STAIRs
Access to Information (STAIRS)
What is STAIRs?
Social Tenants Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs) is a new government scheme designed to improve transparency and accountability in social housing. It gives tenants greater access to information about how their landlord manages homes, services, finances, performance, and decision-making.
The aim of STAIRs is to help tenants better understand how housing providers operate and to ensure they have the information they need to hold their landlord accountable for the quality of housing and services they receive.
What does STAIRs mean for tenants?
Under STAIRs, social housing landlords will be required to:
Publish key information about their organisation, services, performance, spending, and housing management.
Make information easy to find and access through a publication scheme.
Provide tenants with access to relevant information about the management of their homes and services.
Support greater openness, transparency, and tenant involvement in decision-making.
When will STAIRs be introduced?
Most of the information that we are required to publish under STAIRs is already available on the Wirral Methodist Housing Association's website. To make things easy, we've organised the information using the STAIRs categories below, including links to relevant pages on our website.
The scheme is being introduced in stages:
October 2026: Landlords must have a publication scheme in place, making key information routinely available to tenants
April 2027: Tenants will be able to formally request information that is not already published, subject to certain legal exemptions.
-
To support openness and transparency, we publish information about how our organisation is structured, governed, and how decisions are made.
Senior Staff Names and Roles - Information about our Executive Team, including their roles and responsibilities. This helps tenants understand who is responsible for delivering services and managing the organisation.
Organisation Structure Chart - A chart showing how the organisation is structured, including key departments and reporting lines. This will help tenants understand how different teams work together to deliver services and make decisions.
Governance Arrangements -Information about our Board, Committees, and governance framework, including their responsibilities and how they oversee the organisation's performance and compliance. This demonstrates how decisions are scrutinised and how accountability is maintained.
Decision Making Processes and Policies - Information about how key decisions are made, the policies that guide decision-making, and the strategic priorities that shape our services. This helps tenants understand how organisational decisions affect homes, neighbourhoods, and services.
Complaints Prioritisation Policy -Details of how complaints are managed, triaged, and prioritised. This ensures tenants understand the approach taken when responding to complaints and service concerns.
Tenant Consultations - Details of how complaints are managed, triaged, and prioritised. This ensures tenants understand the approach taken when responding to complaints and service concerns.
Tenant Meetings, Agendas and Minutes - Records of tenant meetings, including agendas and minutes, where available. These documents provide transparency about discussions, decisions, and actions arising from tenant engagement activities.
Tenants Committee Minutes Feb 26
Tenants Committee Minutes June 25
Tenants Committee Minutes Feb 25
Tenants Committee Agenda June 2026
Tenants Committee Agenda Feb 2026
Tenants Committee Agenda Oct 2025
Tenants Committee Agenda June 2025
Tenants Committe Agenda Feb 2025
Why We Publish This Information
Publishing governance and decision-making information enables tenants to see how the organisation operates, how decisions are made, and how tenant views are taken into account. It supports the principles of transparency, accountability, and meaningful tenant involvement established through the STAIRs framework.
-
To support transparency and accountability, we publish information about how we manage our finances, spend our resources, and invest in homes and services. This helps tenants understand how rent and other income are used to maintain homes, improve services, and support the long-term sustainability of the organisation.
Annual Financial Statements and Reports - Information about our financial performance, including annual financial statements, income and expenditure, value for money assessments, grant funding, and investment in homes and communities. This helps tenants understand how the organisation manages its finances, secures external funding, delivers value for money, and invests in maintaining, improving, and developing homes and services for current and future tenants.
Procurement and Contract Management - “Bring Approved”. Information about how we purchase goods, services, and works from external suppliers and contractors. This demonstrates how we seek value for money and ensure resources are spent responsibly.
Service Charge Information - “Bring Approved”.Details of applicable service charges, including what services are covered and how charges are calculated. This helps tenants understand the costs associated with services provided within their homes and communities.
Why We Publish This Information
Publishing finance and spending information helps tenants understand how the organisation manages its resources, makes financial decisions, and invests in homes and services. It provides assurance that funds are being used responsibly, supports accountability, and enables tenants to see how financial decisions contribute to delivering safe, quality homes and services.
-
To support transparency and provide assurance that homes are being managed effectively, we publish information about how we maintain, improve, and monitor the homes we own and manage. This helps tenants understand how we ensure our properties remain safe, compliant, and fit for purpose, both now and in the future. description.
Housing Stock Information - Information about the homes we own and manage, including the types of properties within our housing stock and where they are located. This helps tenants understand the scope and scale of our housing services.
Asset Management Strategy - Information about our long-term plans for maintaining, improving, and investing in our homes. This explains how we make decisions about repairs, replacements, and future investment priorities.
Stock Condition Information - Details about how we assess the condition of our homes and use this information to plan maintenance and improvement programmes. This provides assurance that homes are regularly reviewed and maintained to appropriate standards.
Repairs and Planned Maintenance Programmes - Information about our approach to responsive repairs, cyclical maintenance, and planned improvement works. This helps tenants understand how we maintain the quality and condition of our properties.
Building Safety and Compliance - Information about how we meet legal and regulatory requirements, including fire safety, gas safety, electrical safety, asbestos management, water hygiene, and other compliance activities. This demonstrates our commitment to keeping tenants safe in their homes.
