What does Awaab's Law mean for damp and mould contractors bidding for social housing work?
Since 27 October 2025, social landlords in England must investigate and fix damp and mould that puts tenants at significant risk within fixed deadlines, and Phase 2 adds more hazards from 30 November 2026. In our award data, dedicated damp and mould contracts went from 2 in 2024 to 16 in 2025. They are still rare: 31 since 2019, and none of the 203 live tenders in our index on 18 October 2026 names damp or mould in its title.
Awaab's Law is named after Awaab Ishak, a 2-year-old who died in 2020 from a respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his home (GOV.UK). The figures below are our own analysis of published award notices, 1 January 2019 to 8 October 2026, in England and Wales.
Awaab's Law: the dates
| Phase | From | Hazards covered (where they present a significant risk of harm) |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 27 October 2025 | Damp and mould, and all emergency hazards |
| Phase 2 | 30 November 2026 (draft regulations) | Excess cold and heat, falls, structural collapse, fire and explosions, electrical hazards, domestic hygiene |
| Phase 3 | No date yet | The remaining housing health and safety hazards, apart from overcrowding |
Sources: SI 2025/1042 regulation 1; the draft amendment regulations 2026, regulation 1; GOV.UK Phase 2 guidance for social landlords (updated 31 July 2026). All checked 18 October 2026.
The deadlines your client has to meet
The landlord carries the legal duty, but contractors do much of the work. GOV.UK's guidance sets these timescales:
- Emergency hazards: investigate and make safe within 24 hours.
- Other significant hazards: investigate within 10 working days, and give the tenant a written summary within 3 working days of the investigation ending.
- Safety work: complete within 5 working days of the investigation ending.
- Preventative work: start within 5 working days, or if that isn't practicable, as soon as it is and within 12 weeks.
The guidance also tells landlords to give contractors clear instructions, to have them report problems tenants raise, to record every attempt to get access, and to take photographs before work starts where needed. Those are the things a bid for this work has to show you can do, with your own figures.
Damp and mould contracts by year
| Year | Contracts awarded |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 0 |
| 2020 | 0 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 4 |
| 2023 | 4 |
| 2024 | 2 |
| 2025 | 16 |
| 2026 (to October 2026) | 5 |
Contracts whose title names damp, mould or condensation, from councils, housing associations and other public buyers in England and Wales, 1 January 2019 to 8 October 2026. One row per contract. Small numbers: read the trend, not the exact count.
12 of the 31 were awarded on or after 27 October 2025. Damp and mould work also sits inside wider responsive repairs contracts whose titles don't name it, which this count leaves out. In the live index, 3 tenders mention damp or mould in their notice, 3 of them wider repairs and maintenance frameworks or dynamic purchasing systems, and none names Awaab's Law.
Who lets them, and what they look like
| Measure | Figure | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| Buyers | 28 | 31 contracts |
| Let by councils | 18 | 11 by housing associations, 2 by other public buyers |
| Median bids per contract | 3.5 | 26 contracts that published a bid count |
| Median contract value | £838k | 28 contracts that published a value |
ClearBid analysis of award notices from Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. No figure is shown from fewer than 5 contracts.
Damp and mould contracts ending in the next two years
Award notices give an end date. Contracts are often extended or re-let early, so treat these as a guide to when a buyer may go back to market.
| Buyer | Contract | Ends |
|---|---|---|
| Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council | Princess Street & Longsight Road Damp Remedial Works | February 2027 |
| Babergh District Council | Damp and Mould Remedial Works Contract for Babergh District Council and Mid Suffolk District Council | August 2027 |
| Karbon Homes | Framework Damp and Mould | December 2027 |
| City of York Council | Damp Surveys & Remedial Works | May 2028 |
| Waverley Borough Council | Damp, Mould and Condensation Prevention and Remediation Services | July 2028 |
End dates from award notices, between 18 October 2026 and 18 October 2028. Bid Radar tracks these for your trades and area every week.
What this means if you bid for this work
- Look inside repairs tenders, not only for damp and mould in the title. Dedicated contracts are few, so check the lots and specifications of responsive repairs tenders and frameworks too.
- Show you can meet the landlord's deadlines. Say how fast you survey, how you report in writing, how you record access attempts and how you photograph before work, with figures from contracts you already run.
- Phase 2 widens the hazards. From 30 November 2026 the same deadlines are due to cover excess cold, electrical hazards, fire and falls, which touch electrical and EICR testing, fire safety, gas and heating and responsive repairs contracts too.
Our guides to winning housing association repairs contracts and how tenders are scored go further, and the free Bid Matcher shows which live tenders fit your firm. We write for housing repairs contractors at fixed prices.
Questions
When did Awaab's Law come into force?
On 27 October 2025, for social landlords in England. The first phase covers damp and mould hazards that present a significant risk of harm, and all emergency hazards (the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025).
What changes on 30 November 2026?
Phase 2 extends the same deadlines to excess cold and heat, falls, structural collapse, fire and explosions, electrical hazards and domestic hygiene, where they present a significant risk of harm. On 18 October 2026 the amendment regulations that set this date were still a draft awaiting approval.
Does Awaab's Law apply in Wales?
No. The regulations apply to landlords of social homes in England.
Are there more damp and mould tenders since Awaab's Law?
Dedicated damp and mould contracts rose from 2 awarded in 2024 to 16 in 2025 in our data, and 12 have been awarded since the law came in. They are still few: 31 since 2019, from 28 buyers.
Can you help a damp and mould contractor bid for this work?
Yes. We write and check repairs tenders, including damp and mould work, at fixed prices: a Health Check of your own draft from £195 (founding price; standard £395), or a full Response Draft. We write for one firm per lot.
Sources
- The Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/1042), regulation 1. In force 27 October 2025; applies to lessors of social homes in England. Checked 18 October 2026
- The Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (draft), regulation 1. Comes into force 30 November 2026; still a draft on 18 October 2026
- GOV.UK, Awaab's Law Phase 2: guidance for social landlords. Updated 31 July 2026: phases, hazards, deadlines, contractors and records. Checked 18 October 2026
- GOV.UK, Awaab's Law in the social rented sector (collection). Checked 18 October 2026
- ClearBid sector findings (scripts/sector-findings.mts). Award notices 1 January 2019 to 8 October 2026; live tenders in the index built 18 October 2026. Find a Tender and Contracts Finder notices (Open Contracting Partnership bulk copies), via pipeline/build_index.py. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Spotted something wrong? See how our figures are built and how to report a correction.