From 30 November 2026, Awaab’s Law will apply to the seven additional housing hazards shown below, as well as damp and mould. This means landlords must investigate and address serious hazards within strict legal timescales to help keep residents safe.
Hazard categories
Once reported, hazards are categorised into one of two levels depending on how serious the risk is to you or the people living in your home.
- Emergency hazard: a risk of serious harm that needs dealing with straight away.
- Significant hazard: a serious risk that is not an emergency but still needs fixing quickly.
Example: a broken boiler may be an emergency hazard during winter where a baby or older person lives in the home, but a significant hazard where there are no vulnerable people living in the home.
Responding to hazards
The table below explains how we respond to reported hazards and the maximum timescales we must meet for each stage. Where possible, we will act sooner.
| What we must do | How long we have |
| Investigate and make safe an emergency hazard | 24 hours |
| Investigate a significant hazard | 10 working days |
| Make safe a significant hazard | Within 5 working days of the investigation. |
| Write to you explaining what we found | Within 3 working days of the investigation. |
| Start any longer-term repairs needed to prevent the problem recurring | Within 5 working days, or up to 12 weeks where justified. |
If the issue you report is not covered by Awaab’s Law, we will explain why and manage it through our routine Repairs Service.
If we cannot make your home safe in time, we must offer you somewhere suitable to stay, at our cost, until it is safe. It is your choice whether to accept this offer.
How you can help
- Tell us as soon as you notice a problem. Do not wait for it to get worse. Calling us directly is the quickest way – 020 8080 6586 or email customercare@opendoorhomes.org.
- Providing access is important to keep you, your household, and your home safe. Without access we may be unable to inspect, assess, or repair hazards that could affect your household’s safety. Please ensure someone is available to provide access when an inspection or repair appointment has been arranged.
- If you can no longer make an appointment, please let us know as soon as possible so we can reschedule it.
- Tell us about your household, including ages of residents, disabilities, and health conditions or vulnerabilities. When you report a hazard, we will ask questions about your household as this information helps us assess the level of risk and determine the appropriate hazard category.
- We will never ignore hazards you report. Reporting a problem will not affect your tenancy, and we will not charge you for inspections or repairs needed to make your home safe.