Awaab's Law

At Gentoo, we know how important it is to feel safe in your home. We prioritise providing warm, safe and decent homes for our customers. This has always been a priority at Gentoo, with our continuous investment work in our customers’ homes.

What is Awaab's Law?

Awaab's Law is a new social housing law that came into effect October 2025, with new regulations introduced in November 2026. 

Awaab’s Law is named after Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old boy who sadly died in 2020 after prolonged exposure to damp and mould in his home. It sets out clear rules for how quickly housing providers like us must respond when customers report serious issues in their homes, including damp, mould, and other health hazards.

The law was created to make sure no one in social housing lives in unsafe conditions. Housing providers must act fast on health and safety issues in residents’ homes and make homes safe within strict timeframes.

What does the new law mean?

At Gentoo, we always respond to emergency hazards in our customers’ homes within 24 hours. As a customer of Gentoo, we’d like to make you aware we will continue to respond this way and carry out relevant safety work within this timeframe.

From 27 October, Awaab’s Law means we now legally have to respond within strict timeframes when you report serious problems in your home, especially anything that could affect your health, like severe damp or mould.

If something in your home could pose a risk or hazard, we must investigate it within strict timeframes and get it fixed as quickly as possible. If we can’t make your home safe straight away, we’ll make sure you have somewhere safe to stay in the meantime. We will also keep you updated throughout the process and give you clear information on what’s happening and how to stay safe.

What do we do at Gentoo? 

At Gentoo, we fully support the law and have further enhanced the way we deal with damp, mould and other emergency repairs to meet the new standards. 

• We've strengthened our dedicated damp and mould team and improved our systems to help our colleagues deal with cases more efficiently
• Our colleagues have refreshed their training and have completed new, specialist training to prepare for Awaab’s Law.
• We are consistently reviewing our policies and procedures. We have created an Emergency and Significant Hazards in Social Homes Policy to ensure we are dealing with issues as best we can and meeting all legal requirements.
• We aren’t relying only on customers to tell us about safety issues in their homes. Colleagues and contractors are proactively checking for hazards during every visit to a customer’s home.  

What can you do to keep your home safe? 

It is important you report emergency repairs to us as quickly as possible so we can make sure your home is safe.

An emergency repair could include severe damp and mould, an uncontrollable water leak or a power outage, for example. 

You can find a full list of emergency repairs in our Repairs and Maintenance Standard. 

It is important you report emergencies to us by calling 0191 525 5000. Our phone lines are open 24/7 for emergencies.

You can find handy guidance on our website for reducing the chance of damp and mould in your home.  

What are my rights under Awaab's Law? 

• If you report an emergency hazard to us, we will make sure your home is safe within 24 hours. If we cannot make the hazard safe within this timeframe, we'll find you somewhere safe to stay in the meantime. 
• If the hazard is not an immediate risk to your health, we will look into this within 10 working days and provide you with updates. 
• If you're unhappy with our response or any work we have carried out, please report this to us and we will look into resolving this for you. 
• If you're still unhappy, you have a right to raise a formal complaint with our Customer Voice Team. 
• In the unlikely circumstance our team haven't been able to reach a resolution for you, you have the right to escalate your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman. 

Please watch the below video to find out everything you need to know about Awaab's Law, emergency hazards and your rights. 

Thank you for helping us keep your home safe. 

If you'd like this information in a different format, language or a printed copy, please email communications@gentoogroup.com