The Housing Ombudsman has published the outcome from its Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs) consultation, as well as updating their scheme in response.
STAIRs gives social housing tenants of Private Registered Providers (PRPs) new rights to request information about how their homes are managed. From 1 October 2026, PRPs must proactively publish information about how they run their organisation and spend money, the homes they own, their performance, and the services they provide. From 1 April 2027, tenants can make direct information requests to their provider.
The STAIRs consultation ran from 20 January until 17 March 2026, receiving 296 responses from PRPs, tenants, housing sector bodies, charities, and council tenants and representatives. The Scheme has been updated to include information about STAIRs, replacing the current Scheme from 1 October 2026.
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Under the updated Scheme, tenants will have 3 months to bring a STAIRs complaint to the Ombudsman after receiving a response from their PRP, or if they do not receive one. These complaints will be handled through a new process, separate from the bodies existing complaints service. Former tenants who made an information request while still a tenant will also be able to bring a complaint.
Residents must first make a STAIRs request to their provider before escalating the complaint to the Ombudsman, if they are dissatisfied with their providers response or don’t receive one in 30 days.
Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “STAIRs will introduce a new era of transparency within social housing.
“It has the opportunity to strengthen trust between tenants and landlords. It will also support knowledge and information management within private registered providers, encouraging a positive data culture.
“Our casework shows weaknesses in records can be a driver of service failure so the benefits of STAIRs could be extensive.”
