Nottingham City Council faces funding questions ahead of Awaab’s law deadline

Nottingham City Council claims it has spent more than £2.4 million on damp and mould repairs to its social homes, but there are still questions about how the council can afford other repairs ahead of new legislation.

A news report by the Nottingham Post reveals that councillors are questioning whether the council has enough funds to address all the issues in its social housing before the introduction of Awaab’s Law.

In October 2025, all social housing landlords and providers, including councils, will be legally required to fix dangerous damp and mould within set timeframes and complete emergency repairs within 24 hours.

Damp and mould within council properties caused by different factors

In the minutes of the council meeting for the Place, Economy and Infrastructure Scrutiny Committee, the council claims damp and mould within their social housing properties are caused by a variety of factors.

The council says: “During the winter period, Housing Services can receive approximately 300 requests per month for damp and mould inspections, where increasing demand could have been contributed to by tenants experiencing fuel poverty and cost of living pressures.

“Damp and mould within council properties results from a combination of environmental, structural and usage factors that are often interconnected.”

The council claims a “team is working to implement and improve several measures to mitigate and prevent damp and mould within their homes”.

The council adds since December last year, the number of properties with damp has decreased from 1,736 to 957. However, a prominent Nottingham landlord says this still means a large percentage of the council’s housing stock still has damp and mould.

Mick Roberts, one of Nottingham’s largest landlords to house benefit tenants, tells Property118: “This is shocking. If you look at the figures, they had over 6% of their homes affected by damp and mould. I’d be crucified by licensing if that were my statistics.”

According to the council, the total cost of dealing with damp and mould in 2024/2025 was £2.4 million.

Aligning ourselves into a position for when Awaab’s law comes in

However, in the committee meeting, Councillor Kirsty Jones, questioned whether the council, having already spent £2.4 million on damp and mould repairs, will have sufficient funds to fix the remaining issues in its social housing by the October deadline.

Steve Edlin, assistant director of asset management at the council, told the Nottingham Post: “We are aligning ourselves into a position for when Awaab’s law comes in, because yes, when we know what came out from the government about it, they had underestimated the costs of implementing it.

“We are also looking at any Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions that could help us manage that, and have that resource to tackle any issues.”

When asked by Property118 if the council’s plan to tackle damp and mould was fully funded, a Nottingham City Council spokesperson said: “We want all our tenants to live in safe, warm, comfortable homes. We’re making significant investments in tackling damp and mould, and all our plans are fully funded.”

As previously reported by Property118, despite urging private landlords to improve their properties and implement selective licensing, the council’s own social housing has been labelled a ‘house of horrors.

Mr Roberts tells Property118 he is now selling all his properties due to the hassle of selective licensing.

He says: “I’m selling all mine and getting hassled by licensing now to license them even though I’m doing my best to find landlords to keep the tenants in at the same rents.

“It seems Nottingham Council’s selective licensing would rather have me evict and sell than keep the tenants safe, as that’s the only way I can comply with their exemption rules that last for three months before the house must be sold.”