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.

Wow thats really original Ive never heard that before.

If you look at this posters history every post is denigrating social landlords, I suspect this is just another way of mud slinging and spewing out things she’s heard in the anti-HA echo chamber she clearly lives in.

You know what “completing the relevant safety work” means though?

can we just clarify, do you accept that Awaabs law does not say emergency repairs have to be completed in 24 hours?

Wow thats original Ive never been told this on here before 🙄

Yes because its not possible.

Of course electricity going off can be an emergency and of course you can get an electrician on a Sunday.

What does this mean? You started a post saying over and over that Awaabs law means emergency pairs have to be COMPLETED (your caps) in 24 hours. This is wrong, and was never in the legislation.

now you’re saying “because it’s not possible” because what isn’t possible? Emergency hazards have to be made safe in 24 hours. That is very possible. It’s already done (yes we know about your neighbours weird problems) and it is now law.

so what’s your point?

WTF is this Yes it can be made safe in twenty four hours WTF do you want me to say.

I assume that in an emergency someone in need of medical devices would need to be admitted to hospital until any temporary accommodation had been checked for safety.

My neighbours weird problems as you describe them were caused by water leaking through his ceiling and electrics during a roof renewal Not weird just fact

@JenniferBooth do you now admit you are wrong and that repairs do NOT have to be completed in 24 hours?

If I don’t air the bathroom after a shower, mould builds up in the grouting. I have an airer in my dining room, if I don’t heat the room, the windows run with moisture. Same on cold nights, in the mornings there is often water on the window ledges, and the frames. A quick wipe down with a towel, heating on, window open.

We would get reports of leaking toilets, which weren’t leaking, condensation had built up and would be dripping on the floor. Vents were stuffed with newspapers, so couldn’t do the job they were installed to do. Water running off windowsills could get into wallpaper, and make it damp.

That doesn’t mean I don’t think some properties are not prone to damp, of course they are, and some landlords are really negligent. But please be realistic.

There are differences though. As a home owner, it’s my problem if my house is damp- landlords have responsibilities and don’t get to leave it to tenants and forget about it.

They also can’t control their tenants behaviour inside the home. So the fact that a home owner has to deal with these things isn’t as connected as they might appear to be.

last time I rented my tenancy agreement specified I couldn’t dry clothes in the house. I pointed out this wasn’t a legal clause and I would have to dry clothes. They pushed back and back because of mould.
Not only can they not control me chucking my airer up at 6pm on a Wednesday but they can’t hold me responsible for damp or mould either. I pay to live in the house, and am allowed to use it as I like within reason.

its something landlords simply have to accept as the risk of being a landlord, and stop trying to control tenant behaviour to avoid dealing with it. No one is obliged to open windows or put the heating on.

@Bambamhoohoo of course you have to live there, but responsibly. We all need to dry clothes, without a tumble dryer it’s an airer, or on radiators, but in a ventilated room that isn’t freezing.

I remember my inlaws’ council house years ago, it had metal framed, single glazed windows. It was a constant battle in the winter with condensation. They wiped it up regularly so it didn’t run down the walls.

A lot of emergency repairs can be avoided by timely maintenance and proactive reviews - checking for problems on a regular cycle and picking up issues before they become a crisis. The point of this law is to force providers to do better on maintenance. It will cost them far more to try and comply with emergencies in 24 hours year round, than to improve regular maintenance and prevent it happening in the first place

I work in Social Housing - customer facing and property related. I recognise nothing in what you say. That HA clearly have issues, but to slate HAs generally is ridiculous.
Ours have on call, in house operatives 365 days to make safe emergencies, repair where possible & raise follow ons as required. Awaabs law has been a long and well worked through process with so much planning. Our HA residents have a much better service offering from their landlord than I do as a Private renter via a letting agent I can assure you!

I work in housing & we have been preparing for this for a long time. Our repairs policy changed to include what is in Awaabs Law in June. We have always done repairs outside of office hours where necessary. Our repair categories have changed slightly though & we will now only do emergency repairs out of hours (previously there was more flex for peoples working hours etc but this has now stopped).

To answer your question yes it does cost more and this cost will be passed on to tenants in full when their rent is increased in April. And that is one of the reasons why only emergency repairs will be done out of hours now - to hopefully mitigate the cost to tenants by not doing it for any other reason.

We have also cut back on other repairs that we always did (i.e. replacing chain link 3 foot fencing with 6 foot wooden fencing when tenants asked) but now we wont do this at all. But will give permission for tenants to do it for themselves if they request it & get it completed to a competent standard (its inspected afterwards to confirm). We have had to to become a lot stricter on what we will and wont do as otherwise it will cost ALL tenants so much more as the cost of labour & materials has increased so much. All H&S repairs will be done but anything cosmetic or not seen as necessary will no longer be done. Some tenants havent liked the change, but then they also dont want to pay more to cover the additional cost of the repairs either. Overall, its been well received & most are happy with the service they receive & have got stuff done for themselves if they have really wanted something we no longer cover.

You've read incorrectly.

They must:

• make safe within 24 hours if there is an emergency
• investigate within 24 hours
• begin works, or make plans to begin works within 5 days of the investigation finishing
• start planned work within 12 weeks

For damp and mould they must:

• investigate significant damp and mould within 10 working days.
• Make your home safe within 5 working days of the investigation concluding
• start or make plans to start work within 5 working days of the investigation concluding
• start planned work within 12 weeks.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/awaabs-law-guidance-for-tenants-in-social-housing/awaabs-law-guidance-for-tenants-in-social-housing#what-does-awaabs-law-include

My council already goes above and beyond these rules. I've had a shower replaced 90 minutes after calling on New Year's Eve afternoon because we had young children and it was our only means of bathing. I would have been happy to wait a few days but it met their definition of emergency because we don't have a bath.

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/awaabs-law-the-right-to-complain-cant-solve-the-housing-crisis/

https://shaction.org/2026/03/04/ombudsmans-severe-maladministration-finding-leads-to-eviction-not-protection/

SHAC has repeatedly lobbied govt to close the enforcement gap that renders Awaabs Law effectively useless.

Im following how this pans out and will get the book