New Ventilation Regulations: What This Means for You
Published: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
From October 2025, new regulation Awaab’s Law will come into effect, impacting housing regulations and changing the way social landlords deal with unsafe homes. After the tragic death of Awaab Ishak, who died in 2020 after living with severe mould in his families flat, the new law is designed to make sure issues such as damp and mould are fixed quickly, so tenants don’t have to live in homes that put their health at risk.
What are the changes?
With the initial integration set to take place from 27th October 2025 here are the main changes you will be seeing:
Regarding all emergency hazards, landlords must repair all emergency hazards within 24 hours of them being reported as these are immediate risks to health and safety. Mould/damp will meet the criteria if severe enough.
For specific damp & mould hazards, if reported and presents as a significant risk of harm, then landlords must investigate and fix within a fixed timescale. This currently only covers damp & mould at this stage with more hazards to follow in later phases.
It is important to note that private rented housing is not covered in the first phase, and the law applies initially to social landlords (housing associations, local authorities).
2026 additions
In 2026 the regulations will be extended that will include the following hazards where they present a significant risk of harm:
- Excess cold and excess heat
- Falls associated with baths etc., on level surfaces, on stairs and between levels
- Structural collapse, and explosions
- Fire, and electrical hazards
- Domestic and personal hygiene and food safety
2027 Additions
In 2027, the regulation will extend to all Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) hazards that present a significant risk of harm. Please note that this regulation will not protect you from things such as overcrowding.
What can you do?
When dealing with the risk of issues faced from poor ventilation being able to track your humidity and temperature. Environmental sensors will help to provide risk insights including condensation, damp and mould, cold home risk and heat loss. Aico temperature and humidity environmental sensors will help to deal with this problem. You can find them here.
Positive Input Ventilation (PIV) system is a way to offer whole-house ventilation. The system helps to remove unhealthy air in your building and replaces it with clean air. The system we offer is a built-in 500W for whole house mould and condensation control. You can find more on the system here.
Decentralised Mechanical Extract Ventilation (dMEV) uses multiple low-energy extractor fans in individual rooms and having them continuously running. The units help to manage humidity and air quality by extracting moisture and odours. You can find the range of dMEV fans here.
Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) is a whole-house ventilation system, supplying fresh filtered air into your property and filters out stale air through a heat exchanger.
What Impact Will It Have in October and Going Forward?
When it comes to your home and properties here are some of the expected / likely effects that could happen from October 2025 onward:
Faster response times for serious issues
Tenants in social housing who report serious mould or damp problems (or other emergency hazards) should see much quicker investigations and repairs. This will help to reduce overall exposure to health risks and reduce deterioration of properties.
Improved housing quality in social housing sector
As landlords adjust to the law, there should be an improvement in the standard of social housing over time, especially when repairing damp / mould quickly.
Greater accountability & rights for tenants
Tenants will now have a legal basis to demand repairs and are able to act if landlords fail to act. This could lead to more disputes, but also more repairs and better living conditions.
Potential legal / financial penalties
If landlords fail to comply, they are at risk of legal costs, and compensation. This could damage to the landlord’s reputation.
Phased improvements over several years
Since the law will cover more hazards over time, tenants living with issues other than mould will have to wait until subsequent phases. Thus, the full benefit of the law won’t be fully released until 2026/27 and beyond. Landlords may want to focus first on the hazards in phase 1 until they begin to adapt their strategy to deal with the law changes.
Risks & Things to Watch
‘Significant risk of harm’ is defined and interpreted in practice; there might be disputes about what is serious enough to trigger the fixed timescales.
The clarity & efficiency of enforcement: legal processes can be slow, and ombudsman procedures may take time. Some tenants may find it difficult to assert their rights without legal help.
Communication and awareness, tenants need to know what rights they have, how to report hazards, and what to do if landlords don’t comply.
Awaab’s Law marks a significant legislative step in the UK towards improving the safety and quality of social housing, especially around mould, damp, and emergency hazards. From October 2025, social landlords in England will legally be required to respond much faster when tenants report serious mould/damp or emergency hazards. Over the next two years, obligations will widen to cover many more types of hazards.
While there are challenges ahead, in funding, enforcement, and ensuring equity of implementation. For many tenants the changes should lead to safer homes, quicker repairs, and stronger legal rights.