An elderly council tenant who spent the summer 2026 heatwave unable to sleep in her own bedroom has had her home put right, after Miranda Grell obtained a mandatory interim injunction under the new “Awaab’s Law”.

Miranda’s client, a woman in her late 70s, moved into her North London council flat in early 2026. It was already her second move, having left her previous council home because of unsuitable living conditions. The new flat soon proved just as difficult. A faulty heating system meant the radiators could be neither turned down nor switched off, leaving the flat excessively cold in winter and stifling in summer. Despite repeated requests for repairs, the council took no action.

Her instructing solicitors issued an application in the Central London County Court relying on the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025. The Regulations, known as Awaab’s Law, are named in memory of Awaab Ishak, a two year old boy who died in 2020 from a severe respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his family’s rented home. They require social landlords to deal with emergency and significant hazards within strict timescales, in the most serious cases within 24 hours.

At the hearing, Miranda argued that the extreme heat her client was enduring, severe enough to drive her out of her bedroom throughout the heatwave, amounted to a ‘significant hazard’ under the Regulations. The court agreed. It ordered the council to investigate and repair the heating system within 72 hours if the excess heat was identified as an emergency hazard under Regulation 3(1)(c), or within five days if it was a significant hazard under Regulation 3(1)(a).

The council carried out the repairs as ordered. Miranda’s client can now control the temperature in her home.

The case is an illustration of how Awaab’s Law can give tenants a fast and effective remedy where landlords fail to act, and of its reach beyond damp and mould to other hazards affecting health.

Miranda was instructed by Will Parry of Anthony Gold Solicitors.