Something shifted quietly on 23 June 2026. The HHSRS scoring system that housing providers have built processes around for years was replaced. Bands A to J became High, Medium, and Low. Classes I to IV became Extreme, Severe, Serious, and Moderate. Twenty-nine hazard categories became 21. If your templates, training materials, and case note language haven't caught up yet, you're already operating in a gap.

That was the opening message from Dr Eve Blezard of the Chartered Institute of Housing, speaking at the NHMF Southwest event at the Eden Project earlier this month. The change in terminology wasn't the headline, though. The headline was what it revealed about the state of triage across the sector.

The real challenge right now is not the language. It is that the concepts at the heart of Awaab's Law, terms like "vulnerability", "likelihood of harm", and "severity of harm", are deeply subjective. The same damp report in two different households can require completely different urgency. A patch of mould in a bedroom is not the same case when the resident is a healthy adult as when they are an infant, an elderly person, or someone with a respiratory condition. Your frontline staff are being asked to make health-weighted decisions without medical training, in a call centre, in a matter of minutes. That is a significant ask.

With Phase 2 expected before the end of the year and Phase 3 to follow, the pressure is building. CIH is developing a triage matrix drawing on health and social care risk assessment models, but it has not been released publicly. Partly because of a well-founded concern: a CIH-branded triage tool being cited in court is not a comfortable prospect for anyone. The sector is in a period of working things out as it goes, which is both understandable and genuinely difficult for the people on the ground trying to do the right thing.

There are some clear principles emerging from the work CIH has done so far. Making safe and remediation are two distinct things and should be treated as such in every process and every conversation with residents. Resident accounts should be treated as credible evidence, without requiring formal medical documentation. Access barriers are rarely obstruction and more often fear, communication breakdown, or a relationship that was never properly built. The Peabody model, which puts empathy and vulnerability first and property condition second in its triage, is worth understanding. And whatever your team does when they cannot get access, record it.

This is where consistent, structured case recording stops being admin and becomes your compliance position. One of the clearest takeaways from Dr Blezard's session was that no-win-no-fee legal disrepair firms are growing, some using branding designed to look like official government communications to reach residents. The best protection against that is a resident who feels supported and a case file that shows clearly what your team did, when, and why. That is not a legal strategy. It is just good practice that happens to be your best defence.

Alix helps repairs teams build that kind of record as a natural part of the job rather than an afterthought. When a surveyor is on site, Alix's walk-and-talk copilot captures notes, photos, and observations by voice in real time, structured against the relevant hazard categories. It prompts for the information that matters, including HHSRS hazard checks, and produces a first draft of the report before the surveyor has left the building. Vulnerability information captured at first contact is carried through the case, so the urgency decision is informed by the household, not just the defect. The audit trail is complete without anyone having to go back and reconstruct it.

HHSRS Phase 2 will bring overheating into scope, a hazard that cannot be solved by any single organisation and will require cross-partner responses beyond the housing provider's direct control. The triage questions will get harder, not easier. Getting the basics of case recording, vulnerability weighting, and structured triage right now is not just about Phase 1 compliance. It is about building the operational muscle your team will need for what comes next.

If you'd like to see how Alix supports HHSRS triage and on-site reporting in practice, we'd be glad to show you.