Community Policy

1. Why These Rules Exist

Students use Purchet to choose somewhere to live, often before they have seen it. Hosts use it to welcome people they have not met. That only works if what is on Purchet is true and people treat each other decently. These rules apply to everyone: students, hosts, members of a host's team, and visitors.

2. Honest Listings

• List only accommodation you own or have the right to let, and that really exists at the location shown.
• Use your own, recent photographs of the actual property and rooms. No stock images, no photographs of a different place.
• State the real price, every extra fee and any security deposit. Do not add charges after a booking that were not on the listing.
• Describe rooms accurately: how many people share, which rooms are for male or female students where that applies, what is included, and the rules of the house.
• Keep the number of spaces available up to date, and do not accept more bookings than you have room for.
• One listing per property. Do not post copies of the same listing.

3. Keeping Your Word

• Hosts: answer booking requests promptly, honour the bookings you accept, and hand over the room that was booked on the date agreed.
• Students: book only if you intend to stay, pay what you agreed, and follow the house rules and the tenancy agreement.
• Both: turn up for viewings you have arranged, or cancel in good time.

4. Keep Payments on Purchet

Pay for bookings through Purchet. This is what gives you a record of the payment, the automatic refund if a host does not accept, and our help if something goes wrong.

• Do not ask someone to pay you outside Purchet for a booking found on Purchet, and do not agree to if asked. If a host asks you to, report the listing.
• Never share a password, a verification code or a mobile money PIN with anyone, including someone claiming to be from Purchet. We will never ask for them.

5. Treat People with Respect

• No harassment, threats, bullying or intimidation, in messages, in reviews or in person.
• No discrimination against anyone because of their ethnicity, religion, disability, nationality or background. A host may reserve rooms for male or female students, and should say so on the listing.
• No sexual harassment or unwanted advances of any kind.
• Respect privacy: do not share someone else's personal details, photographs or messages without their agreement.

6. Messages

• Use messages to talk about accommodation, bookings and stays.
• No spam, advertising of unrelated services, or repeated unwanted messages.
• Messages may be reviewed by Purchet staff when a report or a dispute is being looked into.

7. Fair Reviews

• Review only stays you actually had. Purchet only accepts reviews from completed bookings.
• Be truthful and specific. Describe what happened; do not insult the person.
• Do not offer or accept money, discounts or favours in exchange for a review, or threaten a bad review to get something.
• Do not review your own listing or ask friends to.
• Hosts may reply to a review, politely. A reply is not the place to reveal a tenant's personal details.

8. Safety

• Hosts are responsible for the property being safe to live in and for keeping to the law that applies to letting it.
• Do not use accommodation booked through Purchet for anything illegal.
• In an emergency, contact the emergency services first, then tell us.

9. What Is Not Allowed

• Fake listings, fake accounts, or pretending to be someone else.
• Taking payment for accommodation you cannot provide.
• Uploading false documents for verification.
• Trying to get around fees, the booking process or a suspension.
• Collecting other users' details for purposes unrelated to a booking.
• Interfering with the platform: scraping it, probing it for weaknesses, or attempting to access accounts or data that are not yours.
• Content that is unlawful, hateful, sexually explicit or violent.

10. Reporting a Problem

Report in good faith. Reports made to harm someone, or known to be false, are themselves a breach of these rules.

• A listing that looks wrong or dishonest: use "Report this listing" on the property's page. The report goes to Purchet's team, not to the host, and the host is not told who made it.
• A problem with your stay: use "Report a problem" on the booking. It goes to the host to answer, and our team can see it.
• A review that breaks these rules: use the report option on the review.
• Anything else, or a complaint about a host or a tenant: open a support ticket.

11. What We Do About It

We review reports and look at what both sides say. Depending on how serious the matter is and whether it has happened before, we may:

• ask for a listing or a review to be corrected;
• hide or remove a review;
• unpublish or suspend a listing;
• refund a tenant;
• suspend or permanently close an account.

12. If You Think We Got It Wrong

If your listing or account was suspended and you believe it was a mistake, reply to the notice or email hello@purchet.com with your account's email address and what happened. A person will look at it again.