Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs)

Who we are

• Find out more about us– including who we are and what we do, our values, vision and corporate objectives.
• Take a look at our Business Strategy ‘Your Home, Our Community’ which outlines our key strategic objectives.

Our team and governance structure

• Find out more about our Senior Leadership Team, including their key responsibilities. 
• Meet our Board Members and understand our Board and Committee Structure. Our Board sets South Lakes Housing’s’ strategic direction and holds overall responsibility for our governance, performance, risk management and legal/regulatory compliance. 
• Our Terms of Reference set out the responsibilities of our Board and the three Committees to which it delegates particular responsibilities – our Housing and Communities Committee, Investment and Development Committee and Audit and Risk Committee.   

Our decision-making processes

• Our Company Rules set out the fundamental framework for how we are governed and operate. 
• We publish summaries from our recent Board meetings, as well as our Housing and Community Committee meetings.  
• Our strategic decision making is guided by our Risk Management and Assurance Framework. Our Strategic Opportunities, Partnerships and Mergers Framework aids strategic decision making in relation to potential partnership opportunities.  
• In March 2026, South Lakes Housing completed a successful merger with Lune Valley Rural Housing Association. Take a look at our published information on the strategic rationale for the merger and what it means for residents.   

How we involve residents in decision making 

• Our Resident Engagement Strategy sets out our approach to how the voice of residents helps shape services and decision making at South Lakes Housing. There are a range of ways in which residents can get involved.   
• Our Resident Voice and Influence Group carry out a programme of resident scrutiny exercises. Recent scrutiny exercises have been on Allocations and Lettings. Scrutiny exercises are reported to our Housing and Communities Committee, with the recommendations arising monitored through to completion by our Audit and Risk Committee.  
• Our ‘Your Home, Our Community’ Resident Newsletter is published twice a year, sharing key updates on what South Lakes Housing colleagues and residents have achieved together.  
• Residents sit as Independent Specialist Members on our Housing and Communities Committee and work alongside Board Members to review our performance, receive assurance on compliance with regulatory requirements and ensure the resident voice is listened to and acted upon.  

Our financial position

• Our audited Financial Statements provide full details of our income, expenditure and financial position.
• Alongside our Annual Report and Financial Statements, we publish a breakdown of where our money is spent. 

Rents

• Each year we review the rents we charge. We write to all residents to confirm the impact on your rent payments and publish information, including on support available to help with paying your rent.  

Procurement and contract management  

• Value for Money is a fundamental theme of our Business Strategy. Effective procurement and contract management is a key part of this– as outlined in our Procurement and Contract Management Strategy.
• We publish a list of key contractors and suppliers with a contact value of over £5k.

Merger related costs

On 31 March 2026, South Lakes Housing successfully completed a merger with Lune Valley Rural Housing Association (LVRHA) through a Transfer of Engagements process. The merger brought together two organisations with closely aligned values and a shared commitment to providing high-quality affordable housing and services to residents.

As part of the merger, South Lakes Housing acquired 118 affordable rent and social rented homes across the Lune Valley and Lancaster area, strengthening our presence in the region and increasing our capacity to invest in existing homes and develop new affordable housing in the future.

The merger was supported by extensive due diligence, resident consultation, lender approval and engagement with the Regulator of Social Housing. It will deliver operational efficiencies, strengthen long-term financial resilience and enable greater investment in homes and communities across our operating area. The combined organisation remains committed to providing safe, good quality homes, excellent customer service and opportunities for residents to influence the services they receive.

South Lakes Housing welcomes former LVRHA residents to the organisation and looks forward to building on LVRHA’s strong legacy of providing affordable housing within rural communities.

The related transaction cost for the merger £50k. The financial statement recognise a credit of £6M as a gain from the acquisition.

