This Privacy Notice tells you what information we obtain and hold about you whether you are initially applying to us for a tenancy or if you become a tenant, resident or guarantor, it explains what information we collect, why we collect it, and what we do with it, as well as who we share it with. We collect and handle personal information about our tenants and residents and prospective tenants and residents along with any guarantors to enable us to provide residential accommodation. This includes dealing with applications for tenancies, checking the suitability of tenants, residents along with any guarantors (including credit, immigration and similar referencing checks), arranging lettings, property management (including dealing with repairs), rent collection, dealing with any complaints, maintaining our accounts and records, tenancy terminations and administering tenancy deposits.
We call this information "your information". It is also referred to as "data".
You should read this notice when you give us information so you are aware of how and why we are using this. Please update us if any information supplied by you changes.
We are required by data protection law to give you this notice. We must be open with you about why information is collected about you and then what is done with it. We must act fairly in relation to this information. You have various legal rights relating to this information which are spelt out in more detail in this notice.
If you are already a tenant, resident or guarantor some of the items in this notice may not be relevant to you. Different information will be involved depending on whether you are a tenant, resident or guarantor.
In order that we can collect or use information about you there must be a legal basis or gateway for doing so. This notice identifies the relevant gateway for the various types of information we collect and hold about you. A detailed explanation of these gateways is given in this notice.
Under data protection legislation we can only process data "as necessary" and only to the extent that it is needed. For example, we can use your bank details regarding payments and other limited purposes only. However, in certain instances, as necessary, we can share any of your data, e.g. with our own professional advisers or letting and managing agents. We may also share any of your data, as necessary, with the police/law enforcement agencies or regulatory authorities.
References to a tenant in this notice also include a guarantor if there is one. This is because a guarantor underwrites a tenant's obligations so references to your tenancy are to include your guarantee.
We use different ways to collect data about you including the information you supply to us when applying for a tenancy/residency. If you fail to provide this information we may not be able to proceed.
As necessary personal data is processed by us relating to tenants / prospective tenants / residents / prospective residents / guarantors consisting of the following as applicable: -
We also generate and use data internally, e.g. our rent records.
We also collect and receive data about you from third parties. This may be information given to us by other tenants or residents or neighbours. It can include information from a guarantor where there is a guarantor for your tenancy or from a joint tenant or other residents. Public bodies such as local authorities or the police, or other law enforcement agencies may give us information about you. This can include the Department for Work and Pensions or the local authority where you are receiving Universal Credit or housing benefit. Information may be given to us relevant to Council Tax by the local authority. Utility companies or service providers may also give us personal information about you. We obtain information about you when we carry out credit checks or take up references. We may also receive information from you via websites or from online rental portals such as Rightmove. Any information which we receive in this way is set out in the Table to this privacy notice which gives you more details about information which we can receive from third parties.
We will share information we hold with others, where this is necessary. When we do this, we must comply with data protection legislation. Information can be shared with other landlords including where you apply to another landlord for a tenancy; contractors/ suppliers; utilities and service providers; tradespeople; financial organisations (including banks and insurance companies); debt collection and tracing agents; public and government bodies (including those who administer benefits, such as the Department for Work and Pensions or the local authority); courts; police and law enforcement agencies; taxation authorities; local authorities in relation to Council Tax and regulatory functions; letting and managing agents; and any future owner of the property. We may need to share information with your next of kin etc., e.g. in an emergency. We also may share information with professional advisers such as lawyers and accountants or an advice agency which involves sharing information about you with them. We also send notifications to and have correspondence with any tenancy deposit scheme protecting any tenancy deposit which has been paid. In some cases, we may be under a legal obligation to provide information either because of the law or because of a contractual obligating binding on us. What we share will depend on what is necessary in the circumstances and more details are given in the Table in respect of different kinds of information which we hold about you.
Where you have a tenancy jointly with someone else or there is a guarantor for your tenancy, as necessary, we will share information either with the joint tenant or the guarantor (or both). This relates to your performance of your responsibilities under the tenancy agreement including information about any rent arrears or other breach of the tenancy terms. It can also relate to issues around the termination of the tenancy and any claims we may have as a result.
