Awaab’s Law expands legal duties beyond damp and mould, Inventory Base warns

Sián Hemming-Metcalfe, operations director at Inventory Base, said: “Damp and mould have been the catalyst for change, but Awaab’s Law is rapidly becoming something much bigger. 

“There’s still a perception in some parts of the sector that this is primarily a damp and mould regulation, but that’s a dangerous misunderstanding. 

“The direction of travel is clear: housing providers will increasingly be expected to prove they identified risks, assessed them correctly and acted within a defensible timeframe.”

Hemming-Metcalfe added: “The real challenge isn’t repairs, it’s visibility. You can’t respond to a hazard within regulatory timeframes if you don’t have accurate information about the condition of a property, the risks present and a clear record of when those risks were identified. 

“As regulators, residents and legal teams place greater emphasis on evidence, organisations need to be able to demonstrate what they knew, when they knew it and what action they took. 

“Those that adapt early won’t just reduce compliance risk. They’ll gain something far more valuable: visibility across their portfolios.”

She said: “In an environment increasingly shaped by regulation, resident scrutiny and legal accountability, that visibility will be the difference between proactive management and permanent firefighting.”