Social Tenants Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs)
We’re committed to being open, transparent and accountable. We share information in different ways to help you understand your tenancy, your home, the services we provide, and how we are run as an organisation.
Social Tenants Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs)
We’re committed to being open, transparent and accountable. We share information in different ways to help you understand your tenancy, your home, the services we provide, and how we are run as an organisation.
The government is introducing STAIRs (Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements). These rules are designed to make sure social housing tenants and shared owners can easily get clear, relevant information about their homes and the services their landlord provides.
STAIRs is designed to improve openness and transparency for social housing customers, so that:
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You can easily access important information about how we manage homes and services (much of this is already published).
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If you can’t find the information you need, you’ll be able to ask us for it directly by submitting an ‘Information Request’.
The changes will be introduced in two stages:
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From October 2026
All social landlords must publish certain information set out in a ‘Publication scheme’. We always try to be open, honest and transparent, and we already publish much of the required information on this website and in other documents, such as our Customer Charter, and other customer publications.
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From April 2027
If you can’t find the information you’re looking for, you (or someone supporting you) will be able to formally request it from us. We’ll respond within 30 calendar days of receiving your request and explain the information clearly.
In some cases, we may not be able to share all information (for example, to protect personal data), but we will always explain why.
We will update this page with details on how to ask for information before this requirement comes into effect.
As a Cottsway customer, you already have the right to ask for copies of the personal information we hold about you. This is called a ‘Subject Access Request’. See:
Information for you
Much of the information we will be required to share is already on this website. You can also find lots of information about our services and service standards in Our Customer Charter. See:
We’ve grouped information below in the same order as the STAIRs publication scheme, with links to relevant webpages where applicable, to try to make it as simple as possible for you to find what you may be looking for.
We will continue to review and update the information published on this page and elsewhere on the website in line with STAIRs guidance.
Governance and decision making
Our history and future plans
We were formed in 2001 (formerly named West Oxfordshire Housing), following the transfer of housing stock from West Oxfordshire District Council. We’re commitment to developing and acquiring new homes for people in housing need.
Our current Corporate Plan 2023-28 sets out our plans and objectives, focussing on three key areas:
- People
- Homes
- Business Strength
We have supporting strategies and action plans in place to help deliver these objectives, against our agreed purpose.
For information about senior roles and responsibilities, and group structure, see:
Information is also published in our Financial Statements:
What they do and who they are
Our Executive Team runs the organisation on a day-to-day basis. They are supported by our Corporate Leadership Team (Heads of Service).
Our Board provides oversight, approving major decisions and reviewing performance throughout the year, and is made up of both Executive and Non-Executive Directors.
We are regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing, which oversees all registered housing providers in England. Our Board and Executive Team ensure we meet all regulatory standards, remain financially viable, and comply with relevant legislation, including the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code.
Decision-making processes and policies
Details of the service standards you can expect from us are set out in Our Customer Charter.
Our decision-making policies are available online:
How we deal with complaints
Our complaints policy and procedure explains how we prioritise and deal with complaints, and how we use learning from complaints to improve our services.
Tenant consultations
Our Customer Engagement Plan 2026-2029 sets out how we will listen to you, act on your feedback and improve our services.
We value all customer feedback and use this to help improve our services. We publish feedback quarterly.
We publish results of quarterly perception surveys among customers.
Our customer Scrutiny Group meets regulars to scrutinise our services. They carry out scrutiny reviews and we publish the results and recommendations, along with their annual reports.
Finance and spending
We publish details about our spending, grants and use of service charge revenue for the previous whole financial year in our annual audited financial statements. We also produce a more customer-friendly annual report which explains where our money goes and what we’ve achieved during the year. This is sent to all customers.
Customers are provided details about their rent when they join us and this is clearly set out in their tenancy agreement. We enable customers to view rent payments and make payments via our online customer portal ‘My Cottsway’.
We publish information about rent in our Customer Charter and rent collected and collection rates in our Financial statements and Annual Report.
Our Rent Recovery Policy is available online.
In the interests of openness and transparency, we publish our quarterly development spend.
Housing stock management
Our current Corporate Plan 2023-28 sets out our plans and objectives, focussing on three key areas:
- People
- Homes
- Business Strength
We have supporting strategies and action plans in place to help deliver these objectives.
Our Homes Strategy includes details of our net-zero and maintenance work and we also include updates about this in our annual report and in customer newsletters. See:
More than three quarters of our rented homes are for social rent, which is around half the cost (50-60%) of renting on the open market. The rest are at affordable rent, which is still about 20% cheaper than private rents. Further information is available in our Financial Statements and Annual Report.
In December 2023, we took transfer of all 176 homes from Cirencester Housing and became responsible for their maintenance and services.
We publish information about maintenance carried out, either through repairs or as part of our planned maintenance programme, to keep homes to a safe, decent standard. We also publish details of our energy efficiency improvement work on homes, along with customer satisfaction information and performance information, including response time, in our Annual Report and annual Financial statements.
