For housing associations, almshouses and co-ops with fewer than 1,000 homes
Small landlords face the same rules as the largest. Social Housing Compliance gives you the policies, letters, logs and yearly reminders for the Complaint Handling Code, STAIRs, the Competence and Conduct Standard and Awaab's Law, ready for your board to adopt.
From £199 a year per organisation · set up and preview free
Housing associations, almshouse charities and co-operatives with a few dozen or a few hundred homes have to meet the same rules as landlords with tens of thousands. The Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code, the Social Tenant Access to Information Requirements, the Regulator of Social Housing's Competence and Conduct Standard and Awaab's Law all apply, but few small landlords have a policy team or a compliance budget.
Social Housing Compliance gives you the policies, letters and records for all four, written in plain English from the published rules and filled in with your details. Its logs work out every deadline for you, counting working days and bank holidays, and its yearly calendar reminds you when your self-assessment, annual report and Ombudsman submission are due.
1 October 2026
STAIRs publication scheme and the Competence and Conduct Standard begin
30 November 2026
Awaab's Law Phase 2 adds seven more hazards
1 April 2027
Tenants can make STAIRs information requests: 30 calendar days to reply
Every year
Complaint Handling Code self-assessment, report and submission, due 6 months after your financial year-end
Two stages with fixed timescales, a Member Responsible for Complaints, and a yearly self-assessment and report published with your board's response. Landlords with fewer than 1,000 homes submit to the Ombudsman 6 months after their financial year-end.
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Publish information about how you're run, what you spend, the homes you own, your performance and your services. From 1 April 2027, answer tenants' information requests within 30 calendar days.
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A written policy and a code of conduct, kept up to date and open to tenants. Paid senior housing staff need a level 4 or level 5 qualification, or to be working towards one, by October 2030. Unpaid volunteers are exempt.
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Fixed timescales to investigate and fix hazards in homes let on a tenancy. From 30 November 2026 it covers emergency hazards, damp and mould, and seven more hazards. It doesn't apply to homes occupied under a licence, such as most almshouses.
Learn more →Complaints policy, Code self-assessment, annual complaints report and board response, STAIRs publication scheme, competence policy and code of conduct, and Awaab's Law procedure and letters.
Complaints, hazards and information requests, each showing what's due and when, counting working days and bank holidays.
Everything your trustees or board need to see and sign off, in one place.
Plain English throughout. No resident names or health details stored.
Tell us about your organisation, your homes and who does what. It takes about 15 minutes, and your answers are saved as you go.
See every policy and letter filled in with your details, free. Download PDF and Word versions once you subscribe.
Take the documents to your board, publish them, and use the logs, tasks and yearly reminders to keep on top of the dates.
Every sample is filled in for a made-up housing association, so you can see what you'll get.
Housing associations, almshouse charities that are registered providers, co-operatives, community land trusts and small for-profit providers with fewer than 1,000 homes in England.
It doesn't decide whether a hazard is in scope or an emergency, and it doesn't give legal advice. Your organisation makes those decisions. We keep the dates and the paperwork straight.
Plain-English guides to each set of rules, with links to the official sources.
Yes. The Complaint Handling Code applies to every member landlord of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. STAIRs applies to private registered providers. The Competence and Conduct Standard applies to all registered providers. Awaab's Law applies to social housing let on a tenancy, whatever the landlord's size.
Not to homes occupied under a licence, which is how almshouse residents usually live. If you're a registered provider, the Complaint Handling Code, STAIRs and the Competence and Conduct Standard still apply. Our free check takes you through it.
If you have fewer than 1,000 homes, 6 months after your financial year-end. For a 31 March year-end, that's 30 September.
Up to 25 homes £199 a year, 26 to 250 homes £349 a year, 251 to 999 homes £499 a year. Set up and preview free; pay to download.
A complaints policy, a STAIRs publication scheme, a tenant information access policy, a competence and conduct policy, a code of conduct, a “Have your say” notice for residents and, if you let homes on a tenancy, an Awaab's Law procedure. You also get letters for complaints, hazards and information requests, a self-assessment workbook, an annual complaints report, a governing body response and a board pack. Everything downloads as PDF and Word.
Yes. Download the Word version and edit it before your governing body adopts it. If you change your details in the app, your documents update, and any adopted document is marked for review.
No names or health details. Your logs use your own references, and residents' names and addresses typed into a letter are used only in that letter and never saved.
No. It prepares your self-assessment workbook, annual report and governing body response, and reminds you of your deadline. You submit them through the Ombudsman's online form.
No. Social Housing Compliance is independent. The documents are templates written from the published rules, for your organisation to review and adopt.
Five quick questions. You'll get a list of the rules that apply to you and your key dates.
Check which rules apply to you