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Home / Free tools / Awaab’s Law timescales checker
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Awaab’s Law Timescales Checker

Led by Diellza Nika Hyseni and Mentor Nika · Updated 19 October 2026

For housing disrepair firms acting for social tenants in England: enter the dates of the report, the investigation, the written summary and the works, and see each deadline under the Awaab’s Law regulations, whether the landlord met it, and the days counted. From DMD Costs, law costs draftsmen in Westhoughton, Bolton.

  • Free, with no sign-up
  • S.I. 2025/1042
  • Bank holidays built in
  • Phase 2 hazards included
  • Nothing leaves your browser

Enter the dates you have. Each timescale shows its deadline under the regulations and whether it was met.

The home and the hazard

Which timescale are you checking?

The checker does not decide which applies: that is a question of fact (regulation 3).
When the landlord became aware
The timescales apply where this is on or after Monday 27 October 2025
The investigation
The date the landlord’s investigator reached a conclusion
The written summary
When it was handed over, posted or emailed, not when it arrived
Making the home safe

Alternative accommodation

Preventing it coming back

Was further preventative work identified?

Today by default: used for steps with no date entered

Timescales

Nothing yet

Each timescale appears here as you enter the dates: its deadline, the regulation, and whether it was met, with the days counted.

Nothing you enter leaves your browser. It is a guide to the timescales, not legal advice.

The timescales are those in the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025, in force from 27 October 2025, checked against legislation.gov.uk on 19 October 2026. The Phase 2 date of 30 November 2026 depends on draft regulations that, as at 19 October 2026, the House of Commons had not yet approved. The checker works out dates; it does not decide whether a hazard was significant or an emergency, whether it was within Awaab’s Law, or whether a landlord is liable. It is a guide, not legal advice.

Key points

  • Awaab’s Law is section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/1042), in force from 27 October 2025 for social homes in England let by councils and housing associations.
  • For a significant hazard the landlord must complete an investigation within 10 working days of becoming aware, give the tenant a written summary within 3 working days of it, and complete the relevant safety work within 5 working days of it.
  • For an emergency hazard, the investigation and the relevant safety work must both be completed within 24 hours, counted on the clock through nights, weekends and bank holidays.
  • Supplementary preventative work must be begun within 5 working days or, where that is not reasonably practicable, steps taken in that time to secure that it begins; it must then begin as soon as reasonably practicable and within 12 weeks of the investigation that found the hazard.
  • Under draft regulations not yet made as at 19 October 2026, Phase 2 adds excess cold and heat, domestic hygiene, falls, electrical hazards, fire and explosions, and structural collapse from 30 November 2026. Fire hazards in the structure, external walls, common parts or flat entrance doors of any building with two or more homes are excluded, for significant and emergency hazards alike.
  • A missed timescale is not automatically a breach: the landlord has a defence if it proves it used all reasonable endeavours (section 10A(5)), and where it complies with Part 6 (alternative accommodation and a safety advice document) the safety work is due as soon as reasonably practicable instead.

How to use the Awaab’s Law timescales checker

  1. Describe the home and the hazard. Choose the landlord, the hazard and whether you are checking the significant hazard timescales (working days) or the emergency timescale (24 hours).
  2. Enter when the landlord became aware. The date of the report, complaint, inspection or letter of claim, with the time for an emergency.
  3. Enter the investigation. The date it was completed and what it found, with any request for a physical inspection, renewed investigation or further investigation.
  4. Enter the summary and the works. When the written summary was given, when the safety work was completed, any alternative accommodation, and the preventative work.
  5. Read each timescale. Each step shows its deadline, the regulation, whether it was met or missed and by how many working days, and the days counted.
  6. Copy it for the file. Copy the timescales and the notes for the file, the letter of claim or the schedule.

The Awaab’s Law timescales

Section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 implies into every social housing tenancy in England a covenant that the landlord will comply with the requirements in the regulations. These are the timescales, from S.I. 2025/1042 as in force since 27 October 2025. In Phase 1 they cover significant hazards from damp, mould or fungal growth, and emergency hazards of every kind except crowding and space.

DutyRegulationThe clock startsTime allowed
Investigation of a potential significant hazard6(2)(a), 6(4)The day after the landlord becomes aware10 working days
The same, if the tenant asks for a physical inspection before it is completed6(2)(b)The day after the request10 working days
Renewed investigation, if the tenant asks for a physical inspection after a remote one7(2)The day after the request10 working days
Further investigation8(2)NoneAs soon as reasonably practicable
Written summary after each investigation9(2), 9(4)The day after the investigation is completed3 working days (not needed if all the required work is done within them)
Relevant safety work for a significant hazard11(2)(a)The day after the investigation that identified it5 working days
Emergency hazard: investigation and relevant safety work5(4)(a), 5(8)(a)When the landlord is aware and has reasonable grounds to believe there is an emergency24 hours
Emergency hazard found by an investigation: relevant safety work5(4)(b), 5(8)(b)When the investigation that identified the work is completed24 hours
Begin supplementary preventative work or, if that is not reasonably practicable, take steps to secure it begins13(2)The day after the investigation that identified it, or the further investigation if one was needed first5 working days
Supplementary preventative work begun, where it could not begin within the 5 working days13(3)(b)The day after the investigation that found the hazard12 weeks
Suitable alternative accommodation, if the home is not made safe in time16The end of the 24 hours or the 5 working daysUntil the work is done, unless the tenant refuses

How the days are counted

The working-day periods are framed as a number of working days beginning on the day after the trigger, so the day the landlord became aware, or the day the investigation was completed, is day 0 and the deadline is the end of the last working day counted. A working day is any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a bank holiday in England and Wales (regulation 2). That is not the court-office calendar: Christmas Eve is a working day here, and there is no 4.30pm cut-off as there is for serving court documents.

