A local council that has often criticised private landlords is now facing scrutiny of its own. Bristol City Council has admitted it may struggle to comply with the new legal requirements set out under Awaab’s Law.
The admission comes as a surprise to many, given the council’s history of campaigning for stricter rent controls and launching its own rental charter. These measures were designed to improve standards in the private rental sector. Now, however, the council is under pressure to meet the same expectations it once demanded from others.
Awaab’s Law will come into force on 27 October. Under this legislation, social landlords across the country must respond to serious hazards, including damp and mould, within set timeframes. Any issue that poses a significant health risk will need to be resolved quickly.
The purpose of the law is to stop tenants being left in dangerous or unhealthy conditions for months or even years. It is named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who tragically died in 2020 due to prolonged exposure to mould in his home. His case highlighted the urgent need for accountability and change in the social housing sector.
Despite this clear purpose, Bristol City Council has admitted it may not be ready. Reports suggest that only a third of its council homes have been fully surveyed for risks. This leaves a large portion of its housing stock unassessed, just weeks before the deadline.
Compounding the issue, the council also faces challenges with outdated IT systems that are supposed to track hazards and monitor compliance. Without reliable systems in place, identifying and addressing urgent problems becomes even more difficult.
The scale of the repairs backlog further illustrates the challenge. Last winter, Bristol Live revealed that more than 3,000 council homes in the city were suffering from damp and mould. Alarmingly, 300 of those households had been waiting over a year for repair work to be completed.
Sonia Furzland, the council’s executive director of housing, has spoken openly about the situation. She told councillors that while the council knew Awaab’s Law was on the horizon, years of underinvestment had left the authority unprepared. She described the task as “trying to eat a bit of an elephant.”
Furzland stressed that the council has been working to improve across multiple areas, not just damp and mould. This includes carrying out electrical inspections, tackling the backlog of repairs, ensuring smoke and carbon dioxide detectors are installed, and addressing asbestos concerns. Full stock condition surveys are also under way.
Although progress has been made, Furzland admitted that the council is not as far forward as it should be. With the deadline for Awaab’s Law so close, questions remain about whether the authority can realistically catch up.
The political fallout has also been significant. Bristol City Council is now controlled by the Green Party, which has blamed the previous Labour administration for the current situation. They argue that years of neglect under Labour created the very problems now preventing the council from meeting the new standards.
This political blame game comes at a time when tenants are already frustrated. Many feel that promises to improve living standards have not been delivered, and concerns about safety remain unresolved. For residents living with damp and mould, these admissions from the council may feel like a further let-down.
The council’s credibility has already been questioned earlier this year. After the Greens took office, it was revealed that Bristol City Council had been renting properties from a landlord who had previously been issued with a five-year banning order in 2022. This raised serious doubts about the authority’s judgement and enforcement of rental standards.
For campaigners, the situation is particularly ironic. An authority that once positioned itself as a champion of tenant rights is now struggling to meet the very standards it demanded from others. The gap between its rhetoric and its actions has never been clearer.
As the 27 October deadline approaches, attention will turn to whether Bristol City Council can overcome these challenges. Tenants and campaigners alike will be watching closely to see if the authority can live up to the promises of Awaab’s Law—or whether residents will once again be left waiting in unsafe and unsuitable housing conditions.
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