STAIRs: An opportunity to rebuild trust through transparency

By Hannah Howard-Jones

The Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs) draft policy is the latest in a clear line of government interventions aimed at strengthening consumer protections in social housing.

At its core, STAIRs gives social housing tenants – both rented and shared ownership customers – the right to request relevant information from their landlord (the Registered Provider) about how their home is managed. Tenants may also nominate a representative to act on their behalf.

In simple terms, this policy places information directly into consumers’ hands to drive transparency, accountability and trust.

While that may not sound revolutionary, it represents a seismic shift in expectations of the sector. Social housing landlords, who have historically operated under a different regulatory burden to their private-sector counterparts, are now being held to a materially higher standard. STAIRs is a genuine opportunity for the sector to step forward and raise the bar across residential housing as a whole.

Doing so successfully will require humility, openness and accountability. Mea culpa – hands up, we must do better.

What rights to information do residents currently have?

The current landscape is fragmented. Rights vary significantly depending on tenure type, the nature of the information sought, and the resident’s legal interest in the property.

Reactive rights

Variable service charges
Tenants and leaseholders who pay variable service charges have statutory rights to request:

• A summary of relevant service charge costs (section 21, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985)
• Inspection of receipts and invoices (section 22, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985)

Management audit

• Long leaseholders may request a management audit (section 78, Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993)

Appointment of a surveyor

• Recognised Tenants’ Associations can appoint a surveyor under Schedule 4 of the Housing Act 1996
• Additional rights may exist through contractual provisions in leases, transfers and tenancy agreements

Proactive rights

Major works

• Section 20 consultation
• Issuing of accounts (s.20B)

Hazards and disrepair
Private renters and social tenants have the right to:

• Be informed of findings relating to reported damp, mould, or hazards posing a significant risk to health and safety
• Be informed of remedial actions the landlord intends to take
• Request a local authority Housing Health & Safety Rating System (HHSRS) assessment

At letting
Private renters and social tenants must be provided with:

• EPCs, Electrical Safety Reports, and Gas Safety Certificates
• Prescribed information relating to deposits
• Information on fees and charges

Where rights are enshrined in statute, redress is typically through the First-tier Tribunal. Unsurprisingly, it is long leaseholders who have driven much of the case law in this space.

If a landlord appoints a managing agent, limited recourse may be available via The Property Ombudsman, though this does not extend to landlord-and-tenant disputes.

Freeholders on private estates currently have no general statutory rights to information beyond what is set out in their transfer. Enforcement is through the courts. Freeholders on local authority estates may use FOI requests, but only in relation to information the authority actually holds.

Renters and FOI

Tenants of local authority landlords arguably have the widest information rights by virtue of the Freedom of Information regime. This is not available to tenants of housing associations, creating a clear inconsistency in access to information across the sector.

How is STAIRs different?

Social housing tenants already have theoretical rights to information via the Consumer Standards – particularly the Safety and Quality Standard and the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard.

STAIRs changes the dynamic.

It places a proactive obligation on landlords to publish information and respond meaningfully to tenant requests. It creates an open, iterative dialogue: tenants can ask questions, review responses, and ask further questions. Crucially, the tenant decides whether the response is satisfactory.

If not, escalation to the Housing Ombudsman follows. Where the Ombudsman and the Regulator of Social Housing align, consequences may include regulatory downgrade.

This essentially shifts power towards the consumer.

Scope of information

Under STAIRs, rented tenants and shared owners may request information relating to the management of their home, including (non-exhaustively):

• Property moves
• Rent collection and rent setting
• Service charges (shared ownership)
• Occupancy rights
• Estate and communal area management
• Repairs, condition and improvements
• Anti-social behaviour
• Staffing, skills and training
• Complaints handling and performance
• Compensation and redress
• Communication and customer service
• Health and safety
• Data handling and privacy
• Security
• Stock transfers and mergers
• Housing stock profile
• Environmental and energy efficiency performance

Information may be withheld only where exemptions apply under the Freedom of Information or Data Protection regimes.

What questions are tenants likely to ask?

While tenants already hold certain rights, STAIRs will likely surface a more fundamental line of enquiry:

Why does the service feel so broken?

Tenants experience the system daily. What they lack is empirical evidence explaining why outcomes are poor. Expect questions about:

• Operating models
• Skills, competence and accountability within delivery teams
• How information moves (or fails to move) between departments
• Escalation routes and decision-making
• Who ultimately owns risk and responsibility

The Housing Ombudsman’s Knowledge and Information Management findings already tell us most Registered Providers will struggle here, largely due to siloed operations and poorly integrated systems.

Using STAIRs to rebuild trust

STAIRs presents a significant opportunity for Registered Providers to rebuild trust through openness.

Simply repackaging existing processes will deepen frustration. If landlords fail to get ahead of this, tenants and their representatives will quickly expose structural weaknesses. They already know where the system fails; they live it.

The real opportunity lies in using STAIRs as a diagnostic tool:

• Understand how your organization actually operates
• Identify gaps, inefficiencies and accountability failures
• Develop a credible action plan
• Engage tenants honestly about what will change – and when

Done well, STAIRs is more than compliance. It’s a mechanism for cultural change, transparency and renewed legitimacy in the eyes of customers.