Awaab's Law and Decent Homes Standard: Smoke Alarm Implications for Landlords

Awaab's Law: Prescribed Timelines for Hazard Repairs

Awaab's Law — introduced through the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and named after Awaab Ishak, who died from exposure to mould in a Rochdale housing association flat — currently requires social landlords to meet fixed repair timelines for emergency hazards and significant damp and mould hazards. Other significant hazards are being added in phases; significant fire hazards are scheduled for Phase 2 from 30 November 2026, subject to Parliamentary approval. The Renters' Rights Act 2025 provides for extending Awaab's Law to the private rented sector, but the PRS requirements and start date are not yet in force. The current consultation says 2027 is the earliest feasible start.

For social housing, the current prescribed timelines depend on the hazard:

• Emergency hazards: investigation and any necessary safety work must both take place within 24 hours
• Significant damp and mould hazards: investigate within 10 working days; issue a written summary within 3 working days after the investigation; make the property safe and start supplementary preventative work within 5 working days after the investigation. If longer-term work cannot start within that period, it must begin as soon as possible and within 12 weeks at the latest.

A completely non-functional smoke alarm system or a missing CO alarm near an active gas boiler can present an urgent safety risk. Whether a particular case meets Awaab's Law's emergency-hazard threshold is fact-specific; the classification cannot be determined from the alarm fault alone.

How This Interacts with the Alarm Regulations

The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015 (as amended 2022) already require landlords to repair faulty alarms "as soon as reasonably practicable" under Regulation 4(1)(c). That phrase has no statutory definition — councils and tribunals interpret it based on circumstances.

Awaab's Law sets separate deadlines for hazards within its scope. If and when the PRS requirements come into force, a landlord who receives a tenant's alarm fault report will have to follow the applicable deadline as well as the existing alarm-repair duty.

This tightening matters most for landlords who currently treat alarm repairs as low-priority maintenance. Under the existing regulations, a landlord might argue that scheduling a visit for the following week was "reasonably practicable." Where Awaab's Law applies to the sector and hazard, its prescribed deadline also has to be met.

The Decent Homes Standard in the Private Rented Sector

The Decent Homes Standard has applied to social housing since 2006. The new standard is scheduled to apply to private rentals from 2035 under the Renters' Rights Act framework; it is not yet in force for the PRS. A "decent home" must, among other criteria, be free of Category 1 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) and be in a reasonable state of repair.

Fire and explosions, including risks from inadequate smoke detection, are among the 21 HHSRS hazard categories. Carbon monoxide is assessed under the separate "Indoor air pollutants" category. A missing alarm can contribute to an HHSRS hazard assessment as well as breach the alarm regulations, but the category and outcome depend on the assessment.

The practical consequence is a second enforcement route. A council can issue a remedial notice under the alarm regulations; failure to comply can lead to a penalty of up to £5,000. HHSRS action may include an improvement notice. For offences committed on or after 1 May 2026, failure to comply with an improvement notice can attract a civil penalty of up to £40,000; the maximum for offences before that date was £30,000. When the Decent Homes Standard applies to the PRS from 2035, non-compliance with basic fire detection may also feature in its enforcement, with potential implications for the landlord's registration status on the PRS Database.

What This Means for Your Alarm Maintenance

Three concrete steps protect you under both frameworks:

Respond fast to fault reports. Do not wait for a convenient time. When a tenant reports a faulty alarm, acknowledge the report in writing the same day and arrange attendance within 24 to 48 hours. Log the fault, your response, and the resolution with dates and times.

Track expiry dates proactively. Treat an alarm as due for replacement when it reaches the manufacturer's end-of-life date, even if no tenant has reported a fault. Replace alarms before they reach that date, not after.

Keep your evidence clean. Where Awaab's Law applies to the sector and hazard, records show whether the landlord met its timeline; HHSRS enforcement considers the assessed risk and response. A fault response log with timestamps — report received, access arranged, repair completed, tenant signed off — is useful evidence.

Our Smoke and CO Alarm Compliance Guide includes a fault response log and hardware lifecycle tracker built for exactly this kind of timeline-sensitive compliance. When the clock starts on a reported fault, you need a system that records every step — not a memory of what you think you did.

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