Corporate plans and objectives

• Our corporate plans, strategies and policies relating to the management of South Lakes Housing homes are available on our website. Key documents include our Business Strategy, Assets and Development Strategy and Home Standard. 
• Regular updates on our programme of investment in homes are published via our Resident Newsletter. The latest update can be viewed here.  

Stock profile and transfers 

• Details of the purchase and sale of homes (including under Preserved Right to Buy and via Shared Ownership staircasing sales) over the past year is contained within our Annual Report and Financial Statements.  

Property condition and improvements

• Our latest performance in relation to Planned Maintenance is contained within our Performance Dashboard. 
• We write to residents to tell them about upcoming plans for how we are investing their home. Standard component lifecycles are outlined in our Assets and Development Strategy.
• Performance information on keeping homes in good repair is reported via our Tenant Satisfaction Measures. This includes compliance with the Decent Homes Standard.  
• We self assess our compliance with standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing on matters including the safety and quality of South Lakes Housing homes. These assessments are published annually.  
• Information on the location, rent type, local authority, EPC ratings of our homes is published within our Assets and Development Strategy.  It also contains data on our % completion of stock condition surveys.

Regulation and audits

• The outputs of regulatory judgements made about us by the Regulator of Social Housing and decisions made by the Housing Ombudsman are publicly available.  
• Our internal auditors carry out a regular programme of independent audits of our key service areas. 
• Our Internal Audit Charter sets out the purpose, authority, and responsibilities of our internal audit function.  

Tenant satisfaction measures (TSMs) and performance reporting 

• The Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) are set by the Regulator of Social Housing. The measures are a mix of results from customer satisfaction surveys and metrics reported directly by us. We publish our TSM results annually. 
• Our ‘Your Home, Our Community’ Resident Newsletter is published twice a year, sharing key updates on our performance. More regular updates can be found via our performance dashboard or under latest news.  
• Our financial performance is published via our Annual Reports and Financial Statements
• Our Environmental Social Governance (ESG) Reporting outlines our performance against the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing.  

Complaints and compensation 

• We publish an annual assessment against the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaints Handling Code and our Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report, alongside our Complaints Policy.  
• Our approach to compensation and redress is outlined in our Compensation Policy.

Data protection  

• Data Protection is a key priority for South Lakes. We keep a log of data breaches and information requests.  

Health and safety 

• Performance in relation to Property Health and Safety Compliance is reported via our Performance Dashboard. We carry out risk assessments for the relevant areas of Property Health and Safety Compliance as required, including Fire Risk Assessments and Legionella Risk Assessments. We also carry out general Health and Safety Risk Assessments for the workplaces and communal areas we are responsible for. Please contact us if you would like to request a copy of a risk assessment.  
• Our Annual Health and Safety Report is reported to Board each year and provides an overview of performance in relation to Health and Safety. 
• Our Performance in relation to Awaab’s Law is published via our Performance Dashboard.  
• Our dedicated Damp and Mould webpage contains information on our approach to addressing damp and mould and a guide for residents. 

Housing management and resident satisfaction 

• We are committed to sustaining tenancies wherever possible. Eviction is a last resort and will only be pursued where all reasonable opportunities to resolve the issues causing tenancy failure have been explored. Data on the number of evictions we’ve carried out is available to view as part of our Performance Dashboard.
• In 2025/26 there were 25 decants where we worked with residents to move them out of their home and into temporary accommodation.

• Our website contains information about the services we provide including useful information if you are renting a home with South Lakes Housing or are a Shared Owner or Leaseholder. 
• We offer a range of support and information, including on managing your finances, health and wellbeing and on neighbourhood and community matters.
• We run a programme of annual Tenancy Support Visits and regular Estate Walkabouts– a great opportunity for residents to get to know their Housing Officer and highlight any issues.  
• Check out our Customer Information Hub for further information on our key services, FAQs and how to contact us.  

• We publish the most up to date versions of our service standards and resident-facing policies and strategies.  
• These policies set out residents’ rights and responsibilities and explain how our services are delivered.