to wonder how Awaabs Law is going to work in practice ATTEMPT NUMBER TWO AT POSTING

[JenniferBooth]

Im currently reading Middle Ground by Joe Carpenter. Its written anonymously by a housing association operative. There are many examples of how tenants have lost money and employment through waiting in for contractors who dont show up or taking five visits to complete one job. Re Awaabs Law emergency repairs have to be COMPLETED in twenty four hours, Leak on Saturday They will have to send an operative on Sunday. Problem with electrics on Christmas Eve? Someone will have to come out on Christmas Day.

My HA insists on works being done eight to six Monday to Friday. My neighbours ceiling had water leaking through the electrics on a Saturday night and they wouldnt come out till Monday. It reads to me that Awaabs Law says they wont be able to refuse to come out on weekends and BHs any more. But how will this work in practice. Wont contractors have to be paid more.

That's shocking.

My council has an emergency number for OOH plumbing and electrics because of how dangerous it is. I'm glad this law will help renters in your area.

When i posted about my neighbour on a SH thread i was told he should turn the electric off and wait till Monday. Yep just sit there with no electric for the rest of the weekend

I don't rent but if my electric broke I wouldn't expect it fixed until Monday - that's normal surely? Around here you can get an emergency plumber at the weekend if you have a flood or something, but electricity going off is not an emergency in the same way. There's no way you'd find an electrician willing to come out on a Sunday! If something in your house is actually sparking or something, turn off all power at the fusebox.

Of course it may be an emergency if you are medically reliant on electricity for medical equipment etc, and it would be reasonable to have a backup plan if so. But for most people two days with no electricity isn't going to be that terrible. Had a four day power cut here recently. During my childhood multi-day power cuts were very common. People need to be a bit more resilient.

Water was pouring through his electrics. It says so clearly in my OP It was caused by a roof renewal the HA was doing. How about the HA takes some responsibility for its own actions.

It doesn't say that the HA caused this problem. But anyway, water pouring through electrics .... Turn off power at fusebox, call emergency plumber/roofer to fix flood issue over weekend. On Monday, call electrian to check/fix electrics. Just fine.

We need Lindseys Law.

HAs already have emergency repairs so they have to add damp and mould to that. Yes it will cost more. This law has been a few years in the making and isn’t unexpected. Meeting is a challenge for the sector but the law is the law, so there we go really.

Emergency repairs will have to be COMPLETED in twenty four hours under Awaabs Law. So like i said if something happens on Christmas Eve they would have to be out dealing with it on Christmas Day.

Which part of the legislation are you referring to? Emergency hazards need to be made safe in 24 hours. This is already an obligation in policy for some repairs or situations but Awaabs law extends/ formalises this obligation.

3.3 An ‘emergency hazard’
An emergency hazard is one that poses ‘an imminent and significant risk of harm’ to the health or safety of the occupier in the social home. An ‘imminent and significant risk of harm’ is defined in the regulations as ‘a risk of harm to the occupier’s health or safety that a reasonable lessor with the relevant knowledge would take steps to make safe within 24 hours’.

Ah yes this seems totally reasonable - I completely agree 24 hours to remove a danger from a rental property is a good idea.
But being without electricity for two days is not a danger - I was just surprised that this law was saying that being without electricity was untenable - it really isn't. But maybe it doesn't say that at all?

No, it doesn’t say that that I’m aware.

its wouldn’t be realistic - after all, many, many works simply can’t be dealt with in 24 hours, even with unlimited cash and resources- you may need a electricity fault fixed by the national grid for example, or you may need a part or material that isn’t available immediately.

its always been make safe for emergency repairs- that’s the point of them. Once they are safe it gives you time to return to do the job properly.

I think, in reality, it just won't happen. They'll say they asked for the job to be done but could t get a contractor.

They have contractors (or their own directly employed trades) it’s their responsibility to make it happen.

however, you make a good point about what happens when you miss these targets, which we probably won’t know until the first case they persue

It’s untenable for some people.

Babies who need milk made up.
people who rely on medical devices.
disabled people in general who may need heat or their condition worsens.
People with chronic illness as above.

Luckily most HA already take these factors into account. My DS is disabled so we have priority registers with local utilities suppliers and our HA.

last week we had a gas smell. Switched everything off and called emergency services . They’d been, gas supplier had been and HA had been to isolate and fix all within 5 hours. They were amazing.

They’d also just move you out if you couldn’t stay in the property through the emergency due to your needs. Into a premier inn or somewhere. Not ideal but all they can do in the middle of the night/ at short notice.

Good to know that premier inn etc have facilites for plugging in medical devices and workers willing to carry them and set them up in the hotel room. Ditto electric wheelchairs. 🙄

Hi! Have you managed to find the part of the legislation that says emergency repairs have to be completed in 24 hours?!

Yep
https://www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/housing-law/397-housing-news/98861-first-phase-of-awaab-s-law-comes-into-force-for-social-landlords

Under phase one of Awaab’s Law, social landlords will be required to repair emergency health and safety hazards within 24 hours of reporting.

That’s reporting on the section of the legislation I quoted above I believe? It’s make safe.

It says repair not make safe. Joe Carpenter also says in his book which i mentioned in my OP that they must be completed within twenty four hours and he actually works in the field

That’s is a report on the law written by a journalist. I can’t see that the law says repairs have to be completed in 24 hours, and have had legal advice on this- I have reason to have extensive knowledge of it. The legislation is openly published on gov.uk if you want to check directly.

I will thanks, Whether make safe or repair though they will still need to attend by Christmas Day if the problem starts on Christmas Eve. We have never been able to get our HA out on a normal weekend in the thirty one years we have been here. So i cant see it myself

In cases where there are vulnerabilities people will get decanted a lot faster than they would have been previously when there's been an ongoing issue. A decant also lights an additional fire under the HA, they are going to want to fix things as quickly as possible due to the additional cost.

But anyway, water pouring through electrics ....

When that happened to us late at night (our washing machine was pouring theough the downstairs neighbour's lights) we were told to call the Fire Brigade. They came out all lights and sirens and sorted the issue.

Thats what my neighbour did after the HA refused to come out. The fire chief wasnt very happy with the HA