Housing Ombudsman publishes response to STAIRs consultation, updates scheme

STAIRs gives social housing tenants of Private Registered Providers (PRPs) new rights to request information about how their homes are managed, with the Housing Ombudsman as the official complaints body.

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 consultation ran from 20 January until 17 March 2026, receiving 296 responses from PRPs, tenants, housing sector bodies, charities, and council tenants and representatives.

Questions asked in the consultation gathered opinions on the proposed approach to accepting complaints from ex-tenants, the route to making a complaint and the clarity of which complaints could be considered.

The scheme has been updated to include information about STAIRs, replacing the current scheme from 1 October 2026.

Before making a complaint, a tenant must first make an information request to their PRP.

Under the updated scheme, tenants will have three months to make a STAIRs complaint after receiving a response from their PRP, or if they do not receive one.

Former tenants who made an information request while a still a tenant will also be able to bring a complaint.

If they are dissatisfied with the response, or do not receive one within 30 calendar days, the tenant can bring a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman.

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.” 

Harry Rodd