With the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, also known as Awaab’s Law, introducing a fundamental shift across social housing regulation, it can be difficult to stay on top of the prescribed timescales that you need to address hazards within and how these have evolved with the latest guidance update.
To help you navigate the changes more effectively, our experts have broken down the key timescales that you need to understand into easily digestible diagrams that will help you implement the new requirements in practice.
To find out more about the latest Awaab's Law Phase 2 guidance, download our free Housing Provider's Guide to Awaab's Law Phase 2 to discover everything you need to know, including how to strengthen hazard triage, tenant communication, and record-keeping in line with the new requirements.
Diagram one shows a simplified process to support understanding of Awaab’s Law timescales resolving a significant or emergency hazard, full details of which can be found within the guidance.
Diagram two shows a hypothetical scenario and simplistic example of a renewed investigation. This example is not reflective of all possible circumstances and should not be relied upon exclusively for understanding the requirements.
The updated 2026 Awaab’s Law guidance that was published in preparation for Awaab’s Law Phase 2 included practical examples to illustrate how the Awaab’s Law timescales operate. These examples are designed to clarify when the various timescales are activated and to demonstrate which requirements run concurrently with others.
We have picked out three of the key examples that will help you understand how investigations should work in practice to meet the required timescales, including a standard investigation, renewed investigation, and an emergency investigation. For further examples that relate to more specific investigations, you can access the full government guidance here.
Diagram three shows the standard investigation takes place on working day 10 and finds a significant hazard. The property must be made safe within 5 working days of the investigation concluding at the latest, and the written summary must be issued within 3 working days of the investigation concluding. The landlord must also begin, or take steps to begin, any supplementary preventative works to prevent the significant hazard recurring within 5 working days of the investigation concluding.
Diagram four shows a resident reports a hazard to their landlord (day 0). The landlord conducts a standard investigation on working day 6 by analysing photos provided by the tenant which concludes that the hazard is out of scope of Awaab’s Law. They inform the tenant in a written summary (via email) 1 working day after the investigation concludes. The resident is dissatisfied with the outcome and requests the landlord to come and investigate in person, the same day as receiving the written summary (working day 8). The renewed investigation takes place on working day 4 and concludes that there is a significant hazard. Therefore, the property must be made safe within 5 working days of the investigation concluding, and the written summary must be issued within 3 working days of the investigation concluding.
The landlord must begin, or take steps to begin, any supplementary preventative works to prevent the significant hazard recurring within 5 working days of the renewed investigation concluding.
Diagram five shows the tenant reports a hazard, and the landlord has reason to believe there is an emergency hazard. They must conduct an emergency investigation and make the property safe within 24 hours. The hazard requires further repairs and therefore the landlord must begin, or take steps to begin, any supplementary preventative works to prevent the hazard recurring within 5 working days of the investigation concluding.
The written summary must be issued within 3 working days of the investigation concluding, unless all supplementary preventative works are completed before this point.
Looking for further support understanding your new duties? Reach out to get in touch with our Awaab's Law experts for support navigating the Awaab's Law timescales.