Cypress TypeError : Cannot read properties of undefined (reading ‘then’)

I have this function below :- checkStatusCode

I check if a response is OK then I try to return a value and based on that I try to visit the URL (ex:- if response status is 200)

  checkStatusCode(href) {
    cy.request({
      url: href,
      failOnStatusCode: false,
    }).then((response) => {
      expect(response.status).to.eq(200);
      return true;
    });
  }

This is how I call the function, but I am getting following Cypress error

Cannot read properties of undefined (reading ‘then’)

even if the assertion expect(response.status).to.eq(200) passes, what am I doing wrong here?

navigatetoHomepage(url) {
    this.checkStatusCode(url).then((isStatus200) => {
      if (isStatus200) {
        cy.visit(url);
      } else {
        cy.log("Fail");
      }
    });
  }