A repair worker stands between two branded vans from Ian Williams and North Star Housing. He is holding tools and wearing a blue uniform and lanyard. The vans display the logos and partnership between Ian Williams and North Star Housing.

Awaab's Law: Keeping you safe at home

27 Oct 2025

From 27th October 2025, new legal rules called Awaab’s Law will come into force. These laws set strict timeframes for how quickly landlords like us must investigate and fix serious problems in homes, starting with damp and mould.

We know that issues like damp and mould can be worrying and believe everyone deserves a home that’s safe, warm, and healthy.

Awaab’s Law was created after the tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died as a result of mould in his family’s home. His story led to this important change in the law to make sure this never happens again.

At North Star, we fully support these changes. We’ve already strengthened our systems, training, and monitoring so we’re ready ahead of time and can keep every customer safe.

How the law helps keep your home safe

From 27th October 2025, when you report emergency hazards, such as major leaks, we will continue to investigate and act within 24 hours.

When you report significant hazards that fall under Awaab’s Law, we must now:

Investigate within 10 working days
Send you a written report within 3 working days of the investigation, explaining what we found and what we’ll do next. This is for your information only and you don’t need to do anything.
Start repairs or safety work within 5 working days of the investigation. If this isn’t possible (for example, if we can’t access your home), the work must start within 12 weeks.
If we can’t fully complete the work within these times, we’ll put temporary safety measures in place and, if needed, arrange temporary accommodation to make sure you stay safe.

From 2026, the law will expand to cover more types of risks, such as extreme temperatures, fire safety, and structural or hygiene issues. We’ll keep you updated as soon as these new rules come in.

What we’re doing behind the scenes

We’ve been preparing well in advance to make sure we meet, and go beyond, the new legal requirements. We have:

Trained all frontline staff on Awaab’s Law
Refreshed Every Visit Counts training so that staff and contractors can spot issues no matter what they are visiting your home to do
Introduced new systems to track every report and make sure nothing is missed
Set up regular reviews by our Senior Management Team and Board to make sure we’re meeting the law
Created a dedicated Awaab’s Law policy

Our Head of Property and Compliance Adam Pearce said: “Our top priority is making sure our customers are safe in their homes. Preparing for Awaab’s Law has been a key focus for us and we’re proud to be ready ahead of the changes. We’ll continue to review how we handle damp, mould, and other safety issues to make sure we stay fully compliant and keep every customer as safe as possible.”