By law, in England, we are required to check your immigration status before we rent a property to you. This means that you are legally obliged to produce certain documentation (e.g. a passport or driving licence) to us. This applies whether or not you are a UK or EU citizen. Not only are we required to see original documentation but we must take and keep copies of it. We also check this documentation as part of our process to verify your identity at the outset of the tenancy. Prospective tenants and all adult residents who will live at the property must be checked.
As necessary, we obtain information about you which is publically available via search engines such as Google or Facebook and websites. This will include information about you which you yourself made public. Further details are set out in the Table. However, when doing so we make sure that we comply with applicable guidelines under data protection legislation.
In limited situations we will process information about your health or any disability. This data is given special protection under data protection law. Normally we would expect to ask you for your explicit consent before we collect or use this kind of data.
In cases where you rent a property where a child resides, information will be given to us about resident children; usually by an adult such as a parent on their behalf. Data protection law requires us to give such information additional protection where we collect or use it. In particular, where the rented property is located in England, we need to check on the age of any residents to see whether or not an immigration/right to rent check must be carried out.
Private renting is highly regulated so we are under various legal obligations. These include an obligation to carry out gas safety checks under gas safety legislation. We may need to handle data for this purpose, e.g. to give the contracted gas safety engineer access to the property. In other areas, in line with Information Commissioner advice, we will pass over details of your occupancy to the relevant Water Company to enable them to collect water charges as it is in their legitimate interests to receive this information.
Legally we must also hold and process information relating to any tenancy deposit which you pay to us including sharing your information with a deposit scheme by which any deposit is protected.
Under any statutory licensing schemes applicable to the property we may be required to give information to the local housing authority relating to your occupation of the property. Similarly, there are various regulatory requirements which may mean that we need to give information about you to public or local authorities or other regulatory authorities.
Again, in line with advice from the Information Commissioner we consider that it is in the legitimate interests of utility companies to receive information about occupants of the property to enable them to bill you for utilities (unless these are included within your rent).
Likewise, we notify local authorities of your occupancy relevant to the collection of Council Tax. In any event they are entitled to serve notice upon us requiring this information if they choose to do so.
We must tell you why we collect and hold information about you.
We must also have a legal basis before we are allowed to collect or process your personal data. Processing personal data includes recording, storing, altering, using, sharing or deleting data. We only need one of these "gateways" and for our purposes they are -
This notice identifies the relevant gateway applicable in each case. In some cases, we will rely on more than one gateway depending on the particular purpose for which we are using your data.
Additionally, any data must be processed by us fairly and openly.
The various purposes for which it may be necessary for us to process various categories of your information include: -
We may change the purposes where this is compatible for the purpose for which we obtained the data originally. If we need to use your data for a non-compatible purpose we will notify you and explain the legal gateway that allows us to do so. We may process your information without your knowledge where this is required or permitted by law.
More information about what we do with data and why, along with the relevant legal gateway is given in the Table. This also tells you who we share data with and receive it from.
We will monitor, record and retain your calls, emails, text messages, social media messages and other communications. This is in our legitimate interests to maintain an accurate record of these. This may be necessary to manage your tenancy or the property or to deal with your application for a tenancy or to deal with tenants/residents or prospective tenants/residents/guarantors. We need these records for our ongoing dealings with you, including our data protection obligations.
Data can only be stored on a time limited basis and not indefinitely. We will hold personal data about you for the duration of your tenancy and for seven years after your tenancy has ended. This is the statutory limitation period six years plus a further year to allow for service of proceedings should proceedings commence later. We are also required to retain information for up to six years for tax purposes. If your tenancy application does not go ahead then we retain data for one year.
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, contractors and other third parties, who will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
All our information is stored securely electronically on servers or devices. Certain information is also retained on a secure basis in hard copy format.
To protect our legitimate interests telephone conversations may be recorded electronically for monitoring and to ensure that we have a record of what is said. You or others may leave messages when calling.
