Landlord Connect acceptable use

Purpose of Landlord Connect

The live forum events and forum community chat room help members:

• build a better relationship with the Housing Ombudsman Service
• get updates about the service and new initiatives
• give feedback that helps shape guidance and improve policies
• share ideas, experiences, and learning
• connect with other landlords

The forums are also a place to give early feedback on changes before they are introduced.

Who can take part

The live forum events and forum community chats rooms are for landlords who are members of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme.

Each member landlord can register up to 2 people for each live session.

How the live forum events work

Our landlord forums are structured to ensure meaningful engagement and accessibility for all participants. Here’s how they work:

• forums are held online using Zoom
• sessions last between 1.5 hours
• forums are held twice a year and may happen more often in the future
• there are 3 types of forums:
  • landlords with over 1,000 homes
  • landlords with under 1,000 homes
  • local authorities

What to expect at live forum events

To help you prepare for and participate effectively in our live forum events, here’s what you can expect:

• invitations are sent by email 2 to 3 months before the forum
• agendas are shared at least 3 weeks in advance
• the live forum events follow Chatham House rules – information from discussions can be shared but individual contributions cannot be identified
• captions are available during Zoom meetings and full transcripts can be provided
• we are unable to discuss individual cases during the forums

Behaviour guidelines

Behaviour guidelines for live forum events

To help everyone take part, we ask that you:

• stay muted unless speaking
• raise your hand to speak
• use the chat to request speaking time
• stick to time limits so others can contribute
• speak respectfully and let others finish
• use inclusive and professional language
• keep comments relevant to the topic

Behaviour guidelines for forum community chat rooms

To keep the community chat room useful and respectful, we ask that you:

• keep posts on topic
• avoid posting content that’s offensive or inappropriate
• understand that posts may be removed if they break the rules
• know that posts reflect the participants' views, not ours

Expected behaviour

We ask that all members:

• speak and act respectfully
• allow others to contribute without interruption
• use professional and inclusive language
• listen actively and share experiences in a constructive way
• keep comments relevant to the discussion

Unacceptable behaviour

The following behaviours are not permitted, and you may be removed from a session or not invited back if you:

• use abusive, offensive or discriminatory language
• act in a disruptive or disrespectful way
• interrupt or dominate discussions
• record the meeting or share content without permission

How the forum events and communities work together

The live forum events and forum communities support each other. Forum events start the conversation, and the forum community chat rooms keep it going. Together, they help us learn and improve.

Accessibility and adjustments

We aim to make the digital community and forum accessible to everyone. If you need adjustments or want to raise a concern about behaviour or posts, please contact us at landlordforum@housing-ombudsman.org.uk.