By Jack Howland, Electrical Director, Trail Group
With seven additional housing hazards coming under Awaab’s Law from 30 November 2026, social landlords face a significant expansion of their responsibilities. But with research suggesting that many providers are still preparing for the changes, is the sector ready?
When Awaab’s Law came into force in October 2025, it marked a fundamental shift in how social landlords must respond to serious health and safety hazards within residents’ homes.
Initially focused on significant damp and mould hazards and all emergency hazards, the legislation introduced legally enforceable timescales for investigations and remedial action, placing greater accountability on housing providers and strengthening protections for residents.
Now, just over a year later, the legislation is entering its second phase, extending those requirements to seven additional categories of significant hazards.
For housing associations and local authorities, the implications are considerable. The expanded requirements will demand greater coordination between housing management, asset management, repairs, compliance teams and specialist contractors.
And with the implementation date fast approaching, preparation is essential.
What’s changing from 30 November?
The second phase of Awaab’s Law expands the existing requirements to cover seven additional categories of hazards where they present a significant risk of harm to residents:
- Fire and explosions: Including serious fire safety risks within individual homes.
- Electrical hazards: Dangerous electrical installations, exposed wiring and other potentially hazardous electrical conditions.
- Excess cold: Inadequate heating, insulation or other conditions that expose residents to dangerously low temperatures.
- Excess heat: Properties where excessive internal temperatures present a significant health risk.
- Falls: Hazards associated with stairs, changes in level and other potentially dangerous conditions.
- Structural collapse: Serious structural defects that could compromise residents’ safety.
- Domestic hygiene: Conditions affecting personal hygiene, sanitation and food safety.
These additional hazards will be subject to the same statutory response framework introduced under the first phase of Awaab’s Law.
Importantly, landlords must consider the individual circumstances of residents when assessing risk, including vulnerabilities that may make particular hazards more dangerous.
The clock is ticking: Understanding the deadlines
Under Awaab’s Law, social landlords must respond within clearly defined timescales.
Emergency hazards; 24 hours
Potential emergency hazards must be investigated, and any identified emergency hazard made safe, within 24 hours of the landlord becoming aware of the issue.
Significant hazards; 10 working days
Potential significant hazards must be investigated within 10 working days of the landlord becoming aware of them.
Written findings; 3 working days
Residents must receive a written summary of the investigation findings within three working days of the investigation concluding.
Safety works; 5 working days
Where a significant hazard is identified, relevant safety work must be completed within five working days of the investigation concluding.
Preventative works
Landlords must begin, or take steps to begin, supplementary preventative works within five working days of the investigation concluding. Where work cannot begin within that period, it must commence as soon as reasonably practicable and within 12 weeks.
Where relevant safety work cannot be completed within the required timescales, landlords must arrange suitable alternative accommodation at their own expense.
These deadlines are maximum response periods, not targets. Where circumstances demand more urgent intervention, landlords must act accordingly.
Fire and electrical safety move further into focus
For Trail Group, two particularly significant areas within the expanded legislation are fire safety and electrical compliance.
Both are already fundamental responsibilities for social landlords, but their inclusion within Phase 2’s significant hazard requirements brings additional scrutiny to how quickly risks are identified, assessed and addressed.
For example, a defective smoke alarm within a resident’s home, dangerous electrical wiring or another serious fire safety concern may trigger Awaab’s Law requirements, depending on the circumstances and level of risk.
This places greater importance on having effective inspection programmes, accurate compliance records, clear escalation procedures and access to competent contractors who can respond quickly.
However, compliance cannot be viewed simply as a programme of scheduled inspections.
Landlords must also have processes in place to respond effectively when residents report concerns between planned visits.
The ability to identify a potential hazard, assess its severity, arrange the appropriate investigation and coordinate remedial action within statutory timescales will be critical.
Is the sector ready?
As the 30 November deadline approaches, questions remain about the sector’s ability to manage the expanded requirements effectively.
