STAIRs (Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements)

Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs)

What is STAIRs?

The Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs) give social housing tenants greater access to information about their landlord and how their homes and services are managed. From October 2026, housing associations like Abbeyfield Living Society must proactively publish certain information about the management of their social housing.

Key themes of STAIRs

To help you easily find the information that matters to you, the STAIRs framework organises information into seven core areas:

STAIRs information we currently provide

The information we publish under STAIRs is organised below, with links to information already available elsewhere on our website. To make things easy, we've organised the information using the STAIRs categories below, including links to the relevant pages on our website. What information may not be available?

How STAIRs fits with the Consumer Standards

The Regulator of Social Housing sets Consumer Standards that social landlords must meet. One of these is the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard, which requires landlords to be open with residents, provide accessible information, listen to residents and be accountable for the services they provide.

STAIRs supports this standard by setting out specific requirements for the information landlords must make available to residents and, from April 2027, how residents can request information that has not already been published.

Find out more about the Consumer Standards

What this means for you

• Clear access to information
  STAIRs sets out information we must publish about how we are run, how we spend money, the homes we manage, our performance and the services we provide.
• Greater information rights
  STAIRs gives housing association tenants clearer rights to information about how their social housing is managed, providing a similar level of access to information to that already available to council tenants.
• Independent oversight
  The Regulator of Social Housing oversees landlords' delivery of the regulatory requirements, while the Housing Ombudsman can consider individual disputes about STAIRs.

Requesting specific Information

Your rights and requesting Information (coming April 2027)

Under the second phase of the STAIRs scheme, you will have a formal pathway to submit requests for specific documents or operational information not already published on this page.

Abbeyfield Living Society is currently finalising this request process to ensure it is simple, accessible, and efficient.

When this launches in April 2027, you will be able to:

• Submit formal information requests online, by post, or through your local house manager.

• Receive clear guidance on expected response timeframes (standard 30 calendar days).

• Get help from our team if you are unsure which document you need or if information appears to be missing.

Can't find the information you need?

If you can't find the information you're looking for, please complete the online form below and we'll be happy to help.

Alternatively you can call customer services on 0300 131 0777 or email CustomerServices@abbeyfield.com 

What information may not be available?

We want to be as open and transparent as possible, but there may be some information that we cannot provide under STAIRs.

This may include:

• Personal information about you or someone else. There are separate rights and processes for accessing personal information.
• Information that is not about the management of our social housing, such as information relating solely to other Abbeyfield services.
• Information we do not already hold. STAIRs does not require us to create new documents or records in response to a request.
• Information that needs to remain confidential, for example where disclosure could affect another person's privacy or where there are legal or other legitimate reasons for withholding it.
• Information that is available through another statutory right of access.

From April 2027, when the STAIRs information request requirements come into effect, there will also be some circumstances where we may not be able to fulfil a request. These include where a request is unclear, repeated, abusive, or would require more than 18 hours of staff time to respond to.

If we cannot provide some or all of the information you ask for, we will explain why and, where possible, help you find another way to access the information.

Official information and external resources

To learn more about how STAIRS is regulated across the social housing sector, explore these official government and regulatory resources:

• GOV.UK: Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRS) Policy Statement
  Read the full government policy statement detailing the publication rules and resident request timelines.

• Housing Ombudsman Service: STAIRS Oversight & Guidance
  Information on how the Housing Ombudsman handles resident complaints regarding information requests and transparency.

• Regulator of Social Housing: Consumer Standards
  Details on the Transparency, Influence and Accountability Standard that registered providers must maintain.

• UK Legislation: Social Housing (Regulation) Act
  The legal framework under which STAIRS was established to empower social housing residents.