Social housing issue? Know how to complain
The government has launched its ‘Make things right’ campaign to ensure those living with issues in their social housing know their rights, know how to complain, and feel empowered that their voice will be heard. Read on to find out more...
Make things right
Everyone deserves a home that is safe, secure, and well maintained. If you live in social housing, your landlord is responsible for fixing issues, including damp and mould, leaks, broken locks or changes you need to your home if you’re disabled. They can also help with anti-social behaviour, like noisy neighbours.
Know the steps to get an issue fixed:
Report it to your landlord. Then, if it is not fixed go to step 2.
Complain through your landlord’s complaint process, and if you’re not happy with the final response from your landlord go to step 3.
Escalate your complaint to the Housing Ombudsman.
A new law in social housing
What's Awaab's Law?
Awaab’s Law is named in memory of two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died tragically due to prolonged exposure to mould in his home. The first phase of the new law came into effect on 27 October 2025 to provide more protection to social housing tenants.
The law means that landlords now have to follow strict timeframes for responding when a tenant reports an issue.
- Emergency hazards (e.g. dangerous electrical faults, damaged external doors or windows and major leaks) must be investigated and made safe within 24 hours.
- Significant damp and mould hazards must be investigated within 10 working days and then must be made safe within a further 5 working days.
Awaab’s Law covers all emergency hazards and all damp and mould hazards that present a significant risk of harm. In 2026 and 2027, a range of other hazards will be brought under the new law.
What to expect from your landlord
If you have an issue with your home, particularly if you think it may pose a risk to your health and safety, report it to your landlord immediately. There are a number of ways to report it – for example directly from your landlord’s website, by email, over the phone or in person.
Landlords will consider the issue and determine if it is covered by Awaab’s Law and if so, they must respond to your issue within the new timeframes. Emergency hazards that pose an immediate and significant risk of harm to your health must be investigated and made safe within 24 hours. Significant damp and mould hazards must be investigated within 10 working days and your home then made safe within 5 working days.
A landlord must also take tenant circumstances into account when assessing the risk of an issue. Tenants should make sure they say how the problem is impacting their household when reporting the issue.
Unhappy with the landlord’s response?
If you’ve reported an issue and it hasn’t been sorted or you’re not happy, complain to your landlord through your landlord’s complaints process. If you’re not happy with your landlord’s final response to your complaint, you can escalate it to the Housing Ombudsman. They are free to use, impartial and will investigate fairly.
Alternatively, you can go through the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims. This is a process that helps tenants and landlords try to fix issues before going to court. You can find out more about this here.
For more information on what a significant and emergency hazard is and further details on timeframes, please visit gov.uk/socialhousing-law
About the Housing Ombudsman
The Housing Ombudsman is impartial, will investigate fairly and can order your landlord to take action.
Once the Housing Ombudsman has ruled against a landlord, they must show they are taking action within 6-8 weeks.
Last year, the Housing Ombudsman ordered landlords to pay over £6m in compensation to residents.
Know your rights, visit gov.uk/social-housing
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Everyone deserves a home that is safe, secure, and well maintained. If you live in social housing, your landlord is responsible for fixing issues, including damp and mould, leaks, broken locks or changes you need to your home if you’re disabled. They can also help with anti-social behaviour, like noisy neighbours.