Our performance against Tenant Satisfaction Measures set by the Regulator of Social Housing, including for repairs and compliance with the Decent Homes Standard, is published both in our corporate publications and also annually on our dedicated TSM webpage.
We carry out stock condition checks and have a planned maintenance programme to ensure homes are kept in good condition. This includes repainting exterior surfaces, replacing kitchens, bathrooms, central heating, roofs, windows and doors.
Performance
We proactively publish as much information as we can and lots of performance information is available in our Financial statements and Annual report. This includes information about our latest Regulatory ratings.
We are regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing and publish our financial performance and regulatory inspection outcomes.
You can also find information on our past regulatory judgements on the:
We submit our TSM results annually to the Regulator of Social Housing and publish these on our website.
We also:
- Publish quarterly customer perception results
- Include TSM information in our annual report and customer newsletters
- Produce an annual TSM report explaining what we’ve changed in response to tenant feedback.
- Tenant Satisfaction Measures
For our latest media releases and customer news, see:
We also use social media, emails and letters to keep our customers informed.
We follow the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code. Each year we publish a self-assessment against the Code.
We also publish an annual complaints and service improvement report summarising the complaints we’ve received, any compensation awarded, and information about any Housing Ombudsman determinations. This report also details any service changes or improvements we’ve introduced in response to complaints and feedback.
Details of Housing Ombudsman decisions can also be found on the Housing Ombudsman website
From April 2027, tenants will be able to formally request information if it’s not already published. We’re currently exploring how we’ll share information about requests received and responses provided.
We’ll update this page with further details before this requirement comes into effect.
We publish information about health and safety performance and compliance including:
- Gas safety
- Electrical safety
- Fire safety
- Asbestos and water safety
Relevant information is available through our annual report and policy documents, and published as part of our Tenant Satisfactions Measures
We prioritise safety of our homes, communities and our staff and we have a range of risk assessments to support safe working which are updated periodically.
We’re here to help you keep your home, and we do everything we can to provide support and assistance to prevent eviction. Applying for eviction is only considered where a tenancy agreement has been breached or in exceptional circumstances, and it is always a last resort. Advice about evictions and information about the number of evictions is available on:
The vast majority of customers remain in their homes for many years without needing to move. In some cases, however, a decant is necessary because a home is no longer suitable or safe to live in, or to enable major works or redevelopment projects to take place.
We publish details of our service standards, so you know what to expect of us, and clearly set out how you can feedback or make a complaint.
We also publish a Compensation Policy providing guidance on circumstances under which compensation will be paid and how and when compensation can be claimed.
Our Complaints and service improvement report summarises compensation awarded and is published annually. We also publish quarterly and annual customer feedback with examples of service changes made in response.
Housing services and tenant liaison
From sign-up and pre-tenancy support through to ongoing advice and services, we provide a wide range of information to help you manage your tenancy.
Our Customer Charter sets out what you can expect from us and what we expect from you in return.
Our website includes a wide range of information on:
Plus much more. If for some reason you can’t find what you’re looking for, please use the search function
This website has accessibility features so that you can translate content into other languages, change the contrast or font size or use Readspeaker to read out content.
Our My Cottsway customer portal enables you to pay and check your rent online, request some routine repairs, check details of repairs you’ve previously asked for, update your details and more.
We have Neighbourhood Housing Officers and Tenancy Support and Sustainment Officers, and a Financial Inclusion Team who you can contact for money-related or welfare issues.
We publish lots of advice and signpost to support via our webpages and you can also report issues like Anti-Social Behaviour or request services online (or by phone).
If printed information is needed, we’re happy to provide this or support with translation or other accessibility-related issues, please: Contact us
We provide different ways for you to get involved and influence the way we deliver our services.
Lists and registers
We hold information in lists and registers about our housing stock. Some of these lists relate to health and safety information, such as gas, fire, electrical, water, building safety and asbestos, and these are required by law. We keep other lists and registers to help us manage our housing stock and business efficiently and effectively.
- Repair history
- Electrical Safety - including certificates
- Gas safety - including certificates
- Fire safety - including Fire Risk Assessments, fire equipment service/maintenance, fire door inspection/maintenance
- Planned work programmes (approximate indication of when the various elements likes kitchens, bathrooms etc are due for replacement)
- Planned maintenance schedules
- Legionella Risk Assessments
- Asbestos Register and Asbestos Management Plan
- Building Safety Register
We have a schedule of estate inspections, carried out by our Neighbourhood Housing Officers and details are published so that customers can get involved.
Assets Register:
- Property assets
- Non-property assets
- Other assets
Liabilities Register:
- Complaints
- Contracts register
- Development register
- Development retentions and expenditure at risk
- Employment related terms
- Grant register
- Insurance register
- Loans register
- Operating and finance lease liabilities
- Other liabilities
- Outstanding creditor liabilities
- Risk Register
- Stock Transfer Agreements
- VAT
Social housing management
For our policies relating to how we manage our housing, see: