Membership documents

1. The parties and these terms

Your contracting operator is HOUSING ASSURED LIMITED, trading as HousingAssured, company number 17526556, registered in England and Wales. Its registered office is Ashton Old Baths, Stamford Street West, Ashton Under Lyne, United Kingdom, OL6 7FW. In these terms we, us and our mean that company. You means the applicant organisation or individual contracting in their own capacity. An authorised representative does not give a personal guarantee merely by applying.

Contact info@housingassured.co.uk for membership matters, cancellation, complaints, appeals or privacy enquiries, using the relevant subject. This is a review draft. Preview submissions record an acknowledgement for testing; they do not create a live paid membership. A live agreement must identify the accepted terms version, plan, total price and assessed scope. Privacy acknowledgement is separate from agreement to membership terms.

2. Eligibility and authority

Membership is designed for housing organisations and people acting for business or professional purposes. Applicants must be at least 18 and have authority to act for the named organisation. They must accurately describe their legal status, activities, locations, responsibilities and any applicable registrations or permissions.

A business-purpose declaration does not remove rights that apply to someone who is legally a consumer. Consumer purchases require the applicable pre-contract information and cancellation arrangements. Consumer rights and any other rights that cannot lawfully be restricted take priority over conflicting wording in this draft.

3. Application and activation

Submitting an application does not guarantee membership approval, certification or access to paid tools. We may request relevant evidence, verify information, identify gaps and give reasons for a decision. Provider applications require review. Referrer account registration is separate from provider certification.

Paid access starts only after any required membership approval, a separate subscription order and verified current payment. The application itself does not authorise a payment. The live subscription confirmation must identify the plan, price, renewal frequency, cancellation route and applicable terms version.

4. Plans and membership charges

The proposed provider membership price is GBP 49.99 per month. It includes eligible access to the referral portal and management of the provider's own property noticeboards. The proposed referrer membership price is GBP 29.99 per month. It includes eligible referral submission and direct provider enquiries, but not property management or a provider certification seal.

Subscriptions renew monthly until cancelled. HOUSING ASSURED LIMITED is not currently VAT registered and does not charge VAT. The provider base price is GBP 49.99 per month, including unlimited properties within one council borough or local-authority area. Each additional distinct council area adds GBP 9.99 per month, regardless of the number of properties in that area. For example, properties in Manchester City Council alone cost GBP 49.99 per month; adding properties in Oldham Council brings the monthly total to GBP 59.98, and three distinct council areas cost GBP 69.97. A council area means a distinct council/local-authority boundary, not each postcode, town, property or the whole Greater Manchester region. The increased recurring total must be shown and expressly confirmed before an additional chargeable area is added. Referrer membership remains GBP 29.99 per month and does not include property management. No VAT is currently added to these amounts. We will not add an unagreed assessment fee or other optional charge. Any separately chargeable additional work must be described, quoted and expressly agreed before it starts.

Payment is collected through the configured payment service. A checkout return message alone does not establish payment. Failed, expired or cancelled payment can restrict paid tools. Paying a subscription never buys a score, a favourable review, approval or reinstatement.

We intend to register for VAT in future. If registration changes the amount payable, we will explain the revised total and VAT treatment before the change applies, follow the recurring-price-change provisions in these terms (including at least 30 days' advance notice), and obtain any agreement required by law. Registration does not authorise a retrospective surcharge to an already agreed price. The final total must be shown before any new order.

A council area is identified from the property's full UK postcode and local-authority code. This lookup identifies the council boundary; it does not independently verify the property address or lawful occupation. The first active council area is included. Before adding another area, the account shows the exact prorated charge for the remainder of the current subscription period, the new monthly total and when the change applies. You must expressly confirm that quotation before we request payment. Access to a new chargeable area starts only after verified payment; a failed optional addition does not extend or replace the paid base period. A quotation lasts five minutes and must be refreshed if the account or subscription changes.

To remove a council area, first archive every property in it. Archiving disables those properties' public QR briefs; restoring a property requires an active area and a separate decision to re-enable its QR link. A confirmed area removal reduces the next renewal. No refund or credit is issued for the unused part of the current paid period, subject to rights and remedies required by law. While removal is scheduled, properties cannot be added or restored in that area. You may cancel the removal before the paid period ends without another current-period charge; the revised renewal total is shown first. After the paid period ends, re-adding it follows the normal quoted addition process.

If all active areas are removed, the base membership charge continues until you cancel membership renewal. Moving the included area to a new council ends the old included-area allocation; it cannot then be restored as another free area. Changes are processed one at a time. A pending payment must be resolved or expire before another area change. No live additional-area charge is collected while payments remain closed.

5. Assessment and certification

Assessment follows the published six-area evidence framework and records the services, locations, period and samples covered. Information supplied by members must be checked through the assessment process. Desk reviews, sampled records and audit summaries provide limited assurance within that published scope; they do not certify every property or guarantee future performance.

A HousingAssured assessment is an independent scheme decision. It is not statutory registration, government approval, UKAS accreditation, an insurance policy, a financial viability guarantee or a substitute for regulatory inspection. No affiliation or endorsement may be claimed unless expressly authorised and accurate.

We must exercise reasonable care and skill in our own services. We may require corrective action, reassessment or additional evidence. Reasons and the applicable review/appeal route must accompany an adverse decision. A precautionary restriction may be justified by risk while evidence is checked; it is not automatically a final finding of wrongdoing.

6. Member responsibilities and updates

You remain responsible for your own housing, support, care, property management, safeguarding, employment, licensing, insurance and legal duties. Membership does not transfer those duties to HousingAssured. Keep your account secure, restrict access to authorised people and tell us promptly about suspected account misuse.

Supply complete and accurate information, preserve relevant source records and correct material errors promptly. Notify us promptly of material changes affecting assessment scope, control, registrations, safety, staffing commitments or regulatory findings. Do not falsify records, conceal overdue work, manipulate reviews or obstruct a reasonable verification request.

7. Evidence and internal system audits

Providers must supply the applicable evidence and manager-confirmed internal-system audit returns described in Our standard, before assessment and at the published review intervals. The audit must cover the full assessed scope, with clear reporting dates, definitions, source and denominators. Missing, withheld and non-applicable figures must not be represented as zero problems.

Submit organisation-wide aggregate figures through the structured return. Keep resident-level source records within your controlled systems. Do not submit raw case exports, resident identifiers, diagnoses, convictions, safeguarding narratives or other unnecessary personal information. Assess identification risk in small or linkable totals and withhold affected measures while an appropriate method is agreed.

A declaration or audit total is not independent verification. Any source check that could involve personal information requires an agreed lawful purpose, role allocation, access controls and safeguards before sharing. Do not disclose information merely because an assessor has requested it if the request is unlawful or excessive; raise the issue and agree a compliant alternative.

8. Properties and noticeboards

Property management is within an eligible paying provider's own account, under My account / My properties, with no public property directory or rental/sale advertising. The digital noticeboard service is intended to be included within the provider membership, subject to the final plan allowance. A branded QR wall plaque can be ordered separately when supply opens; the physical plaque and postage are not free or included automatically.

The noticeboard and optional hardware terms in this pack explain display fields, visitor and property-specific inspector access, sensitive locations, timestamps and end-of-membership effects. You must be authorised to manage the property. Keep source safety records and operational backups; the noticeboard is not the emergency or statutory record and does not certify lawful occupancy, certificate authenticity or completed repairs.

9. Referrals and direct enquiries

HousingAssured provides a communication and matching facility. It is not the landlord, support/care provider, commissioner, placement decision-maker or agent for either party solely because it operates the portal. There is no guarantee of a referral volume, vacancy, suitability, placement, funding, occupancy, income or contract.

Referrers and receiving providers must independently verify authority, eligibility, needs, risks, lawful information-sharing and placement suitability. Providers must decide whether they can safely deliver the required service and liaise directly with the referrer before acceptance. A portal status is not a substitute for a completed suitability assessment or a placement agreement between the relevant parties.

The public information preview does not accept live referrals. Administrator referral trials permit fictional information only. Live sensitive referral processing must not begin until the necessary lawful bases, additional conditions, data-sharing arrangements and safeguards are in place. Membership terms alone do not supply those permissions.

The fictional staged portal limits the first summary to broad non-identifying fields and invited verified providers. A named account requests assessment access with purpose, role and need to know. The referrer separately approves scope, expiry and optional download. Readers use individual sign-in and an authenticator. Selection of a provider does not release the handover pack: it needs separate permission. Changes to the pack revoke existing grants. Case access, file access, decisions, revocation and closure are recorded. Payment never grants private-pack permission.

The pilot uses a 30-day closed-case retention trial: access stops when due, and a referrer cleanup action removes private database details and stored files, with a minimum audit record retained. This is not an approved live retention schedule or an automatic physical-deletion service. Recipients must protect and delete any separately permitted copies; a downloaded copy cannot be recalled remotely.

10. Public content reviews and use of the seal

Members remain responsible for content they submit and must have the rights and authority needed to share it. Content must be relevant, accurate to the best of their knowledge, fair and lawful. Do not submit defamatory allegations as established facts, confidential case details, discriminatory or threatening material, or fabricated reviews.

You grant us a non-exclusive licence to store, reproduce and display submitted material only as reasonably needed to operate, assess and moderate the service in accordance with the privacy notice. Confidential evidence is not licensed for general advertising. Legitimate reviews are not removed merely because they are negative or membership ends.

A seal may be used only with express permission, within the approved scope and while its status remains active. Link it to the current verification record, follow the published brand rules and stop representing suspended, withdrawn or expired approval as current. Returning to membership does not erase valid reviews or previous findings.

11. Cancellation refunds and service changes

Membership is paid monthly in advance. You may cancel future monthly renewal through the billing portal or request cancellation at info@housingassured.co.uk, subject Cancellation. Voluntary cancellation during a paid monthly billing period takes effect at the end of that paid period, on the paid-through date shown in the account, and the membership does not renew for the following period. Eligible access continues until that date, subject to any separate safety, standards or security restriction.

No refund or pro-rata credit is offered for voluntary cancellation, non-use or the unused part of an already paid monthly membership period. This does not exclude a refund or other remedy required by law, including for overcharging, our breach or a service not supplied. The membership cancellation rule does not remove applicable rights relating to faulty or misdescribed hardware.

Before changing a recurring price or materially reducing a paid service, give at least 30 days' advance notice and an opportunity to cancel before the change applies. Do not retrospectively rewrite an accepted agreement or charge an increased price without the notice and agreement required by law.

12. Consumers and cancellation rights

If you contract as a consumer and a statutory cooling-off right applies, you may cancel within the applicable period, normally 14 days after an online service contract is made. A clear cancellation statement is sufficient; no particular form is compulsory. The live operator must provide its cancellation contact, required information and any model form before purchase.

Starting a consumer service during a cooling-off period requires the appropriate separate express request and information. General acceptance of membership terms does not itself waive a cooling-off right. Any charge for service already supplied, refund or loss of a right must comply with the applicable rules. The operator must verify subscription-law requirements in force when the live service launches.

13. Suspension termination and fair review

We may proportionately restrict tools, membership or seal use for a material breach, non-payment, falsified evidence, serious unresolved risk or loss of required authorisation. Where safe and appropriate, give notice of the concern and a reasonable opportunity to respond or remedy it. Immediate interim action may be necessary to protect people, data or the platform.

Record reasons, scope and next steps, explain any effect on billing and provide the published review/appeal route. Restrictions and their continued necessity should be reviewed. Serious or repeated unresolved failures may justify termination or refusal of re-entry. Payment does not override a standards decision.

Cancellation of a subscription, membership approval and certification status are separate. If ending the service, allow reasonable access to an export or handover of appropriate records where practicable, subject to security, confidentiality and lawful retention requirements.

14. Availability reliance and third parties

We will take reasonable care in operating the platform, but cannot promise uninterrupted availability, error-free third-party data or that every issue will be detected. We may make proportionate maintenance or security changes and will give notice where reasonably practicable. Members must retain their own operational records and emergency arrangements.

Provider descriptions, reviews, map distances, audit totals and certificate dates must be read with their source, scope, date and verification status. A search match or public score is not a personal recommendation, funding decision or assurance of suitability for a particular person. External suppliers and links have their own terms; that does not remove our responsibility for our own services.

15. Liability

Nothing in this agreement excludes or restricts liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any liability or statutory remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded or restricted. We remain responsible for our own actionable acts and omissions. Individual data protection rights are not waived by membership.

For business members only, and subject to the protections above and any applicable reasonableness requirement, the proposed aggregate cap on our liability for claims arising in a contract year is the greater of GBP 1,000 and the membership fees paid or payable for that contract year. Related claims are treated together for the year in which the first relevant event occurred. This proposed cap requires legal and insurance review before live use.

For business members only, we propose excluding indirect or consequential loss and loss of profit, revenue, anticipated savings or business opportunity to the extent a fair and lawful exclusion permits. This does not exclude direct losses merely by relabelling them, refunds or remedies that cannot be excluded, or losses caused by liabilities expressly preserved above. Consumer remedies and protections take priority wherever applicable.

Each party must take reasonable steps to reduce avoidable loss. A member is responsible, to the extent established by law, for loss directly caused by its own breach or unlawful submissions; this is not an unlimited indemnity and does not make the member responsible for our fault.

16. Confidentiality and information sharing

Each party must use the other's confidential information only for an agreed legitimate purpose, restrict access to those who need it and apply reasonable security. This does not prevent disclosures required by law or a regulator, protected disclosures, reporting suspected wrongdoing or obtaining confidential professional advice.

Where disclosure is justified for safeguarding, legal obligations or a fair investigation, share only what is necessary with an appropriate recipient and record the basis. Do not promise absolute confidentiality that would prevent lawful protective action. Controller/processor or joint-controller obligations require the appropriate separate arrangements; this membership agreement is not a substitute for them.

17. Complaints notices and changes to these terms

Write to info@housingassured.co.uk with subject Membership, Cancellation, Complaint, Appeal or Privacy. Postal correspondence can be addressed to the relevant role at our registered office. Requests do not require a paid account. Start with a reference, the issue and the outcome sought; do not email resident case packs or sensitive evidence unless an appropriate secure method has been agreed.

A complaint about the original handler must be allocated to someone else. Appeals require a separate reviewer with no involvement in the original decision and no relevant conflict. Individual handler names are not published. All enquiries use info@housingassured.co.uk and are routed internally to the appropriate person. Case ownership, cover, service hours and scheme response targets must be put in place before live case handling. Privacy complaints follow the separate published procedure, including acknowledgement within 30 days. Scheme procedures do not replace statutory rights, housing complaints routes, safeguarding or legal deadlines.

We will explain material changes in advance, preserve accepted versions and seek fresh agreement where required. Essential legal or security changes may need earlier effect, with an explanation. If a provision is invalid, only the affected part is removed or adjusted as law permits; the remaining agreement continues. A delay in enforcing a right is not a permanent waiver.

18. Governing law and courts

This draft proposes the law of England and Wales and, for business contracts, the courts of England and Wales. Service scope and insurance must be checked before adopting that choice. Mandatory protections and any right a consumer has to use the courts of their home UK jurisdiction are preserved. No clause shortens a statutory time limit for bringing a claim.

19. Service scope, support and assessment timetable

Provider membership is intended to include the assessment process, member improvement resources, eligible referral access and digital noticeboard management for the organisation's own properties. Referrer membership is intended to include eligible referral submission, provider enquiries and applicable resources; it does not include provider certification, a seal or property management. Hardware, postage and powered screens are separate optional purchases.

Provider membership includes unlimited properties within one council borough or local-authority area, with GBP 9.99 per month for each additional distinct council area. Support hours, operational response targets and any fair-use rules beyond the unlimited property allowance remain to be confirmed before launch and stated before payment. No round-the-clock helpdesk, on-site inspection or emergency response is promised by this draft.

The proposed published evidence cycle is: checks before approval; manager-confirmed monthly audit totals within 15 calendar days of month-end; quarterly reviewer trend and risk-based source checks; annual full reassessment; and annual support-quality submissions within 30 calendar days of the reporting year-end. Review sooner for credible concerns or material change. Providers themselves check urgent safety/contact exceptions daily and support/STAR reviews and notes weekly. Source checks must use a lawful, privacy-reviewed method.

Current availability is a public information preview with administrator-only fictional trials of application/evidence workflows, example providers and reviews, private audit templates and the paper noticeboard. Live subscriptions, sensitive referral exchange, real certification and hardware ordering are not open. The final launch schedule must distinguish tools available then from later developments; a proposed benefit does not make it currently available.

20. Billing during restriction and what happens when membership ends

Subscription billing continues during a standards, safeguarding, safety or other membership/certification suspension while the concern is investigated and corrective action or reinstatement is considered. Suspension does not pause or cancel the recurring subscription. Suspended membership tools may be restricted and the seal must not be used while its status is suspended. The member may cancel future renewal at any time through billing or info@housingassured.co.uk; payment alone cannot restore approval or a seal. Voluntary cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid monthly billing period. Any refund or other remedy required by law still applies.

For voluntary cancellation, there is no further monthly renewal and eligible paid tools remain available until the end of the current paid monthly billing period, unless a separate safety, standards or security restriction applies. Failed payment, expiry, cancellation taking effect or loss of approval can stop property editing, paid referral access and noticeboard reads. A printed plaque does not provide continuing hosting or inspector access after entitlement ends.

When the provider is no longer eligible, the public QR brief is unavailable and must not show cached records as current. Providers may keep a separately purchased physical QR plaque or their paper printout after cancellation; ending membership alone does not require the plaque to be returned. Keeping it does not extend the hosted noticeboard service or authorise a current certification claim. Remove, cover or clearly mark an inactive display and arrange alternative property information. Account and acceptance records are not erased automatically on cancellation. Request an appropriate export or handover at info@housingassured.co.uk; the export window, retention/deletion periods and any permitted recovery period must be settled and tested before launch.

21. Transparency credit and score explanations

There are 24 criteria across six areas, each scored 0-5 from evidence, with justified exclusions recorded. Providers earn marks rather than starting at full marks. The six exact area percentages carry equal weight; add any eligible two-point noticeboard transparency bonus, cap at 100 and round at the end. Public review stars remain separate. Buying membership or hardware does not earn credit.

The base must be at least 80/100 before bonus, every area at least 70/100 and all mandatory conditions met. Eligibility uses unrounded marks. A recorded authorised assessment automatically suspends the linked seal for failed thresholds/mandatory checks, unresolved critical risk or an overdue major action; review/validity expiry makes it expired. A concern alone proves no failure or points deduction. Reassess affected criteria fairly, record evidence/reasons and consider the provider response. Permanent withdrawal or reinstatement requires a recorded reviewer decision; payment alone never restores a restricted seal.

For transparency credit the reviewer checks working no-code read-only briefs across the assessed scope, source records for occupancy/certificates/maintenance/notices/contacts, current staff confirmation and privacy-safe boundaries. The public brief excludes occupancy and permission references. Sensitive-location restrictions and QR disable/rotation must be tested. Record evidence, reasons, review and next due dates; publish privacy-safe score explanations separately from private source evidence.

Credit expires at its recorded review due date and must be removed earlier if conditions are no longer met. Real certification remains disabled during the draft pilot. Public verification and linked seal images calculate the current recorded status when requested; downloaded/printed artwork cannot be recalled remotely and must be checked against the current verification link.

1. Information and scheme scope

HousingAssured is a proposed independent membership and assessment platform. A profile must be read with its assessment date, verification status, service/property scope and published reasons. Approval describes a scheme decision at a point in time using the stated evidence and samples. It is not a guarantee that every property, transaction or service is safe or suitable, or that future performance will remain unchanged.

2. No official or professional status implied

Membership, payment, a score or a seal does not create statutory registration, government endorsement, UKAS accreditation, insurance cover or a funding entitlement. The platform does not provide individual legal, financial, clinical or safeguarding advice. Users must obtain appropriate advice and verify applicable registrations, licences and responsibilities independently.

3. Scores reviews and reported concerns

Standards scores and public review ratings are different measures. Reviews describe contributors' experiences or opinions and are subject to moderation; they are not independently established findings simply because they appear online. A reported concern alone does not prove failure. We should assess evidence fairly, allow a response where appropriate and record reasons for certification decisions. Public summaries must protect confidential information.

4. Referrals and property information

Users remain responsible for referral authority, suitability decisions, lawful data sharing, property checks, service delivery and any direct agreement with another party. The portal does not guarantee a vacancy, placement, income, benefit eligibility or contract. Noticeboards and audit returns assist record management; they do not replace authoritative safety, support or safeguarding records. Member-entered and external information can contain errors and must be checked for the decision being made.

5. Emergencies and urgent concerns

The website is not an emergency service. If someone is in immediate danger, call 999. Use the appropriate local adult or children's safeguarding route and the provider's emergency repair route where relevant; do not wait for a platform response. The public preview is not a monitored live concern or appeal service. Public submissions are closed; administrator trials use fictional examples only.

6. Our own responsibilities

These explanations define the service and do not excuse HousingAssured from exercising reasonable care and skill or from liability that cannot lawfully be excluded. They do not override statutory consumer or data protection rights. The membership terms contain the proposed business liability provisions; those provisions require final legal and insurance review before live use.

1. Authority and identity

I am at least 18 and am authorised to submit this application for the named organisation, or am applying in my own authorised capacity. I have accurately stated its legal status and activities. I understand that submitting as an authorised representative does not itself make me a personal guarantor.

2. Accuracy and cooperation

To the best of my knowledge after reasonable checks, the information supplied is complete, current and accurate. I have not fabricated evidence, concealed material findings or filtered out overdue work. I will correct material errors, preserve relevant source records and notify material changes affecting the assessment.

3. Evidence and internal audits

Where applicable, I will provide the published evidence pack and organisation-wide audit returns. A responsible manager must check the reporting scope, definitions, denominators, overdue items and exceptions. Missing, withheld and non-applicable measures will be identified explicitly. Source records will remain available for a proportionate, lawfully agreed verification method.

4. Resident confidentiality and lawful sharing

I will not submit unnecessary resident identifiers, case histories or sensitive personal information through the application, noticeboards or aggregate audit return. I will assess whether small or linkable totals could identify a person and withhold them where needed. Redaction or replacing a name with a code does not automatically make information anonymous.

Before any separate referral or evidence sharing involving personal information, the organisation must establish its authority, lawful basis, any additional sensitive/criminal-data conditions, transparency and necessary safeguards. Accepting these documents does not create consent on behalf of residents or transfer our controller responsibilities to HousingAssured.

5. Our responsibilities remain with us

I understand that our organisation remains responsible for its properties, residents, support/care, safeguarding, staffing, charges, permissions and legal duties. We must independently check referral suitability and agree any placement or service directly with the relevant parties. The platform does not promise referrals, funding, occupancy or income.

6. Approval scores and payment

I understand that provider membership is proposed at GBP 49.99 per month and referrer membership at GBP 29.99 per month, with the final price and applicable tax information shown before a separate subscription order. The application itself does not start payment. Payment does not buy certification, a favourable score, removal of legitimate reviews or reinstatement.

Provider approval, current payment and certification are separate. A referrer membership does not include a provider seal or property management. A seal can only be used with permission and within its current approved scope.

7. Documents and electronic record

I have had the opportunity to read and retain the membership terms, platform disclaimer and this declaration, and have read the privacy and data submission notice. The application records the document version, my signed-in account and the server-recorded acceptance date. The privacy acknowledgement confirms receipt of information; it is not a blanket data-processing or marketing consent.

8. Public preview and administrator trials

For any authorised administrator trial within the public preview I will use fictional organisation, resident and referral examples. I understand that acknowledging this draft does not create a paid membership, certify a real company or provide a monitored concern/appeal service. Operational and legal completion items remain outstanding until confirmed.

1. Controller and contact

HOUSING ASSURED LIMITED, trading as HousingAssured, is the controller for its own website account, application, scheme administration, review moderation and decision records. It is registered in England and Wales, company number 17526556, with registered office at Ashton Old Baths, Stamford Street West, Ashton Under Lyne, United Kingdom, OL6 7FW. Contact info@housingassured.co.uk, subject Privacy, or write to the Privacy contact at that address.

The operator-provided email is now published for privacy enquiries and complaints. The team allocates a responsible privacy handler and cover internally; individual names are not published. Any legally required data protection officer or representative arrangements remain subject to the actual service and legal review. This is a draft notice; it does not claim that supplier, transfer, deletion or live-referral arrangements have been completed.

2. Information covered

The platform uses signed-in account identity and verified email; application and business contact details; terms/declaration acknowledgements and their dates/versions; membership and assessment decisions; notifications; company reviews and moderation records; private operational audit returns; and eligible property, enquiry and referral records. Payment-service identifiers and status may be stored when payments are enabled. Full payment card details are handled by the payment service, not collected by the membership form.

Business accounts can still contain personal information about representatives or sole traders. Public-register information, relevant regulator findings and material supplied by members or reviewers may be used for proportionate verification. The operator must record sources and provide additional transparency where required for information obtained indirectly.

3. Purposes and proposed lawful bases

Proposed purposes are to assess applications and evidence, administer accounts and subscriptions, record agreement versions, operate permitted tools, moderate content, communicate service decisions, protect platform security and handle disputes. For business representatives, the proposed basis is legitimate interests in operating and protecting an accountable business service, subject to a documented balancing assessment. Where an individual is personally party to the contract, necessary pre-contract/contract processing may apply instead.

Relevant legal obligations may support tax, accounting or legally required disclosures once applicable. Establishing or defending legal claims can justify necessary records subject to the correct basis and safeguards. These proposed bases must be confirmed against actual operations before live use. Optional marketing would require its own lawful approach and choice; this application does not enrol a person in marketing.

4. Aggregate audit returns

The structured audit return accepts reporting dates, a source category, organisation-wide counts, overdue age bands and declarations. It has no field for resident names, resident IDs, addresses, exact last-seen dates, diagnoses, convictions, safeguarding narratives or files. Measures can be marked not applicable, not recorded or withheld for privacy. Unknown or withheld information is not treated as zero exceptions.

Providers must assess whether totals could identify someone through a small population, rare event, other published information or linkage across measures. Withhold affected measures and agree a broader or controlled verification approach where necessary. Removing names is not sufficient by itself. Keep resident-level source reports within the provider's controlled systems.

