Consultation on the Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs) - changes to the Housing Ombudsman Scheme
2026-02-23
As many of you will be aware, the government published a policy statement called the Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs) on 30th September, 2025.
This sets out how Private Registered Providers of social housing should provide information to their tenants.
The policy statement names the Housing Ombudsman Service as the official complaints body for STAIRs.
As a member of our Scheme and a Private Registered Provider, we wanted to make you aware of our plans and consultation period for STAIRs.
In preparation for STAIRs, we have introduced Section 2B of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme for STAIRs complaints. This new section sets out how we will look at complaints about information requests to Private Registered Providers, and their publication schemes. We are asking tenants, Private Registered Providers, and interested social housing groups to tell us what they think about this.
Areas we are seeking feedback on include:
If it’s clear who can complain to us
Whether the time limits for complaints seem fair
Whether our planned approach to STAIRs investigations will provide fair outcomes
In addition to the changes, we've made to include our powers under STAIRs, we've also made some minor changes to other parts of the Scheme. These are to improve clarity and do not affect the way we work.
The consultation will run from 20th January (2026) until 17th March (2026) - online, by post or by phone.