On 20 May 2024, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) launched a consultation on directions to the Regulator of Social Housing to introduce a new standard that will require social landlords to be transparent with their residents about the management of their homes. The commitment to introduce an access to information scheme was first proposed by the Social Housing White Paper and brought forward by the Social Housing Regulation Act.
This consultation is continuing during the busy pre-election period, and we want to ensure that we submit a strong response which represents our members’ views on the proposed requirements.
The consultation proposes the introduction of Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs), which would:
Enable residents to request information about their home’s management. There will be specific requirements about how these requests are processed, including a timeframe to respond within.
Require housing associations to proactively publish information via a publication scheme. The consultation also outlines how complaints about the scheme would be addressed.
The Charter for Social Housing Residents: Social Housing White Paper (‘Social Housing White Paper’) included a commitment to introduce an access to information scheme for the tenants of private registered providers (PRPs). The commitment specified that the scheme would allow social housing tenants and their representatives to access information related to the management of their housing.
This consultation seeks views on the content of a policy statement which outlines the requirements providers will need to meet under the new Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs).
This consultation also seeks views on a proposed Direction from the Secretary of State to the Regulator of Social Housing (‘the Regulator’), directing the Regulator to require PRPs to comply with the policy statement for STAIRs.
Source – housing.org.uk
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