In December 2020, the tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in his family’s social housing flat in Rochdale exposed systemic failures around damp, mould and property disrepair. In response, the UK Government introduced the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, which included provisions now commonly referred to as Awaab’s Law.
Awaab’s Law imposes clear, time-bound duties on social landlords to investigate and repair serious hazards, starting with damp and mould and then widening to cover further hazards over coming years. As the regulations stand, from 27 October 2025 onwards, all social housing landlords must address hazardous damp and mould within a fixed timescale and must deal with any “emergency hazards” within 24 hours.
What the Law Means for Supported-Housing Providers
For the supported housing sector, Awaab’s Law brings several significant operational, financial and reputational implications:
1. Faster turnaround on hazard repairs
Under the new regime, hazards such as significant damp and mould must be tackled swiftly. While emergency hazards must be addressed within those 24 hours; serious damp/mould risks will also have shorter timescales for investigation and resolution. Supported housing providers will need to ensure that their property-management and maintenance functions are aligned to meet these deadlines.
2. Integrated risk management becomes essential
Supported housing often combines tenancy management, property maintenance and care/support delivery. Awaab’s Law demands that the property side cannot lag behind the support side so hazards must be flagged, tracked and resolved with regard to service users’ vulnerabilities. The risk of non-compliance now overlaps with care/support risk.
3. Increased regulatory exposure and liability
The new law means tenants and regulators have stronger grounds to take legal action against landlords who fail to act in a timely manner. For providers operating in supported living settings, the risk of regulatory scrutiny (and associated financial and reputational cost) has never been higher.
4. Data, audit trails & transparency will matter more
Meeting fixed timescales for repairs is only part of the challenge. Providers must be able to prove that inspections were raised, work orders issued, progress tracked and resident communications made. Without robust systems in place, supported-housing providers may struggle to achieve evidence compliance.
5. Strain on resources and processes
Especially for smaller or specialist supported housing providers, the capacity to respond rapidly to issues (mobilising contractors, arranging temporary accommodation, communications) will be stretched. Strategic planning, effective triage and operational readiness are no longer optional.
6. Reinforcement of housing as a component of support
For supported housing, the property environment is a core part of service delivery. If a tenant’s room is damp or unsafe, it impacts wellbeing, support plans and tenancy sustainability. Awaab’s Law reinforces the fact that property health is integral to support outcomes.
Why Timely Preparation Makes a Difference
Because Awaab’s Law is being phased in, with initial focus on damp and mould then later hazards such as excess cold/heat, fire risk, hygiene etc, providers who start preparing now will have a competitive advantage. Those who rely on paper forms, siloed workflows or under-resourced maintenance may find themselves exposed, whereas providers with robust property-support interfaces, incident tracking and integrated workflows will be better placed.
How ECCO Can Help Soften the Blow
Given the scale of change required for compliance with Awaab’s Law, ECCO’s platform is well positioned to help supported-housing providers in navigating the new regime. ECCO enables unified property, tenancy and support workflows, making it easier for providers to log, monitor and escalate property hazards such as damp or mould alongside their care-support records.
With its audit-first architecture, ECCO supports detailed tracking of hazard reports, investigation dates, contractor actions, resident communications and outcome verification, giving providers the evidence trail needed to demonstrate compliance with fixed timescales.
The system’s mobile and on-site friendly capability means housing officers or support workers can log issues in real time, attach photos or condition reports, monitor contractor progress and flag overdue actions. Integration of scheduling and task-assignment functionality means repair-work orders can be raised, contractors dispatched and follow-up visits logged, all within the same system.
For providers worried about resource strain, ECCO offers dashboards and alerts when surface properties or units are at higher risk (reports of condensation, previous damp history, vulnerable occupants) so proactive intervention becomes feasible rather than reactive only.
By aligning property-maintenance, tenancy-and-support teams under a single hybrid system, ECCO helps supported housing providers transition from fragmented processes to clearly defined, accountable workflows.
In short, by embedding property-risk management into the core support platform, ECCO provides supported-housing providers with a practical route both to comply with Awaab’s Law and enhance tenant outcomes by reducing the risk of failure, speeding up response times and reinforcing the integrity of both housing and support delivery.