Awaab's Law for private landlords: damp, mould and what applies now

Awaab's Law does not apply to private landlords yet. It sets legal deadlines for investigating and fixing dangerous damp, mould and other serious hazards. Today it binds social landlords only. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 already contains the power to extend it to private tenancies, and on 8 October 2026 the government opened a consultation on how and when to do that. The consultation closes on 18 December 2026. Until the regulations are made, there is no Awaab's Law deadline for a private landlord to miss.

That does not mean there is no duty. A private landlord in England already has to keep a home in repair and fit to live in. Damp and mould are among the hazards a council can act on. What Awaab's Law adds is a clock, and that is the part still to be decided.

What Awaab's Law requires in social housing

The rules have applied to social landlords since 31 October 2025. For emergency hazards and for significant damp and mould, a social landlord must:

• fix emergency hazards within 24 hours of being told
• investigate significant damp and mould within 10 working days
• make the home safe within five working days of that investigation
• give the tenant a written summary of the findings within three working days of the inspection

Those timescales are from the government's announcement when the first phase began. Subject to Parliament's approval, a second phase from 30 November 2026 extends them to further hazards, including electrical hazards, excess cold and falls. A third phase in 2027 covers the remaining hazards in the rating system councils use, except overcrowding.

Do not assume the private-sector version will use the same numbers. Setting the timescales for private landlords is what the consultation is for, so anyone quoting you "10 days and 5 days" for a private let is guessing.

How it reaches private tenancies

The legal route is already on the statute book. Section 60 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 amends section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, which is the section that writes Awaab's Law into social tenancies, so that it can apply to private ones too. Section 60 is not yet in force. The actual requirements, including the hazards, the deadlines and the exceptions, will be set in regulations made after the consultation.

The government's implementation roadmap puts this in phase three, with dates to follow the consultation. The consultation also asks whether the law should cover temporary accommodation, housing for care leavers and supported housing.

What applies to you today

Three duties already cover damp and mould in a private let, and none of them depends on the consultation.

Repair. Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 makes the landlord responsible for keeping the structure and exterior in repair, including drains, gutters and external pipes. It also covers the installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating. A leaking gutter, failed render or a broken extractor that keeps a wall wet is usually a repair problem before it is a mould problem. The duty is generally treated as starting once you know about the disrepair, which is why a tenant's report matters so much.

Fitness for human habitation. Under section 9A, the home must be fit to live in when the tenancy starts and must stay fit throughout. "Freedom from damp" is one of the matters section 10 lists for deciding whether it is. A tenant can take a landlord to court over this directly, without needing the council.

The council's rating system. Under the Housing Act 2004, councils assess homes using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. Damp and mould growth is one of its hazards. If the council finds a hazard at the most serious level, category 1, it must take action. That can mean an improvement notice telling you what work to do and by when. The government says around one in ten private rented homes has a category 1 hazard.

What none of these sets is a fixed number of days. The government's guidance on damp and mould says so plainly: there is no general deadline in law for remedial work today. It also says landlords should respond quickly anyway. Awaab's Law is what turns "quickly" into a date.

The next standard after that

Separately, the government has confirmed that a new Decent Homes Standard will apply to private rented homes from 2035, the first time it has covered them. One of its criteria is that a home should be free of damp and mould. A home fails if a council's assessment puts its damp and mould hazard anywhere from band A to band H on the rating system's ten-band scale. Another criterion is thermal comfort, which includes the minimum EPC rating. That is rising to C by 2030 on its own timetable, covered in EPC rules for landlords.

Handling a damp or mould report well, starting now

The government's damp and mould guidance is written for landlords, and most of it is good practice that will matter more once deadlines arrive:

1. Treat the report as the start of a clock, even though the law does not yet set one. Write down when it came in.
2. Look, and find the cause. Wiping off surface mould without dealing with a leak, failed ventilation or a cold wall just means it comes back. The guidance is explicit that removing visible mould is not a fix.
3. Don't wait for medical evidence. The guidance says landlords should not delay action while waiting for a doctor's opinion.
4. Don't start by blaming the tenant. Condensation from drying clothes or cooking is real, and advice on ventilation helps. But the guidance says that advice must never replace dealing with the building's own problems.
5. Put what you found and what you will do in writing, then go back afterwards. The guidance suggests inspecting at least six weeks after the work to check the problem has not returned.

There is also a reason this matters more since 1 May 2026. With no-fault eviction abolished, a tenant who reports damp cannot be answered with a notice to leave. The only route left is to deal with the damp.

Where Tenarize fits

A tenant reports a problem from their portal, choosing a category and an urgency and describing it. You get an in-app notification and an email straight away, not in a weekly digest. The report becomes a dated maintenance request that records who reported it and when. When you assign a tradesperson from your supplier list, it moves to Assigned. When you book a visit window, you and every tenant entitled to see the job are sent a calendar invite. When it is closed, the resolved date is kept alongside it, with the cost and the invoice, which only you can see.

That gives you the timeline any future deadline will be measured against: reported, assigned, visited, resolved, each with a date, and the tenant can see the status as it moves.

What Tenarize does not do: it does not run an Awaab's Law clock or warn you that a deadline is near, because no deadline applies to private landlords yet. When the regulations are made, this post will be updated to match. There is no separate damp and mould category, and a tenant cannot attach photos to a report today. Tenarize does not inspect anything, does not assess how serious a hazard is, and does not decide what counts as dealing with it promptly. Those judgements are yours.

Where to check this yourself

• Clampdown on dangerous homes to protect more tenants and families — GOV.UK, 8 October 2026, announcing the consultation on extending Awaab's Law to private renting
• Renters' Rights Act 2025, section 60 — legislation.gov.uk, the extension itself, not yet in force
• Damp and mould: understanding and addressing the health risks for rented housing providers — GOV.UK guidance for landlords
• Housing Health and Safety Rating System: guide for landlords and agents — GOV.UK
• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, sections 9A, 10 and 11 — legislation.gov.uk, fitness for habitation and repair
• The new Decent Homes Standard: policy statement — GOV.UK, January 2026
• Shelter and Citizens Advice — free, independent advice on a specific property

Tenarize starts at £15 a month for one to five properties, with the first month free. Read more about the free trial or browse the full help centre — it's free either way.