The emergency period is 24 hours from a time, not a day, so it runs through nights, weekends and bank holidays; across a clock change the checker counts 24 elapsed hours. The 12 weeks for beginning preventative work are calendar weeks with no extension when the last day is a weekend or bank holiday. Where a report arrives at a weekend, the checker shows the deadline on the wording of regulation 6(4) and the later one the Housing Ombudsman uses, because the regulations do not define when a landlord becomes aware.

Phase 2, due 30 November 2026

The draft amending regulations, laid on 13 July 2026 and approved by the House of Lords on 14 October 2026, would make these significant hazards from 30 November 2026: excess cold, excess heat, domestic hygiene, falls on the level, falls on stairs, steps or ramps, falls between levels, electrical hazards, fire and explosions, and structural collapse and falling elements. They also define a significant hazard as one a reasonable landlord would make safe within 15 working days, and exclude fire hazards arising from the structure, external walls, common parts or flat entrance doors of a building with two or more homes, which the Fire Safety Order covers, from both the significant and the emergency timescales. On 19 October 2026 the House of Commons had not approved them. A Phase 2 hazard counts only where the landlord became aware, or a fresh report or material change came, on or after 30 November 2026; the checker marks those results as provisional until the regulations are made.

Using the timescales on a disrepair claim

Each step shows the deadline, the regulation, and whether the date you entered met it, with the working days counted. Copy the result for the file, then check the facts behind each date: when and how the landlord became aware, when the investigation was in fact completed, and whether alternative accommodation was offered. Awaab’s Law sits alongside the landlord’s repairing covenant and the fitness covenant in section 9A of the 1985 Act; for how a section 9A claim was tried and costed, see our note on Harvey v Heaver.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Under S.I. 2025/1042, for a significant hazard the landlord must complete an investigation within 10 working days of becoming aware, give the tenant a written summary within 3 working days of the investigation (unless all the required work is done in that time), and complete the relevant safety work within 5 working days of the investigation. For an emergency hazard, the investigation and the relevant safety work must both be done within 24 hours. Supplementary preventative work must be begun within 5 working days or, where that is not reasonably practicable, steps taken in that time to secure that it begins, and it must begin within 12 weeks.
Not yet. It applies to social housing in England let by registered providers, meaning councils and housing associations, under section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 extends it to private tenancies, but those provisions are not in force; the government’s consultation, open until 18 December 2026, says 2027 is the earliest feasible date.
30 November 2026 is the date in the draft amending regulations, which the House of Lords approved on 14 October 2026. On 19 October 2026 the House of Commons had not yet approved them and they had not been made. Phase 2 adds excess cold and heat, domestic hygiene, falls, electrical hazards, fire and explosions, and structural collapse as significant hazards, and defines a significant hazard as one a reasonable landlord would make safe within 15 working days.
Not for the working-day periods. A working day is any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a bank holiday in England and Wales (regulation 2), so Christmas Eve, and days between Christmas and New Year that are not bank holidays, do count. The 24-hour emergency period runs on the clock, through nights, weekends and bank holidays.
The day the landlord becomes aware is day 0: the period begins on the next day and ends at the end of the tenth working day after it (regulation 6(4)). Where a report arrives at a weekend, the regulation’s wording makes the next working day day 1; the Housing Ombudsman treats day zero as the working day the landlord receives notice, which gives one more working day. The checker shows both.
No. A summary is given when it is handed over, left at the home, posted first class or sent by email or text to an address or number the tenant gave for the purpose (regulation 10). When it arrives does not matter.
It must secure suitable alternative accommodation for the household, at no cost to the tenant, from the end of the 24 hours or the 5 working days until the work is done, unless the tenant refuses an offer (regulation 16). Where it complies with Part 6, which includes giving the tenant a safety advice document (regulation 17), the safety-work deadline becomes ‘as soon as reasonably practicable’ (regulations 5(5) and 11(2)(b)).
Not automatically. The landlord has a defence if it proves it used all reasonable endeavours to avoid the breach (section 10A(5)), and several duties end where work needs another person’s consent and the landlord has exhausted all reasonable endeavours to obtain it. The checker shows whether each timescale was met; it does not decide breach.
Where it is not reasonably practicable to begin supplementary preventative work within the 5 working days, the landlord must take steps in that time to secure that it begins, and it must then begin as soon as reasonably practicable and within 12 weeks beginning with the day after the investigation that found the hazard (regulation 13(2)(b) and (3)). The checker counts 12 calendar weeks, with no extension for weekends or bank holidays.
The GOV.UK guidance says a landlord can become aware of a hazard through a letter of claim, so its receipt can be day zero. Awareness can also come from a report to any employee, a managing agent or another council department, and a report to a contractor may count where the contractor acts as the landlord’s agent.

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