When we install CCTV, this is for security purposes in cases where we consider that it is in our legitimate interests to carry out such monitoring which must be done in accordance with legal requirements.
Your tenancy agreement provides that in certain situations you must give us information when asked. This is a legal obligation because it is a contractual requirement. You should refer to the relevant clauses in your tenancy agreement which tell you the situations in which such information must be given.
Our email account and web provider (if any) is the provider specified in the Table. Our email account is web based. Providers store related data internationally and not necessarily within the European Union. The recipient of this data is the provider concerned.
Where we hold personal data about you, you are the data subject. Data protection legislation gives you a number of rights. To exercise any of these rights you should contact us. You can do so by email at the address given above or you can telephone us on the number given above. You can also write to us at our address given at the top of this notice. Normally no fee is payable.
In particular you have a right to object to the processing of your information where we are processing this in our own legitimate interests or those of someone else. This applies if you feel that this impacts on your own interests or your fundamental rights or freedoms.
These rights are as follows -
Where your consent provides us with the legal gateway to process data about you you can withdraw this at any time by telling us by email or post using the email address or postal address given above.
We operate our own internal complaints policy and if you have any concerns about the way in which we collect or handle data please contact us.
Additionally, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Supervisory Authority who is -
Information Commissioner
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
About this Table
As necessary, we collect, use and otherwise process different categories of information (data) about you relying on the various legal gateways available to us. This relates to your application for a tenancy/residency and, if this goes ahead, so that we can manage the tenancy and the property along with associated matters. This part of this notice gives you a general description of these processing activities for the different categories of information and the purposes for which we process your information. If you consider that we have not given sufficient details of what we do then you can make an access request for more information.
Renting out residential accommodation and managing tenancies and rental properties is multi faceted. As tenants and residents are at the centre of this service, we must process your data for a large number of different purposes. Data protection law requires us to give you information about these processing activities as concisely as possible. To do so we have split information about you into different categories, which is in line with requirements in the legislation. We also have to tell you the extent for which your information can be used and shared. Due to the nature of our business information falling into one category will be combined with information in other categories to be handled by us as permitted for the stated purposes under the relevant legal gateway which we have to identify. For example, information about your identity/contact details will be combined with other categories of information to correctly identify you, e.g. when we compile our accounts or pass information about a repair over to a contractor so that they can deal with the problem at the property you rent. However, we only do this to the extent that it is necessary in the circumstances.
To make this Table as concise as possible we employ a number of expressions -
Handle information - collecting, compiling, using or storing information (data).
Use information - when we use information this means we consult it, compile it, refer to it to make a decision, or act on it, or combine it with other data. When using it in this way we may have to alter it.
Share data - this includes transferring data to someone else where this is necessary, or receive it from a third party.
Collect data - this is where we receive information either from you, e.g. when you sign a tenancy application form or from a third party, e.g. a reference about you.
Compile data - this is where we use information about you which we have collected to generate information about you, e.g. our rent payment records or repair records.
Next of kin etc. - this includes close relatives.
We are required by data protection legislation to keep your information up to date and it is of course in our own legitimate interests to do so for us to ensure that we have accurate records. For example, we keep our record of your rent payments up to date as they are received.
We keep information both electronically and in a manual filing system to maintain our records. We do this because we need to use it from time to time. Normally the legal gateway permitting us to do so which will apply will be the same as applies when we use the data. Additionally, however, there are legal obligations to retain data under data protection law, taxation legislation and housing law. We also need to do so to fulfil our contract with you. In our own legitimate interests, we also need to retain information to deal with enquiries or disputes and for audit purposes.
We delete/destroy data once it is no longer needed. This is a requirement of data protection law. This notice tells you the period for which we normally store data.
Information is handled as necessary from time to time. As already stated, information falling under one category can be amalgamated with or added to information in another category in order to carry out the stated purposes.
Part 1 of this Table tells you, depending on the relevant category of your information, what our processing activities are and what is the legal gateway permitting processing as well as the purpose for which we carry out these processing activities.
