Membership terms and conditions

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.

Council-area pricing is the agreed commercial model. Automatic identification, recurring add-on collection, area-change/removal rules and any part-month billing still require completion and testing before subscriptions open. No live additional-area payment is collected by this preview.

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.