How long does a landlord have to investigate damp and mould under Awaab's Law?

Awaab's Law sets a fixed investigation period that begins once the tenant reports the hazard, after which the landlord must give the tenant a written summary of what they found.

What is the emergency timescale under Awaab's Law?

Where a hazard poses a significant and imminent risk to health or safety, the landlord must act within a much shorter emergency window rather than the standard investigation and repair periods.

When do the Awaab's Law deadlines start?

The clock generally starts when the landlord becomes aware of the potential hazard — which is why reporting it in writing matters: it creates a clear, dated trigger.

What happens if a landlord misses an Awaab's Law deadline?

Because the duty is an implied term of the tenancy, missing the deadlines is a breach the tenant can act on — through the landlord's complaints process, the Housing Ombudsman (social tenants), or legal action. See how to claim .

Awaab's Law Timescales & Deadlines Explained

The deadlines are what give Awaab’s Law its teeth. Instead of a vague duty to keep a home in repair “within a reasonable time”, Awaab’s Law sets specific, countable periods for investigating a reported hazard, telling the tenant what was found, and starting repairs — with a much tighter window for emergencies.

This guide explains how those timescales are structured and what each stage means in practice.

Important — verify the exact figures before you rely on them. The timescales are set by regulations and have been introduced in phases. The structure below is stable, but the precise number of days for each stage is exactly the kind of detail that changes. Always confirm the current deadlines on gov.uk and legislation.gov.uk.

The four stages of an Awaab’s Law response

When a tenant reports a potential hazard, the landlord’s obligations run through a sequence of stages, each with its own deadline:

Stage	What must happen	Deadline
1. Investigate	Inspect and investigate the reported hazard to establish whether a relevant hazard exists and what is causing it	Within a set number of days of becoming aware
2. Written summary	Give the tenant a written summary of the findings, including whether a hazard was found and what will be done	Within a set number of days of the investigation
3. Begin repairs	Where a relevant hazard is found, start the necessary work	Within a set number of days
4. Emergency works	Where there is a significant and imminent risk to health or safety, act on an emergency basis	Within a much shorter emergency window

Stage 1 — Investigating the hazard

The clock starts when the landlord becomes aware of a potential hazard. This is why we tell tenants repeatedly: report it in writing. A dated email or written message creates an unambiguous trigger and makes the deadlines enforceable.

Within the investigation period, the landlord must actually investigate the cause — not just glance at the symptom. For damp and mould that means identifying whether the problem is:

Condensation (often linked to ventilation, heating and insulation),
Penetrating damp (water getting in through the building fabric),
Rising damp, or
A specific defect or leak.

A proper diagnosis matters because the right fix depends entirely on the cause — and because “it’s just condensation from your lifestyle” is not an investigation.

Stage 2 — The written summary

A distinctive feature of Awaab’s Law is the duty to give the tenant a written summary of the investigation. This must set out what was found and what the landlord intends to do about it.

For tenants, this written summary is valuable evidence: keep it. For landlords, it is both a legal obligation and a record that demonstrates compliance.

Stage 3 — Beginning the repairs

If the investigation finds a relevant hazard, the landlord must begin the necessary works within the set period. Two points often misunderstood:

The duty is to start the works within the deadline and then progress them appropriately — complex repairs may legitimately take longer to finish, but they cannot simply be parked.
The fix must address the cause, not just redecorate over mould, or the problem (and the legal exposure) returns.

Stage 4 — Emergencies

Where a hazard presents a significant and imminent risk to the health or safety of the household, the standard stages give way to a much shorter emergency response. Examples might include a hazard affecting a vulnerable occupant, or conditions posing an immediate danger.

When does the clock start — and how to protect yourself

For tenants, the single most important practical step is to create a clear, dated record of your report:

Report in writing (email, the landlord’s portal, or a letter you keep a copy of).
Describe the problem and where it is, and attach photos.
Note any health effects or vulnerable people in the household.
Keep every reply, including the written summary.

For landlords, the equivalent is a logging and triage system that date-stamps each report, flags emergencies, and tracks each deadline — so nothing slips. A good damp and mould survey process feeds straight into this.

What if a deadline is missed?

Because Awaab’s Law operates as an implied term of the tenancy, a missed deadline is a breach of the tenancy agreement that the tenant can act on:

Re-state the issue in writing, referencing the missed deadline.
Use the landlord’s formal complaints procedure.
Escalate — to the Housing Ombudsman if you are a social tenant, and/or take advice on legal action.

Not legal advice. The right response depends on your circumstances and the confirmed deadlines that applied to you. Get advice from a regulated solicitor — see how to find a damp and mould solicitor.