Awaab's Law is Coming to the Private Rented Sector: Section 60 RRA and the 24/10/3/5 Clock

Awaab's Law private rented sector commencement is the next big compliance shock heading for England's landlords, and the smart money says it will land in 2027. The framework — named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died in December 2020 from prolonged exposure to mould in a Rochdale Boroughs Housing flat — has been live in social housing since 27 October 2025. Section 60 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 hands the Secretary of State the power to extend it, in modified form, to private tenancies. Draft regulations are expected in January 2026 but, as of mid-2026, no commencement date has been confirmed.

What landlords cannot do is wait for the gazette notice. The statutory clock — 24 hours for emergencies, 10 working days to investigate, 3 working days to deliver a written report, 5 working days for the significant repair itself, and 12 weeks to begin any works that genuinely cannot start sooner — is already the benchmark courts, the Property Ombudsman and (from 2028) the PRS Ombudsman will read alongside Section 9A and Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. The First-tier Tribunal is already issuing damp-and-mould disrepair awards of £10,500, £10,000 and £4,500, with Housing Ombudsman orders north of £9,000 becoming routine.

This guide walks through what Section 60 actually does, how the social-housing regime works in practice, the science Latch sees on damp instructions, the insurance gap most landlords don't know they have, and a ten-step preparation checklist you can action this quarter. We also point you to our Awaab's Law: Damp & Mould Responsibilities sister guide and our Renters' Rights Act 2026 complete guide for the wider reform context.

Where Awaab's Law currently bites

The statutory basis is section 10A of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, inserted by section 42 of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023. The Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025 brought the duty into force for registered providers of social housing on 27 October 2025. Crucially, those regulations apply only to social tenancies — private landlords are not yet caught, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (now MHCLG) has been clear that PRS commencement requires a separate set of regulations made under Section 60 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025.

Social housing commencement is being staged. Phase 1 (live now) covers damp and mould. Phase 2, expected in 2026, adds excess cold and heat, fire safety, electrical hazards, falls, structural collapse and hygiene hazards. Phase 3 in 2027 will sweep in the remaining Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) hazards. The PRS regulations are widely expected to track Phase 3 — i.e. to land with the full hazard list rather than a damp-and-mould-only opener — though ministers have not committed publicly.

What Section 60 of the Renters' Rights Act 2025 actually does

Section 60 is a regulation-making power. It does not, by itself, impose any new repair obligation on private landlords. What it does is empower the Secretary of State to make regulations applying the s.10A regime — with whatever modifications are appropriate for the PRS — to assured and assured shorthold tenancies. The Explanatory Notes to the Act confirm Government's intention to use the power in this Parliament, and a public consultation on the draft PRS regulations is expected in January 2026.

The Renters' Rights Act 2025 is being commenced in three phases. Phase 1 (1 May 2026) ended Section 21 evictions, converted ASTs to periodic tenancies, banned rental bidding and lifted civil penalties. Phase 2 (2028) goes live with the PRS Database and the new PRS Ombudsman. Awaab's Law extension is Phase 3 — sequenced after the Ombudsman so there is an obvious tribunal-of-first-instance for tenants to escalate to. Shelter's January 2026 position paper expects commencement "unlikely before 2027", and the NRLA has lobbied for at least nine months' notice between the regulations being laid and them taking effect.

The 24/10/3/5 timetable in detail

The operative clock is the same one set out in regulations 4–8 of the 2025 Regulations. "Working days" excludes weekends and bank holidays. The clock starts when the landlord is "aware" of a potential significant hazard — which the Housing Ombudsman has interpreted to include third-party reports (a neighbour, a doctor's surgery, a school welfare officer), not just a direct tenant complaint.

The 12-week longstop covers things like specialist scaffolding, planning consent or a contractor lead time on parts. It is not a general extension. Landlords relying on it must document why the 5-working-day window was impossible — a contractor's email saying "we can't book it in until August" is not, by itself, a defence.

