STAIRs

STAIRs stands for the Social Tenants Access to Information Requirement scheme.

Introduced by the UK Government, this new standard is designed to make social housing more transparent. It gives tenants of housing associations - including First Choice Homes Oldham - the right to request and receive important information about how their landlord operates and manages their homes.

What does this mean for FCHO customers? 

STAIRs is about giving you greater visibility and confidence in how your landlord manages your home and the services you receive.

It means you’ll have clearer access to information about things that matter to you – such as how we manage repairs, keep homes safe, make decisions, and monitor our performance. This will make it easier for you to understand what we do, why we do it and how we’re performing.

For example, if you want to understand how we manage repairs or how we check that homes are safe, the information you need will be easier to find. Over time, you’ll also be able to ask us for specific information about how we operate and receive a response.

STAIRs provides customers with a greater say by helping you hold us to account. It supports a more open relationship between FCHO and our customers, where information is easier to access and you can have greater confidence that we are being transparent about the way we manage your homes and services.

  • From October 2026 We’ll publish key information about how we manage homes and services – including repairs, safety checks, and performance.

  • From April 2027 You’ll be able to ask for specific information about your housing, and we’ll respond within 30 days.

STAIRs is similar to Freedom of Information (FoI) rules used by councils and is being extended to housing providers. The aim is to make social housing more open, transparent, and accountable – and to give tenants better access to information that affects them.

Information we publish 

We already publish much of this information on our website. To make it easier to find, it’s organised into the following sections. 

  • You can find out everything you want to know about First Choice Homes Oldham under the who we are section of the website. 

  • Information about use of service charge can be found in our annual reports. 

  • Our current Corporate Plan sets our our 5-year strategy. A summary can be found in the who we are section of the website, and a full copy of the plan is available to download. 

  • You can read about our progress toward net zero and sustainability on the sustainability section of the website. 

  • Performance reviews and evaluation reports: we publish this information on our finances and performance page which includes the following information: 

    • Independent Auditor’s Report

    • Statement of Comprehensive Income

    • Statement of Financial Position

    • Statement of Changes in Reserves

    • Statement of Cash Flows 

Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs): the latest TSM data is published here. 

Complaint metrics: See our how to complain page which includes the following complaints performance information: 

  • Annual Complaints Report 

  • Complaint Handling Code Self-Assessment 

Media releases: information produced by our Communications team are published in the news section of the website. 

You can also follow us on our social media platforms:

Visit the living in your home section of the website to learn more about housing and advice services we provide. 

Our company details can be found here.   

Information held in registers required by law:  Our Safety in your home page contains building safety information. 

  • Other lists and registers relating to the management of social housing: the majority of our social homes are let through the local authority through choice based lettings schemes. These are listed by region on the How to apply for a home - First Choice Homes Oldham, or users can conduct a postcode search on the Gov UK website.  

  • This Compliance report sets out our performance against key statutory safety requirements, including gas safety, electrical safety (EICRs), fire risk assessments, legionella risk assessments and statutory LOLER examinations. It shows the number of inspections due, completed, and outstanding, together with our overall compliance rates.

The policies section on our website contains our decision making policies as well as our policies relating to the management of social housing.

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Requesting information

From April 2027 you’ll be able to request information about areas including:

  • Anti-social behaviour
  • Complaints and how they’re handled
  • Policies, procedures, and performance
  • Health and safety
  • Rent and service charges
  • Repairs, property condition, and improvements
  • Energy efficiency
  • Estate management

STAIRs requests must be made in writing. You’ll be able to make a request:

  • Using the STAIRs request form
  • By post
  • By email

The STAIRs request form will be available from April 2027, when the second phase of the STAIRs scheme comes into effect.

Reviews

If you believe that there is information not published under Chapter 1, you can ask us for a review. We will respond to a review request within 30 calendar days.

Complain to the Housing Ombudsman

If you remain dissatisfied with our response, you can bring a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman.

You must submit a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman within 3 months from the date of a review response. After this point, they may not be able to accept the complaint.

You can bring a STAIRs complaint to the Housing Ombudsman through their online complaint form or by calling them on 0300 111 3000.