Research published by Housemark in July 2026 revealed a significant gap between investment in people and confidence in compliance technology.
While 80% of social landlords surveyed said they had invested in the skills and capacity needed to deliver Awaab’s Law, only 57% believed their IT systems could effectively collect and report compliance data.
The findings also revealed that 27% of landlords considered themselves unprepared to some degree for Phase 2.
For housing providers, this highlights a critical challenge. Meeting statutory deadlines is only part of the responsibility. Having accurate, accessible information to demonstrate compliance is equally important.
As the legislation expands to cover additional hazards, the ability to track inspections, monitor outstanding actions, coordinate remedial works and maintain comprehensive audit trails will become increasingly important.
For organisations managing thousands of properties, fragmented systems and manual reporting processes could present a significant operational risk.
Moving from reactive repairs to proactive compliance
One of the most important lessons from the introduction of Awaab’s Law is that effective compliance requires more than responding to individual repairs.
It requires a coordinated approach to understanding the condition of housing stock, identifying emerging risks and taking action before problems escalate.
For social landlords, this means reviewing several critical areas:
- Property information and compliance records
Accurate, accessible information is essential. Landlords need confidence that inspection records, remedial actions, outstanding defects and property histories are up to date.
- Risk identification and escalation
Staff across housing management, customer services, repairs and compliance functions must understand how to recognise potential hazards and escalate concerns appropriately.
- Contractor responsiveness
The expanded legislation increases the importance of having competent, reliable contractors capable of investigating and addressing hazards within the required timescales.
- Resident communication
Clear, timely communication is fundamental. Residents must understand what action is being taken, when work will be completed and how their safety will be protected.
- Audit trails and accountability
Landlords must be able to demonstrate the actions taken, from the initial report through to investigation, remedial works and completion.
These are not simply administrative considerations. They are essential components of an effective approach to resident safety.
How Trail Group can support housing providers
At Trail Group, we work alongside housing associations and local authorities to deliver essential safety, compliance and maintenance services across occupied residential properties.
Our integrated approach brings together specialist expertise in Fire & Security, Electrical & Compliance, Construction & Refurbishment and Planned Maintenance, helping clients coordinate multiple areas of property compliance through a trusted delivery partner.
Our experience includes delivering large-scale fire safety and electrical compliance programmes, undertaking remedial works and supporting housing providers with the ongoing management of their property portfolios.
We also recognise the importance of accurate information.
Through our use of True Compliance, we support clients with the recording and management of compliance activities, helping to improve visibility of inspections, works and outstanding actions.
As Awaab’s Law expands, having access to reliable information and a responsive delivery partner will become increasingly important.
Whether supporting planned compliance programmes, undertaking specialist inspections or delivering essential remedial works, our focus remains on helping clients maintain safer homes while minimising disruption to residents.
Looking ahead: Phase 3 is already on the horizon
The November changes are not the final stage of Awaab’s Law.
Phase 3, expected in 2027, will extend the regulations to almost all remaining hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, excluding overcrowding.
For housing providers, this reinforces the need to establish processes and systems that can accommodate further regulatory changes rather than treating each phase as a separate compliance exercise.
The direction of travel is clear: greater accountability, faster intervention and a stronger emphasis on protecting residents from avoidable harm.
Is your organisation prepared?
With Phase 2 taking effect on 30 November, now is the time for housing providers to assess their readiness.
Are your compliance records accurate and accessible? Can your teams identify and escalate potential hazards effectively? Do you have the specialist resources and contractor capacity needed to respond within statutory timescales?
And can you demonstrate that appropriate action has been taken when concerns are raised?
Awaab’s Law is about more than meeting regulatory deadlines. It is about ensuring that every resident has a safe home and that concerns about their health and safety are taken seriously.
At Trail Group, we are committed to supporting housing providers in meeting these responsibilities through specialist expertise, responsive service delivery and effective compliance management.
To discuss how Trail Group can support your fire safety, electrical compliance or planned maintenance requirements, contact our team.