Where the legal gateway in question is our own legitimate interests (or those of a third party) we identify the relevant legitimate interests.
Details about sharing data are set out in Part 2, whether we transfer it to someone else or receive from a third party.
Part 1 - Collecting, compiling, using and storing your information
In this Part we list out the different categories of your information, briefly explain them where needed, explain what we do with the information and why, as well as specifying the relevant legal gateway we rely on to do so.
We use the word "handle" to cover collecting, compiling, using or storing this information.
Introduction
We share your information with various persons, organisations and public authorities as necessary. This involves us either transferring your information to others or collecting it from them, depending upon the circumstances. This Part of the Table gives you details about this. It can be a two-way traffic between ourselves and others. In some instances, we may collect information about you from someone else following a request by us to them to provide this information.
Where we collect information from others (third parties) we have to tell you the source of this information, whether or not it is publically accessible, the nature of the source (i.e. whether it is publically or privately held) and the types of organisation from whom the information is obtained. Where possible we need to name the source as well but often this cannot be done. The required details appear in this Part of the Table.
Where information is received from a private person/body or a public authority, this information will not normally be publicly accessible, however in some instances it will be. Information which will be publically accessible will be information such as Council Tax bandings and information available in public registers, e.g. registers of births and other available public registers.
We share identity and contact details with all persons, organisations/authorities referred to below. This category of information is linked with the other information in every category for the purposes and under the legal gateway specified under each of the other categories of information. This is to ensure that you are correctly identified and, if need be, can be contacted.
We share certain categories of your information (both transferring it to them and collecting it from them as necessary) with private persons/organisations and public authorities as necessary.
In Section B we go onto explain that, as necessary, certain private persons/organisations and public authorities can share any of your information (irrespective of its category).
Table 1 below identifies the different categories of your information and specifies the private persons/organisations/public authorities with whom these different categories of your information are shared as necessary. This Table should be read in conjunction with Table 2 (private persons/organisations) and Table 3 (public authorities). Tables 2 and 3 explain why we share your information with these persons/organisations/public authorities and the legal gateway which allows this to happen.
Depending on the category of data concerned you should also refer to that category under Part 1 above because the purposes set out for which we handle data and the legal gateway for doing so also usually apply when we share data with others.
Data category | With whom we share the data |
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Personal/background information | Other landlords/employers; debt collectors/tracing agents; next of kin etc.; insurers; banks etc. |
Bank details | Our bank, credit reference agency; debt collects/tracing agents |
Tenancy details | Other landlords/employers, benefit authority, taxation authority |
Deposits (if any) | Tenancy deposit body; debt collectors/tracing agents; taxation authority |
Immigration/right to rent checks (England only) and verification of tenant's identity | Home Office; credit reference agency (for verification of identity) |
Rent and other payments | Bank, benefits authority, taxation authority, joint tenants/resident's guarantor, insurers, other landlords |
Recovery of arrears, claims and possession | Debt collectors/tracing agents, other landlords, taxation authority, joint tenants/residents, guarantors; insurers |
Repairs/housing conditions/health and safety | Contractors, tradespeople, etc., deposit protection body, joint tenants/residents, freeholder, guarantors |
Breach of tenancy agreement/nuisance etc. | Contractors, tradespeople etc., deposit protection body, joint tenants/residents, guarantors, educational institution, neighbours, other residents etc., freeholder etc., insurers |
Council Tax liability | Taxation authority (local authority) |
Water charges | Water companies |
Utilities and services | Utility suppliers and service providers, e.g. Broadband |
Universal Credit, housing benefit etc. | Benefit authority (Department for Work and Pensions or local authority), regulatory authority, joint tenants/residents/guarantors |
Termination of tenancy | Other landlords, educational institutions, debt collectors/tracing agent, taxation authority, deposit protection body, bank joint tenant/resident/guarantors, freeholder etc. |
CCTV/audio/ recording table | Deposit body, joint tenants/residents, guarantor, next of kin etc. |
Correspondence etc. | Depending upon the applicable category of information relevant correspondence etc. is shared with any of the persons/organisations/authorities listed in Section A. |