5. Sensitive information and data roles

Only fictional resident and referral examples are accepted in the pilot. Do not send actual referral packs, health information, criminal-offence details, safeguarding narratives or resident identifiers through preview forms, email or uploads. Aggregate reports must also be checked for identification through small numbers or linked data.

For a future live portal, assess each purpose and lawful basis, the necessary Article 9 condition for special-category data and the separate legal authorisation/condition for criminal-offence data under Article 10 and UK law. Complete a DPIA where required and an appropriate policy document where applicable. General membership agreement, an application checkbox, claimed anonymisation or a two-step code is not blanket permission.

The fictional staged pilot first shares a limited summary with selected verified providers, then allows named-account requests and referrer-approved assessment and separate handover permissions, with MFA, purpose restrictions, expiry, revocation and case access history. The administrator sandbox is isolated by its owner. Real confidential referrals remain disabled. Pseudonymised or linkable summaries can still be personal data.

Providers and referrers remain responsible for their own source records and lawful disclosures. HousingAssured remains responsible for its own purposes and handling. Establish controller/processor or joint-controller roles and the appropriate written agreements; these terms do not substitute for Article 28 or Article 26 arrangements or a person's rights.

6. Access publication and recipients

Private application evidence and audit returns are available to the applicant's authorised account and authorised membership reviewers. The staged trial accepts fictional information only: its limited summaries are restricted to invited eligible provider accounts and private packs need separate named-account approval. The administrator sandbox is isolated from other accounts and is not a live cross-company sensitive-data service. Before live release, receiving organisations, access criteria, onward-sharing restrictions and audit trails must be documented and tested.

Public profile summaries, score reasons and moderated reviews can be read without paid membership, within the pilot's existing audience restriction. Private audit figures, resident records, evidence uploads and reporter account identity are not public directory content. A provider may receive a notification about a submitted review and appropriate redacted details to respond; this is not permission to disclose the reviewer's identity or confidential case evidence.

An enabled property QR opens a public read-only brief immediately, without an inspector code, staff contact, membership or sign-in. The brief excludes occupancy and permission references, private property names/addresses, resident details, raw notes and files. Sensitive-location briefs also omit free-text notices and contacts and use generic maintenance wording. Work contacts are published only where approved for non-sensitive briefs; use role/team contacts and explain this sharing to staff. A copied link opens the same limited information. Disable the link if even that brief could expose a protected location.

Necessary information may also be received by the identified hosting, identity, lookup, payment or mailbox suppliers, authorised advisers, or an appropriate authority where there is a lawful reason. Log the purpose and minimum disclosure. The final notice must complete supplier roles and any other actual recipients before live operation.

7. Services transfers and security

Identified services in the current implementation are Sites hosting and ChatGPT sign-in supplied through OpenAI, with Cloudflare hosting/storage infrastructure; Postcodes.io postcode/place lookup; and the Photon address service at photon.komoot.io. Address searches pass the location query through our server to those lookup services, without account credentials or resident case records. Do not enter sensitive-location or resident details in a general search. Our application caches address suggestions for up to five minutes; supplier request logs have their own retention.

Stripe is selected for future subscriptions: account/customer/subscription identifiers, price, billing status and necessary organisation/contact information will be exchanged when enabled. Checkout collects payment details on Stripe's hosted service; our application does not collect full card numbers. Live Checkout is disabled. Postmark is supported by the code for future transactional email but no production sender is configured; it is not described as an active email recipient. Mail sent to info@housingassured.co.uk is handled by the operator's mailbox provider, whose identity and retention must be added to the supplier register.

The above identifies implemented services, not a completed processor/transfer assessment. Confirm each contracting legal entity, its role, subprocessors, processing locations, contractual protections and appropriate UK transfer mechanism before live use. Do not assume UK-only processing. Ask the Privacy contact for the current supplier/transfer information and copies or explanations of applicable safeguards; do not claim an agreement or safeguard is in place before it is verified.

Application controls include signed-in ownership and reviewer checks, restricted file access, raw-body Stripe signature checking when configured, and separate revocable noticeboard access. Complete staff access reviews, incident response, backup handling and operational security arrangements before launch. No system promises absolute security.

8. Draft retention schedule

Proposed live periods for approval are: unsuccessful applications, 12 months after final closure; aggregate audit returns, 24 months after submission; closed minimal referral records, 6 months after closure; and necessary contract acceptance, final decision and financial records, normally up to 6 years after the relationship or relevant accounting period ends. These are proposed maximum routine periods, with earlier deletion where records are unnecessary and lawful exceptions recorded.

Property/noticeboard records, review evidence, access logs, mail, complaint files and backups need a completed category-by-category schedule before live use. Limit them to what is necessary for the service, security, fair moderation, handover or legal claims. Revoke inspector access on expiry, withdrawal or lost entitlement; revocation is not the same as deletion of underlying records. Do not retain sensitive referral packs simply because membership existed.

There are no automatic physical-deletion jobs enforcing these proposed live-service periods. In the fictional staged trial, a closed case becomes unreadable after 30 days and a referrer cleanup action removes due private details and files, with minimum audit history retained. Complete the live deletion/export workflow, backup lifecycle, supplier deletion and approved audit retention before launch. Document any legal hold, its scope and review date; explain an applicable exemption when responding to a request.

9. Your rights and objections

Depending on the lawful basis and circumstances, you may have rights to access, correction, erasure, restriction, portability and objection. In particular, you may object to processing based on legitimate interests by emailing info@housingassured.co.uk with subject Privacy - objection. We must consider that objection. Consent for an optional purpose can be withdrawn without affecting earlier lawful processing.

