Landlord expectations for Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs)

What information you must publish

From 1 October 2026, you must proactively publish information about: 

• how your organisation is run 
• how you spend money  
• the homes you own  
• your performance  
• the services you provide  

You must also set out a policy explaining how you’ll respond to review requests, make decisions, and provide information to your tenants. This includes making reasonable effort to make information available offline.  

You can find a detailed list of the information you need to publish in chapter 1 of the government policy statement.  

How to handle a STAIRs review request

From 1 October 2026, your tenants can ask you for a review request about the information you have published. The STAIRs review process is separate from your standard complaints process, and our Complaint Handling Code does not apply to it. 

When you receive a review request from a resident, you should: 

• acknowledge that you have received the request 
• consider whether the request falls under chapter 1 of the STAIRs policy 
• collate all relevant information  
• if information is held by a third party, you must organise its retrieval  
• respond to the request within 30 calendar days  
• if you require more time, you must inform your resident and tell them when they can expect a response 
• if refusing a request, you must clearly explain this to your resident 
• if you’re redacting information, such as that is commercially sensitive, you must explain your reasons for this 

You may refuse a review request if: 

• it’s a repeat of a previous request 
• it’s reasonable to withhold the information  
• their identity cannot be confirmed  
• the request is unclear 
• the information is not related to the management of the tenant’s social housing  
• responding would take your staff more than 18 hours to provide 
• the request is offensive or abusive  

From April 2027, tenants will be able to ask you directly for information about the management of social housing.  

Our role is set out in our Scheme, and the government policy statement. 

When a STAIRs complaint is brought to us

When we receive a STAIRs complaint, we’ll first check whether we can investigate it.  

If we can, we’ll focus on the process you followed to reach your review decision by:  

• asking you and your tenant for any further information we need  
• examining all the circumstances of the case, including: 
  • assessing whether you correctly followed the STAIRs policy statement and your own policy  
  • considering whether you struck an appropriate balance between disclosure and the likelihood of harm 
  • checking if you took third party views into account where required 
• sending you and your tenant a decision report and publishing it online 

How we make decisions under STAIRs

We have been appointed as the designated complaints handling body for STAIRs. This means:  

• we will not substitute our own view for yours where you’ve made a clear, evidence-based decision  
• if you can show you have followed a fair and transparent process, considered relevant factors, explained reasons, and reached a decision, we’re unlikely to question merits or find maladministration  
• if you did not apply the required principles, give valid reason for withholding, or fail to evidence/explain your decision, we may find maladministration 

Where we find maladministration, we may order you to revisit your decision-making process and issue a clearer response. In some cases, such as where a decision is illogical, we may order you to release the information.  

Remedies

Any orders we make will typically aim to put any failings right. We will generally focus on non-financial remedies, such as apologies, clearer responses, decision re-considerations, process reviews, and staff training.  

The impact of any decision or failing will inform any orders we make. In most cases this will relate to: 

• your tenant’s time and trouble  
• avoidable inconvenience 
• delay in obtaining information  
• barriers to accessibility  
• identifiable expense 

Compensation will be considered where this is needed to recognise a meaningful impact on your tenant. We will not award compensation for the impact of any related issues that fall under our standard complaints process.