Online platforms | Joint tenants/residents; guarantors |
Insurance | Insurers, banks etc. |
Categories of persons /organisations | Purpose and legal gateway |
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Other landlords/employers | To obtain references. This is to ensure suitability for a tenancy in our own legitimate interests. We also provide information to prospective landlords in their legitimate interest to assist them in evaluating suitability for a tenancy/residency. These interests are to ensure that properties are let to reliable tenants/residents. Where the property is subject to selective licensing there is a legal obligation for new landlords to obtain references before they let. |
Contractors/tradespeople/service suppliers | Assisting in carrying out our responsibilities under the tenancy agreement and for the management of the tenancy and the property for contractual performance. In certain cases, this is also to comply with our legal obligations in relation to housing conditions and health and safety, e.g. gas, electrical and fire alarm maintenance and inspection. We will also provide your contact details to contractors etc., to facilitate access to the property for contract performance. On occasion we will arrange for inspections in our legitimate interests and for contractual performance. This is so that we can deal with complaints and pursue/defend claims. |
Utility companies and service providers, e.g. Broadband | Arranging for utilities/services and establishing liability for payment along with administering their supply in our own legitimate interests and those of the provider. This is to ensure utilities/services are provided and that liability is correctly established. Utility companies also have certain statutory obligations to perform, e.g. metering. In the case of utilities or other service providers if we agree to provide any relevant utility or services as part of the tenancy agreement then these arrangements are made for contractual performance. Otherwise, they are in the legitimate interests of the utilities/service providers to ensure that they can effectively carry out their various activities. |
Credit reference agencies | We request and consider credit and other referencing relating to deciding on the suitability of tenants and residents for a tenancy. This is in our own legitimate interest to ensure that we let to reliable tenants/residents. |
Debt collects/tracing agents | To trace you or make a claim in our legitimate interests. These are to enforce our legal rights. |
Joint tenants/residents | Management of the tenancy and the property for contractual performance. Additionally, in our own legitimate interests and those of joint tenants/residents where there are arrears of rent or other payments due or breaches of the terms of the tenancy agreement as they are either jointly liable for performance or non- performance could adversely impact on their continued residence at the property. The legitimate interests are to protect our own property interests and to enforce our rights. |
Guarantors | Management of the tenancy and the property for contractual performance. We also inform guarantors of claims and liabilities for contractual performance of the guarantee. It is in our own legitimate interests and those of the guarantor to give and receive information relating to non- performance of tenancy obligations including non- payment of rent and other payments. Our interests are to protect our property interests and to enforce our rights and the guarantor's interests are so that the guarantor is aware of possible liability under the guarantee. |
Next of kin etc. | To make contact with them in the event of an emergency to protect your vital interests. |
Insurers | To arrange rent insurance and to make claims. This is in our legitimate interests and the insurers legitimate interests. These are making sure that appropriate insurance is arranged and the policies are correctly administered. Under the terms of policies, we are required contractually to provide information to insurers. |
Banks and lenders | Where we have loans, information regarding tenancies must be provided to arrange and administer loans. This is in our own legitimate interests to finance our business. Contractually they are entitled to your information. In the case of banks information about you can be shared for the purposes of administering rental and other payments for contractual performance. Your information can also be shared for the purposes of preventing and detecting money laundering and fraud. This is in our own legitimate interests and those of the bank in order to detect crime. |
Neighbours, other tenants and residents | The management of the tenancy and the property. This includes information relating to complaints including alleged breaches of the tenancy agreement and anti social behaviour, as well as the abandonment of the property. It can include car registration information. This is in our own legitimate interests to protect our property rights and to enforce compliance with the terms of the tenancy. It is also in the legitimate interests of neighbours for their enjoyment of their own properties and to protect their property, interests and rights. |
Web sites, portals etc. | Undertaking searches and obtaining publically available information relevant to your suitability for a tenancy/residency and relating to the management of the tenancy and the property. This is undertaken in accordance with applicable data protection law and guidance and subject to data protection principles. In connection with your application for a tenancy, we may receive information via any online portal involved for contractual performance. |
