenants can raise concerns through the courts or the Housing Ombudsman. Accurate, up-to-date records not only demonstrate the reasonable steps you have taken, but they help your teams spot recurring problems before they escalate. It’s crucial that you ensure you can evidence:

• Investigations and their outcomes
• Every contact with the tenant, including attempts to gain access
• When the written summary was issued
• Works completed, with photos taken before and after the work

Looking ahead: Phase 3

Whilst phase 3 does not have a start date yet, we do already know what it will cover. Landlords can therefore prepare early to avoid falling behind or panicking at a later date. Phase 3 will extend the same rules to all remaining hazards in the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), apart from overcrowding.

That means the processes you put in place for Phase 2 will soon need to cover your whole range of housing hazards. Landlords that build a scalable approach now will avoid a second scramble when the date is announced.

How SINGU can help you stay compliant

Meeting Awaab's Law comes down to three things: knowing about a hazard as soon as it's reported, acting on it within the deadline, and being able to show exactly what you did. ZetaSafe from SINGU is built to support all three.

When your teams visit a property, they can record inspections, findings, and test results on a smartphone or tablet, adding photos and comments on the spot. That information syncs straight to the cloud, so there's no waiting for paperwork to be returned and keyed in. If something fails or needs attention, ZetaSafe raises an alert immediately, prioritises the action, and escalates it automatically. This ensures your teams have the best chance of meeting every single deadline, whether its 10 days, 5 days, or 24 hours.

For managers, personalised dashboards bring every property, task and outstanding action into one view, updated in real time. You can see where cases stand, spot recurring issues across your estate, and produce clear compliance reports in minutes, whether for your board, the Regulator of Social Housing or a tenant query. Every inspection, photo and action is recorded along the way, giving you a complete, time-stamped record of the steps you've taken.

ZetaSafe is also designed to grow with you. Its forms and checklists are fully customisable, so as Phase 3 brings the remaining HHSRS hazards into scope, you can extend the same system to cover them rather than starting again.

ZetaSafe is already trusted by more than 1,000 organisations to manage compliance across over 4 million assets.

SINGU Team

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