This November sees the launch of phase two of Awaab’s Law, bringing a further nine hazards within the law’s scope. Housing providers therefore not only need to be up to speed with what’s changing but also make sure their staff, processes and systems are ready to respond when a resident reports a potential hazard.
Expanded range of hazards
As we head into winter, the potentially devastating impact of poor or expensive heating on social housing residents will be under the spotlight. Excess cold and heat are among the new hazards covered by phase two of Awaab’s Law so housing providers will need to pay closer attention to how their homes perform in extreme temperatures. They could face additional pressures from more numerous repairs and potentially shorter timescales in which to respond.
In the longer term, if the record-breaking heat we’ve seen this summer becomes more common, housing providers will also need to think about how residents can manage high temperatures. This may require the retrofitting of additional ventilation, shaded areas or, in some instances, air conditioning.
A report of a broken bannister could pose a significant risk to an elderly or disabled resident, a problem that would now also be covered in the changes coming down the line in Awaab’s Law. Housing providers will need to consider who is living in the property when deciding what action is needed. The expanded hazards include structural collapse, fire and explosions, electrical hazards and domestic hygiene, and will all be considered within the timescales already applicable to phase one.
Many of these hazards are already identified through housing stock-condition surveys and the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). What’s changed is that phase two brings them into the same legal framework for Awaab’s Law.
New deadlines
Phase two lays out clear requirements for how fast hazards should be investigated and addressed, leaving housing providers little room for manoeuvre.
Emergency hazards, which present an imminent risk of harm, must be investigated and relevant safety work started within 24 hours of the housing providers becoming aware of them. For example, exposed electrical wiring or a serious carbon-monoxide problem would both be in this category.
Housing providers investigating significant hazards such as extreme temperatures will need to complete the relevant safety work within five working days of an investigation concluding and make sure residents receive a written summary of the investigation’s findings within three working days.
What steps can housing providers take now to prepare for phase two of Awaab’s Law?
1. Get the first decision right
When a resident reports a problem, the first few questions are critical to determine what happens next. Housing providers need to quickly establish whether the problem is an emergency or a lower-priority hazard and what action is needed.
Staff handling incoming calls could use scripted questions to get to the nature of the problem and its impact on the household, including any vulnerabilities. This initial conversation should also flag whether a repair can be raised straight away or if an inspection is needed.
Housing providers should review the lessons learned from phase one of the law and apply this across the wider range of hazards coming into focus.
2. Plan for the pressure on teams
More hazards and tighter deadlines inevitably mean more pressure on all teams.
Some housing providers have responded by bringing in additional staff and building surveyors or forming specialist teams with dedicated triage roles. Smaller housing providers can also look at ways to make better use of their existing staff.
There is no single approach that will work for every organisation. Housing providers need to identify where demand is likely to increase from their residents and properties so they can make sure they have the capacity to respond.
3. Make Awaab’s Law everyone’s responsibility
Awaab’s Law doesn’t sit solely within the remit of housing providers’ repairs and maintenance teams. Reports can come in via different parts of a housing provider’s operations so all staff need to know what to look for and what to do when a potential hazard is identified. It will therefore be vital that housing providers give their customer-service teams and front-line staff training and guidance to help them understand how to spot problems and what action to take when they do.
As the scope of hazards expand, information needs to move smoothly between the contact centre, housing management, repairs, complaints and other teams. Just as importantly, staff need to understand the resident’s circumstances so that the level of risk accurately reflects the people actually living in the property.
4. Keep a clear record
When deadlines are tight, knowing what happened and when matters. Housing providers need a clear, auditable record of how each case was assessed, what action was taken and whether the required timescales were met.
Working across case management systems, spreadsheets, paper-based inspections and separate reporting tools makes this harder. Manually moving information between systems piles on the pressure through duplicated effort, information gaps and missed deadlines.
A system such as NEC Housing can help bring that information together, creating an end-to-end record, from the initial identification of a problem through assessment, inspection, repairs and communications with the resident. Housing providers’ teams can then see the progress of a case, understand why it was classified in a particular way and check whether the relevant timescales have been met.
Keeping residents at the heart of Awaab’s Law
This new phase of Awaab’s Law gives housing providers an opportunity to put the right measures in place so that when a resident raises a concern about their home, they are listened to, their circumstances are understood and the correct action is taken at the right time.
With people, processes and technology working together, housing providers can meet the requirements of phase two and keep residents at the centre of their commitment to provide safe, comfortable and healthy homes.
Lisa Gascoyne is the lead product manager for repairs and workforce management at NEC Housing.
For further details, please see: www.necsws.com/housing.
