Awaab’s Law Injunction Forces Council to Rehouse Family in Four Days

The problem

Our client was living in a council property affected by severe damp and mould, in a condition that rendered it unfit for human habitation. She had a two-year-old child living in those conditions and was pregnant. The mould was so extensive that it was photographed on the child’s cot and mattress.

The damp and mould were caused by a leak from the bathroom, which had also created an electrical hazard. An expert surveyor recommended remedial works costing £1,897.90, and concluded that the conditions were severe enough that our client should be decanted from the property immediately.

Why Awaab’s Law applied

The Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025 — known as Awaab’s Law — were brought into force after the death of Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old who died following prolonged exposure to mould in his home. The regulations set binding deadlines for social landlords to investigate and fix serious hazards.

In this case those deadlines had passed. Complaints about the condition of the home had been made for well over twelve months and had gone nowhere. Our client had gone as far as seeking help from her local MP. At one point she was advised by her landlord to sleep on the couch if she was concerned about the state of the bedroom.

The application

With a pregnant client and a toddler living in a property a surveyor said they should leave immediately, waiting out the ordinary claim process was not a realistic option. The only route to immediate relief was an application for an interim injunction.

The outcome

The Court agreed. It held that there was a significant risk of harm and that the landlord’s cursory attempts to resolve the issues were not sufficient. The injunction was granted, and the Court ordered:

• A decant into suitable alternative accommodation at no cost to our client, within four days of the hearing, until the works were completed
• The remedial works to be completed by a fixed date less than one month after the hearing
• Costs awarded to our client

This is a clear example of Awaab’s Law working as intended for a tenant in urgent need. If you are living with damp and mould your social landlord has failed to deal with, and the conditions are putting your health or your children at risk, the deadlines in the regulations may already have been missed.