Use the same Privacy contact or registered-office postal address for other rights requests. You need not be a member or use a prescribed form. We will make proportionate identity checks and follow the legal time limits and any lawful extension rules, explain our decision and any refusal or retention exception. A privacy complaint and a data-access request have different procedures; the 30-day complaint acknowledgement is not an extension of a rights-request deadline.

You may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ and retain your other remedies. Contacting us does not waive that right. Do not include another person's sensitive case material in an initial email; ask for an appropriate secure route.

10. Required information and automated decisions

Application identity, service scope and the relevant declarations are needed to administer an application. Without sufficient evidence, assessment or paid access may be unavailable. Applicants should raise an excessive or unlawful information request so an appropriate alternative can be agreed. Providing a privacy acknowledgement does not require giving up data rights.

The current audit return does not automatically determine a provider's score or certification. Standards and adverse decisions require human review and reasons. Payment access uses verified subscription and approval status. Any future solely automated decision-making or material new processing requires assessment and updated information before it is introduced.

11. Changes and cookies

Record and publish the notice version and explain material processing changes before they apply where required. Keep a record of privacy information provided. Terms acceptance and privacy acknowledgement are separate from consent to cookies or marketing.

Before live launch, complete a cookie/storage and analytics inventory, provide the appropriate notice and obtain consent for non-essential technologies where required. This draft does not assert that every supplier uses only essential cookies or that a consent mechanism has already been implemented.

12. Privacy complaints procedure

Anyone can raise a concern about how we handle personal information. Email info@housingassured.co.uk with subject Privacy complaint, or write to the Privacy contact at our registered office. Give a brief description, relevant dates/reference and the outcome sought, using only necessary information. We will help identify an accessible alternative where needed; no paid membership or particular form is required.

We will acknowledge a data-protection complaint within 30 days of receipt, take appropriate steps to investigate without undue delay, and keep you informed of progress and the outcome. Record the complaint, assign a responsible handler, check conflicts and access only necessary evidence. Communicate the findings, reasons, corrective action where needed and how to challenge the outcome or contact the ICO.

If the complaint concerns its handler or a conflict, allocate it to someone else. Internal privacy case ownership, cover and tracking/escalation arrangements must be in place before live operation; individual names and signed declarations are kept private. The statutory acknowledgement requirement applies to the operator's actual personal-data handling now; describing the procedure is not a claim that a completed complaints-management programme or automated acknowledgement is operating.

1. Included service and separate purchases

Eligible provider membership is intended to include the digital noticeboard tools linked to that provider's own property records, with unlimited properties within the included council area and the agreed additional-area charges. Staff update My account / My properties; the same QR link displays the latest permitted data without printing a replacement plaque. No public Properties directory is provided.

A supplied branded QR plaque is planned at GBP 49.99 each and a powered tablet kit at GBP 399.99 each as optional one-off purchases in addition to membership. These are planning prices and hardware orders remain closed. Confirm the seller, exact kit specification, total payable including any applicable VAT and delivery, compatibility, lead time, faults/returns and applicable rights before an order can be placed. Installation, electricity and internet are not included. Do not take payment against an unfinished specification.

Buying a supplied physical QR plaque is optional: a member may print a paper QR code instead. A separately purchased plaque can be kept after membership ends; it does not need to be returned merely because the subscription is cancelled. The plaque purchase does not include ongoing website hosting after entitlement ends, and an inactive plaque must not imply current membership, certification or a working information service. This does not remove applicable hardware faults, returns or other statutory rights.

2. What the noticeboard can show

The account holds recorded occupancy separately from declared permitted capacity, supporting evidence and check dates. The no-code public brief shows generic certificate dates with due/overdue flags, approved maintenance priority/status/targets, approved notices and shared work contacts where safe. Occupancy, permission references, raw records, confidential files and private addresses are excluded from the brief.

Recorded occupancy is not verified lawful capacity. A provider-entered count, checked box or permission reference does not establish lawful occupation or independently validate a licence. Labels must retain the source and checking status. A reported repair is not resolved until the responsible team has checked it.

3. Immediate QR brief and protected records

An enabled QR opens a public read-only brief immediately, without an inspector code, staff contact, paid membership or provider account login. Anyone with a copied link can read the same brief; scanning does not establish inspector identity. Management remains within the provider's own authorised account and there is no public Properties directory.

Sensitive-location briefs suppress free-text notices and work contacts, omit occupancy and permission references and replace repair descriptions with generic wording. Providers must check whether even this brief or plaque placement could reveal a protected location; disable the link where necessary. New real-property links start disabled until staff confirm display privacy and enable them. QR rotation invalidates the previous printed link.

Keep resident names, support records, diagnoses, circumstances, raw notes, private addresses and uploaded files off the noticeboard. Use approved work contacts rather than personal details where published. The public brief service is separate from the main website and its private management accounts. Legacy codes may remain for separately authorised extended API reads but are never required to open the brief and are not printed on a plaque.

4. Accuracy, connection and continuing access

Information last updated is the server-recorded change time. Staff last confirmed is the separate staff confirmation date. Last connected is the time the viewer last successfully fetched the permitted record. A recent connection does not prove that staff checked the information or that a displayed certificate/repair is current. Show a failed or stale connection clearly, and retain independent emergency and statutory records.