Home Office | Immigration/right to rent checks for the performance of our legal obligations |
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Benefit authority | The administration of benefits such as Universal Credit (by the Department for Work and Pensions) and the housing benefit/local housing allowance by the local authority. This includes applications to them for direct payment of benefit to ourselves. It extends to claims by them for overpayment where we receive direct payments. This is for contractual performance and/or in our legitimate interests to ensure that we collect rent and that amounts properly due to us are received. |
Deposit body | Under housing legislation we are required to protect any deposit which you pay in connection with the tenancy. We may pay this into a custodial scheme which holds the money or alternatively hold it ourselves in which case it is insured. We have to register the deposit with the deposit body concerned. This is to comply with our legal obligations. During the course of the tenancy it may be necessary to give details of any changes to the deposit body to comply with our legal obligations. On the termination of the tenancy for contractual performance we must arrange for the return of the deposit in whole or in part depending on whether there are any claims on it or not by us. In the event of disputes these can be submitted to adjudication in which case it is necessary for information to be provided to the deposit body concerned (and its adjudicator) in our legitimate interests to pursue or defend claims. This is also contractually required under the rules of the scheme. |
Educational institutions | Information relating to non- payment of rent, breach of tenancy terms, nuisance or anti social behaviour may be shared with educational institutions where you are studying. Educational institutions can operate complaints schemes in conjunction with landlords of student properties. This can include information about tenancy terminations. This is in our own legitimate interests to protect our property interests and our rights and in the interests of the educational institution concerned to oversee the conduct of their students. |
Taxation authorities | These are HM Revenue and Customs and (in the case of Council Tax and Council Tax reduction schemes) local authorities, as well as any other public authority having power to levy taxes or charges. We are required by law to make appropriate returns to comply with legislation imposing taxes etc. In the case of Council Tax this is required where statutory notice to that effect is served on us. Otherwise, we share information with the local authority relating to Council Tax in our own legitimate interests to ensure that Council Tax is correctly administered and in the legitimate interests of the local authority to collect information for the same reason. |
As necessary, we share all of your information (irrespective of its category) with certain private bodies/organisations/public authorities. This includes transferring your information to them and receiving it from them. These are
Category of person/organisation/public authority | Purposes and legal gateway |
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Professional advisers | Assistance and advice regarding the management of the tenancy and the property for contractual performance. Where we handle your information under some other gateway and a professional adviser assists or advises this will for the same purpose and under the same legal gateway. If it is in the legitimate interests of ourselves or someone else then those interests will be the same. These are to ensure that we act appropriately and properly as well as according to the law. |
Police/law enforcement agencies* | Prevention/detection of crime and anti social behaviour in our and their legitimate interests. This is to protect our property and enforce our rights and to enforce the law. |
Regulatory authorities* | To carry out their functions in their legitimate interests. These are to enforce legal requirements. On occasion, we may be under a legal obligation to provide your information, particularly if a notice to that effect is served on us. This can include an ombudsman or accreditation or similar scheme of which we are a member. It also includes water companies, utility providers who are exercising their functions as statutory undertakers. |
Courts* | The administration of Justice in our legitimate interests. These are to pursue and defend claims. |
Prospective purchaser of the property | In the event of a proposed sale/sale of the property either subject to the tenancy or with vacant possession any prospective purchaser/purchaser will require information about the tenancy and the property. This is in our own legitimate interests and their legitimate interests. This is part of the conveyancing and sales process for both parties. The legitimate interests are to ensure that correct information is provided and received. |
* These are public authorities
Where we are able we have to provide you with the identity of the regular persons/organisations/authorities which are referred to in Tables 1, 2 and 3 above.
Email Provider - 10Ninety
Website Provider/host - 10Ninety
Accountant - Johal & Company
Bank - NatWest
Rent Protection Insurance - Rent4Sure
Reference Agency - Rent4Sure
Deposit Protection Facility - The Deposit Protection Service
Contractors etc regularly employed to maintain the property - Delaney's Limited