Social Tenants Access to Information
Requirement scheme (STAIRs)
What is STAIRs?
STAIRs stands for Social Tenants Access to Information Requirement scheme. It is a new standard introduced by the UK Government to enhance transparency for tenants of private registered providers of social housing, such as CDS.
STAIRs comes into force on 1 October 2026, and we are working to ensure our publication scheme is fully in place ahead of this date. We will continue to update this page as our processes develop.
STAIRs Publication Scheme
Much of the information that we are required to publish under STAIRs is already available on the CDS website. For ease, we’ve organised the information using the STAIRs classifications below, including links to relevant pages on our website.
Governance and decision making
You can find out everything you want to know about CDS under the About Us section of the website:
- Find out about CDS Co-operatives
- Senior staff names and roles are outlined on the Meet Our Team page
- Our organisational structure can be viewed here
- Our governance arrangements are outlined on the Board & Governance page
- Our decision making processes and policies are available on the Publications page
- Our complaints process fully explains how we handle complaints
- We’ve developed a Residents Influence Strategy which ensures customer scrutiny and influence
- We share information on tenant consultations directly with residents affected, and these are generally published on the Residents page including our resident newsletter
Spending
We publish details about our spending, grants and use of service charge revenue in our financial statements. These can be found on the Publications page, under Annual Accounts, and this is updated annually.
Additionally, we also publish a more accessible and customer-friendly annual report that can be accessed online.
You can also read our Value for Money Statement, which sets out how we make the most of our resources for residents.
CDS residents can view an explanation of rent and service charges on the Rent & Service Charge page. To request a copy of your personal statement, contact talktous@cds.coop.
Performance
We regularly publish updates on our performance on the Our Performance page of the website.
- Inspection outcomes: The Housing Ombudsman publish decisions on any cases investigated on their website.
- Performance reviews: You can read our Value for Money Statement on the Publications page.
- Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs): the latest resident satisfaction data is published on the Our Performance page.
- Media releases: information produced by our team is published in the News section of the website.
- Complaint metrics: See our Complaints & Compliments page, which includes our Complaints Performance Report and Housing Ombudsman Self-Assessment.
- Information request data: we do not yet have any data to report.
- Information request responses: we do not yet have any responses to publish, and are reviewing how we might share this information in future.
- Health and safety performance and assessments: we can confirm 100% compliance across gas, electrical, fire, lifts, water hygiene and asbestos safety checks. Read our policies: Gas Safety Policy, Fire Safety Policy, Electrical Safety Policy, Asbestos Management Procedure, Legionella and Water Hygiene Policy.
- Maintenance work: not currently available.
Housing stock management
Our current Corporate Plan (2024–2029) sets out our five-year strategy. The full plan is available to download from the Publications page.
The plan is built around three pillars:
- Financially sustainable
- Legally and regulatory compliant
- Customer and community focussed
You can find information on our approach to homes, safety, repairs and stock condition on the following pages:
Housing services
- Description of services: the About page and Co-op Services page describe our core services.
- Advice and guidance for tenants: the Residents section of our website contains extensive advice, guidance and support, including Tenant Responsibilities, Money & Debt Advice, and the Tenant Handbook.
Lists and registers
- Information held in registers required by law: a dedicated building safety register is not yet published on our website. The Safety page sets out our approach to safety across gas, electrical, fire, water hygiene and asbestos.
- Board members’ interests: a disclosure of all members’ interests is available on request to the Company Secretary, as set out on the Board & Governance page.
Social housing management
The following policies set out how we manage social housing and make decisions relating to it. The full library is also available on the Publications page.
- Allocations Policy
- Anti Social Behaviour Policy
- Asset Management Strategy 2026
- CDS Voids Policy
- Damp and Mould Policy 2025
- Domestic Abuse Policy
- Reasonable Adjustment Policy
- Rent Policy
- CDS Repairs Policy
- Safeguarding Children & Vulnerable Adults Policy
- Service Charge Policy 2025
- Tenant Gifting Policy
- Tenant Handbook
- Unreasonable Behaviour Policy
Information Requests
Under STAIRs you will also be able to request certain information on things like:
- Anti-social behaviour
- Complaints handling
- Procedures, and performance
- Health and safety
- Rent rates
- Property conditions, repairs and improvements to property
- Service charges
- Stock profile
- Energy efficiency information
- Estate management
You can request information by contacting us.
Reach out to us anytime.
Get in touch
At CDS, we’re committed to championing co-operative and community-led housing. Whether you need to report a repair, enquire about your housing, or learn more about how we can support your co-op, our friendly team is ready to assist.
24/7 Emergency Repairs – We’re on hand around the clock for urgent issues.
Co-operative & Housing Guidance – From governance to day-to-day queries, we offer specialist expertise.
Annual Home Inspections – We help keep homes safe, comfortable, and compliant.