The provider must update material changes promptly and maintain the applicable checking timetable. Access can be disabled or withdrawn to protect safety, privacy or platform security. If paid entitlement or approval ends, hosted QR/inspector access and property management may become unavailable even though the plaque remains physically on the wall. Arrange a safe handover and alternative information; hardware ownership does not buy perpetual hosting.

5. Hardware delivery, installation, faults and returns

Before a physical sale is offered, agree who supplies and installs it, the permitted mounting location and landlord permission, power/network and security requirements, device support, delivery risk, missed/damaged delivery, faults, replacement, returns and lawful cancellation/refund rights. Allocate damage or installation responsibility fairly and preserve rights that cannot be excluded.

Providers must check the correct property QR before mounting a trial, avoid revealing a protected location and remove obsolete codes. Do not rely on a consumer device as a life-safety system. The pilot contains no checkout for plaques or screens; final product terms must be accepted separately when an optional order opens.

1. Who may use the public information

These website/review terms are published for visitors and reviewers as well as members. HousingAssured is operated by HOUSING ASSURED LIMITED at the details in this pack. Public guidance, provider score reasons and published reviews do not require a paid membership. The information website is publicly accessible. Live review submissions are closed during this preview; administrator trials use fictional reviews. When live submissions open, free sign-in will be required to submit a review and paid membership will not be required.

This pilot accepts fictional reviews only and labels its example profiles. No real certification or placement is promised. Live review operations require trained moderation and the checking arrangements below before they open.

2. Your experience and publication permission

For a future live submission, describe your own relevant experience honestly, distinguish fact from opinion and have the authority/rights to share the content. Do not name residents or disclose case, health, criminal-offence, safeguarding, private-location or other unnecessary identifying information. Do not threaten, discriminate, impersonate others or present unsupported allegations as established findings.

You retain ownership of your words and grant a non-exclusive permission to store, reproduce and display them as necessary to run the review service, moderate, investigate and provide a fair challenge process under the privacy notice. Confidential supporting evidence is not licensed for advertising. We may request a privacy-safe redaction or hide unlawful material; we must not edit a review to reverse its meaning or make a different endorsement.

A provider receives a reasonable opportunity to respond or challenge accuracy, through the contact route; it has no paid veto. A response is also checked for relevance, confidentiality and fairness. Use info@housingassured.co.uk, subject Review response or Review challenge, with the reference and brief reasons. No separate live provider-response publishing tool is promised by this pilot.

3. Fake, connected and incentivised reviews

Fake, fabricated, duplicated, commissioned positive/negative and misleading reviews are prohibited. Do not post as an independent service user if you are the provider, its staff/owner, a competitor or another connected party. Disclose a relevant connection privately to the moderation team so it can decide whether the content belongs in a clearly labelled response rather than an independent rating.

Our proposed policy is not to publish incentivised consumer ratings: no payment, gift, discount, reward or conditional benefit for a review, and no reward for removing or improving one. Providers must not selectively solicit only praise or pressure residents to post. Report suspected manipulation to info@housingassured.co.uk, subject Review concern. Paid membership and advertising never buy moderation outcomes.

4. Checking before publication and investigating concerns

Technical controls currently require sign-in, validate the rating/text and confirmation, limit submissions to ten per account per 24 hours, hold every new review pending and restrict publication/hiding to an authorised reviewer with recorded reasons. A sign-in or moderation checkbox is not proof of genuine experience.

The live moderation procedure must record a risk assessment and check relevance, first-hand basis, conflicts/incentives, duplication or coordinated patterns, privacy and evidence proportionate to a disputed claim. Request minimum non-sensitive context or a suitably redacted record when needed, never an open resident case pack. Record the checks, provider/reviewer responses and reasons. The pilot does not claim automated fraud detection or completed live checks.

Investigate credible challenges, use proportionate temporary hiding where justified, communicate the outcome and correct/remove content that is fake, prohibited or materially misleading. Apply the same standards to favourable and critical reviews; do not remove a legitimate negative review merely because a provider objects or ends membership. Repeated abuse can lead to submission restrictions. Log decisions and reconsider them through a separate unconflicted reviewer where appropriate.

Review the fake-review risk assessment and effectiveness of controls regularly and after material changes or manipulation incidents. Named moderation owners, evidence standards, response targets and record-retention rules remain launch-completion items.

5. Ratings, challenges and appropriate reliance

Published review stars are separate from the evidence-based standards score and its two-point transparency credit. The current review summary uses a simple arithmetic mean of published ratings; hidden/pending reviews do not count. Published examples are labelled and must not be passed off as real customer feedback.

Read dates, source, sample scope, review count and limitations. A review is a person's account, not a statutory finding. A reported concern alone does not prove failure. Send a correction or challenge to info@housingassured.co.uk without confidential case attachments. Urgent safeguarding or danger must also reach the appropriate statutory/emergency services; this website is not an emergency service.

6. Website use and responsibility

Use the site lawfully, respect access controls and intellectual-property rights and do not scrape confidential records, misuse another person's access code or interfere with the service. Links and searches do not guarantee a placement or suitability. Keep independent checks and appropriate professional advice where needed.

We remain responsible for our own acts and omissions and applicable duties. Nothing here excludes liability that cannot lawfully be limited, death/personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or mandatory consumer/data-protection rights. The proposed business-membership cap is not automatically imposed on a non-member reviewer merely for reading the website. Material website-policy changes will be dated and explained.