Awaab’s Law: Driving safer homes and sustainable change for social landlords

• The client: Social housing landlords and leadership teams across the country
• The challenge: Responding to government consultations and navigating Awaab’s Law requirements, which mandate strict hazard repair timeframes despite a lack of clear implementation timelines
• The outcome: Delivered comprehensive consultation responses to government and ongoing regulatory guidance, helping landlords prepare for phased implementation while balancing tenant safety with operational costs

Our social housing team is at the forefront of shaping the implementation of Awaab’s Law, a pivotal piece of legislation introduced under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. This law mandates that social landlords address HHSRS Hazards within strict timeframes, aiming to enhance tenant safety and well-being.

The challenge

Active engagement in policy development

In early 2024, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) released a consultation on Awaab’s Law, inviting feedback from stakeholders. Suzanne Gregson, partner and head of housing litigation (Manchester) at Anthony Collins, led the firm’s response to the Government consultation. Suzanne and her team also engaged extensively with internal housing specialists and leadership teams from social landlords across the country to assist them with their consultation responses to ensure a comprehensive and informed submission.

The solution

Guidance amidst uncertainty

As the legislation progresses, and despite the lack of clear guidance on implementation timelines, we continue to provide guidance to social landlords navigating the evolving regulatory landscape. Suzanne and her team are keeping social housing landlords abreast with key updates so they can begin preparing for its phased introduction.

The impact

Championing social impact

At the heart of Awaab’s Law is a commitment to improving lives. Beyond compliance, this legislation represents a vital opportunity to deliver meaningful social impact – benefiting local communities by providing safer, healthier homes for families. It also supports social landlords in fulfilling their responsibilities more effectively, ensuring that housing standards are not only met but sustained. We believe it’s essential that this social value is not lost in implementation, and we continue to advocate for a people-first approach in all aspects of housing reform. Equally this must be balanced against the real concern about the cost for social landlords of implementing this legislation and the knock-on effect that this may have for social landlords moving forwards.

Through proactive policy engagement, ongoing guidance, and sector leadership, Anthony Collins is playing a pivotal role in ensuring that Awaab’s Law is not only implemented effectively to safeguard tenant health but also working alongside social landlords to ensure that the costs and processes around the implementation set a benchmark for housing standards.