Damp, Mould and Awaab's Law Compliance - Information about how we identify, manage, and respond to damp and mould issues, including our approach to meeting the requirements of Awaab's Law. This helps tenants understand the action we take to provide safe and healthy homes.
Development and Regeneration Projects - Information about new housing developments, regeneration schemes, and major investment projects that may affect existing homes or communities. This enables tenants to understand how we are planning for future housing needs.
Why We Publish This Information
Publishing housing stock management information helps tenants understand how their homes are maintained, how investment decisions are made, and how we ensure homes remain safe, compliant, and of a good quality. It supports transparency and gives tenants confidence that their landlord is effectively managing and investing in its housing stock
-
IT support openness and accountability, we publish information about our performance and the quality of the services we provide. This helps tenants understand how well we are performing, where improvements are being made, and how we are responding to tenant feedback and regulatory requirements.
Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) - Information about our performance against the Tenant Satisfaction Measures, including feedback from tenants on key services such as repairs, safety, communication, and overall satisfaction. This enables tenants to compare our performance over time and assess how well we are meeting their expectations.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) - Information about our performance against key service standards and targets. This includes measures relating to repairs, complaints, customer service, tenancy management, and other core housing services.
Complaints Performance - Information on the number and type of complaints received, complaint handling performance, lessons learned, and improvements made as a result of tenant feedback. This demonstrates our commitment to learning from complaints and improving services.
Regulatory Performance and Compliance - Information about how we meet regulatory requirements and standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing and other bodies. This provides assurance that we are operating effectively and in accordance with our legal obligations.
Service Improvement Plans - Asset Management Service Plan and Housing Management Service Plan - Information about planned improvements arising from performance results, tenant feedback, inspections, audits, and complaints. This demonstrates how performance information is used to drive continuous improvement.
Why We Publish This Information
Publishing performance information allows tenants to see how well services are being delivered, understand where improvements are needed, and hold us accountable for the quality of our services. This supports transparency, builds trust, and helps ensure that tenant feedback remains at the heart of service improvement.
-
To support transparency and help tenants understand the services available to them, we publish information about the housing services we provide, how these services are delivered, and how tenants can access support. This enables tenants to understand their rights and responsibilities and the standards they can expect from us.
Tenancy Management Services - Information about the management of tenancies, including tenancy rights and responsibilities, tenancy sustainment, and support available to tenants throughout their tenancy. This helps tenants understand what is expected of them and the support we can provide.
Repairs and Maintenance Services - Information about how to report repairs, repair priorities, response times, and service standards. This helps tenants understand how repair requests are managed and what they can expect when issues are reported.
Complaints and Feedback - Information about how tenants can make a complaint, provide feedback, or raise concerns about our services. This demonstrates our commitment to listening to tenants and improving services through feedback.
Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Services - Information about how we respond to reports of anti-social behaviour, the support available to residents, and the actions we may take to resolve issues and promote safe communities.
Tenant Engagement and Involvement - Information about opportunities for tenants to influence services, participate in consultations, join resident groups, and provide feedback on decisions that affect their homes and communities. This helps ensure tenant voices are heard and considered.
Support and Advice Services - Information about the support available to tenants, including financial wellbeing, tenancy sustainment, safeguarding, and signposting to external support services where appropriate. This helps tenants access assistance when needed.
Neighbourhood and Estate Management - Information about how we manage neighbourhoods, communal areas, environmental services, and estate inspections. This helps tenants understand how we maintain safe, clean, and sustainable communities.
Equality, Diversity and Accessibility - Information about how we ensure services are accessible, inclusive, and responsive to the diverse needs of our tenants and communities. This demonstrates our commitment to delivering fair and equitable services for all residents.
Why We Publish This Information
Publishing housing services information helps tenants understand the services available to them, how those services are delivered, and how they can access support, provide feedback, and influence improvements. This supports transparency, accountability, and meaningful tenant engagement, ensuring tenants are informed about the services that affect their homes and communities.
-
To support transparency and provide access to key information about how we manage our services, we publish a range of lists and registers. These documents help tenants understand our legal obligations, regulatory compliance, decision-making processes, and the records we maintain as part of managing homes and services.
Policies and Procedures Register - A list of the policies and procedures that guide the delivery of our services and decision-making. This helps tenants understand the standards, rules, and processes that we follow when managing homes and providing services.
Board and Committee Membership Register - Information about the members of our Board and Committees, including their roles and responsibilities. This helps tenants understand who is responsible for governing the organisation and overseeing its performance.
Register of Interests - Information about declared interests held by Board Members and senior staff is recorded, where appropriate. This promotes transparency and demonstrates how potential conflicts of interest are identified and managed. The Register of Interests is reviewed annually by the Executive Management Team and reported to the Governance and Internal Controls Committee to provide assurance that declarations remain accurate, up to date, and appropriately managed.
Regulatory and Compliance Registers - Information relating to statutory and regulatory compliance, including building safety, health and safety, and other legal obligations. This provides assurance that we are meeting required standards and managing risks appropriately.
Why We Publish This Information
Publishing lists and registers helps tenants understand how the organisation is governed, how decisions are made, and how we manage our responsibilities. It provides greater visibility of the information we hold, supports accountability, and enables tenants to access important records that demonstrate how homes and services are managed.