What counts as a 'significant hazard'

The regulations don't list named defects. Instead, they hook into the HHSRS hazard profiles in the Housing Act 2004 and overlay a "significance" filter. A hazard is significant if it presents a risk of harm to the actual or likely occupants — so a damp wall in a study used by a healthy adult might be HHSRS Category 2 and not actionable; the same wall in a child's bedroom is likely Category 1.

The 2025 Regulations broaden the test in one important way: "deficiency" includes defects, disrepair and lack of maintenance. That sweeps in slow-burn issues that historically sat outside the Section 11 "installations and structure" duty — for example, blocked trickle vents, choked MVHR filters, or a never-serviced extractor fan. Read with our damp and mould responsibilities guide, this is the single most consequential drafting change.

The mould science landlords need to know

Condensation forms when warm moist air meets a surface below its dew point. Sustained relative humidity above 70% supports mould growth; above 80% is effectively a guaranteed problem. Approved Document F (2021 edition) mandates whole-dwelling ventilation — trickle vents in habitable rooms, extractor fans in wet rooms, and either positive input ventilation (PIV) or mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) for newer builds and deep retrofits.

The Joint Professional Statement on damp investigations (JPS 2022, endorsed by RICS, PCA and CIOB) sets out the minimum standard for a competent survey. Your contractor's report should distinguish penetrating damp, rising damp, condensation and plumbing leak, identify any chloride/sulphate readings where rising damp is alleged, and recommend ventilation, fabric and heating interventions in that order. "Lifestyle advice" alone is not a defence — Awaab Ishak's family was given lifestyle advice for two years before he died.

Penalties, RROs and the £40,000 ceiling

The penalty exposure has changed under your feet. From 1 May 2026, the civil penalty ceiling under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 rose from £30,000 to £40,000 per offence. A new £7,000 "immediate" penalty applies to Type 1 RRA breaches — including failure to register on the PRS Database when that goes live in 2028. Rent Repayment Orders, historically capped at 12 months, now reach 24 months. Tribunal awards for damp-and-mould disrepair sit around £10,500, £10,000 and £4,500 in recent reported decisions, with Housing Ombudsman orders of £9,000+ becoming routine.

Stack those together and a single mishandled mould complaint in a £1,200/month property can plausibly cost a landlord £40,000 (penalty) + £28,800 (24-month RRO) + £10,000 (disrepair award) + works = north of £85,000. Get ahead of it via our Renters' Rights Act compliance checker.

Your 10-step PRS preparation checklist

If you do nothing else this quarter, do these. The list assumes a small-to-mid portfolio (under 50 units) but scales linearly.

• Map every property: build year, ventilation type (trickle/extractor/PIV/MVHR), last EICR, last gas safety, last damp survey
• Adopt a written hazard-response policy with the 24/10/3/5 timeline baked in — share it with tenants at sign-up
• Set up a single intake channel (one email, one phone line, one ticketing system) so the awareness clock has a defensible start point
• Pre-vet contractors: at least one emergency plumber, one damp specialist (JPS-aware), one general builder, with 24h SLAs in writing
• Standardise the 3-working-day tenant report — a one-page template with findings, proposed works, indicative dates, escalation route
• Photograph and timestamp every inspection (Latch maintenance tickets do this automatically)
• Audit insurance: confirm whether gradual damp, condensation and rising damp are excluded; price an upgraded policy or specialist cover
• Train any letting agent or property manager on Section 9A, Section 11 and the 24/10/3/5 clock — failures by your agent are your failures
• Schedule annual ventilation checks: trickle vents clear, extractors >15 l/s in bathrooms and >30 l/s in kitchens, MVHR filters within 12 months
• Diarise the January 2026 consultation on draft PRS regulations and respond — your trade body (NRLA, RLA) will coordinate

How Latch keeps you inside the clock