Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us. Equity Property Services Ltd, trading as Tenant Link, is committed to protecting your personal information and handling it responsibly, securely and in accordance with applicable data protection legislation.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and share personal information when you contact us, apply to rent a property, act as a guarantor, instruct us to manage or let a property, use our website or otherwise interact with our business.

We will only use your personal information where we have a lawful basis to do so. We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

Our details are:

Equity Property Services Ltd trading as Tenant Link 19 London Road Southampton SO15 2AE

Telephone: 02380 366555 Email: lettings@tenantlink.co.uk

Company registration number: 03758837 VAT registration number: 736995180

Depending on your relationship with Tenant Link, we may collect and process the following types of personal information:

Personal and contact information, including your name, address, telephone number, email address and date of birth.

Identity and Right to Rent information, including passport details, immigration documents, visa information and Right to Rent share codes where required.

Financial information, including income, salary, bank details, rental payment records, credit information and other financial details required for referencing or property management.

Employment and referencing information, including employment details, employer references, previous landlord references, proof of income and information supplied by referencing agencies.

Tenancy information, including application forms, tenancy agreements, guarantor details, deposit information, correspondence, property access arrangements and records relating to rent payments or tenancy issues.

Landlord information, including contact details, property ownership information, bank details for rental payments, property instructions and management agreements.

Property and maintenance information, including inspection reports, photographs, maintenance requests, contractor reports and communications relating to a property.

Website and communication information, including information submitted through our website, emails, telephone calls and other communications with our office.

We only collect information that is relevant and reasonably necessary for the purposes explained in this policy.

We may collect personal information directly from you when you:

• Contact our office by telephone, email or through our website.
• Complete a tenancy application or referencing form.
• Provide identification or Right to Rent documents.
• Apply to rent a property or act as a guarantor.
• Instruct us to let or manage a property.
• Report a maintenance issue or contact us about a tenancy.
• Visit or interact with our website.

We may also receive information from third parties where necessary, including landlords, tenants, guarantors, employers, previous landlords, referencing agencies, credit reference agencies, contractors and other organisations involved in providing our services.

Where we receive information from another organisation, we will handle it in accordance with applicable data protection legislation.

We may use your personal information for the following purposes:

• To respond to enquiries and provide information about our services.
• To process property applications and assess suitability for a tenancy.
• To carry out referencing, affordability checks and identity verification.
• To complete Right to Rent checks where required by law.
• To prepare tenancy agreements and related documentation.
• To communicate with landlords, tenants and guarantors about a tenancy.
• To collect, record and administer rental payments.
• To arrange deposit protection and provide relevant tenancy information.
• To manage properties and arrange inspections, repairs and maintenance.
• To liaise with contractors and other service providers.
• To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.
• To maintain business records and deal with complaints or disputes.
• To establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
• To protect our business, property and the rights of others.
• To send relevant marketing communications where permitted by law and, where required, with your consent.

We will not use your personal information for purposes that are incompatible with those explained in this policy unless we have a lawful basis to do so.

Data protection legislation requires us to have a lawful basis for collecting and using personal information.

Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract: Where processing is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, or to perform a contract with you.

Legal obligation: Where we need to process information to comply with legal or regulatory requirements, including applicable tenancy, identity verification and Right to Rent obligations.

Legitimate interests: Where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided these interests do not override your rights and freedoms. This may include managing properties, communicating with landlords and tenants, maintaining records, preventing fraud and dealing with disputes.

Consent: Where you have given your consent for a specific purpose, such as certain types of marketing or non-essential cookies. You can withdraw your consent at any time where processing relies on consent.

Vital interests or public task: These may apply in limited circumstances where the relevant legal conditions are met.

We will consider the appropriate lawful basis for each processing activity and will not rely on consent where another lawful basis is more appropriate.

We may share your personal information with relevant third parties where reasonably necessary to provide our services, fulfil contractual arrangements, comply with legal obligations or pursue our legitimate business interests.

These third parties may include:

• Landlords and their authorised representatives.
• Tenants, joint tenants and guarantors, where relevant to the tenancy.
• Referencing and credit reference agencies, including HomeLet.
• Employers and referees where required for referencing.
• Deposit protection schemes.
• Utility companies and council tax authorities, where relevant.
• UniHomes and other property advertising or accommodation platforms.
• Mortgage providers, insurers and rent guarantee service providers where relevant.
• Contractors, maintenance companies and other property service providers.
• Solicitors, accountants and professional advisers.
• Banks and payment service providers.
• Regulators, government departments, law enforcement agencies and other public authorities where required or permitted by law.

For example, we may share relevant applicant information with a landlord to help them consider a tenancy application. We may also share necessary contact details with tenants, joint tenants or guarantors to facilitate the preparation and signing of a tenancy agreement.

We will only share information that is relevant and reasonably necessary for the purpose concerned.

Where a third party processes personal information on our behalf, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the information is handled securely and in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.

Some organisations we share information with may act as independent data controllers and will have their own privacy policies.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

These measures may include restricting access to personal information to authorised personnel, using appropriate electronic security measures, maintaining secure records and taking reasonable steps to ensure that information is handled confidentially.

However, no method of storing or transmitting information electronically is completely secure. Although we take reasonable steps to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

If a personal data breach occurs, we will assess the circumstances and take any action required under applicable data protection legislation.

Personal information may be stored in electronic systems, email accounts, referencing platforms, property management software and physical records held by our office or relevant service providers.

Where we use third-party systems or service providers, your information may be processed or stored outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer complies with applicable data protection legislation. This may include relying on an adequacy decision or using appropriate safeguards where required.

Tenant Link retains personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, regulatory and business requirements.

We may retain personal information for up to seven years after a tenancy agreement ends or our management agreement ends, where necessary. The length of time information is retained will depend on the type of information, the circumstances in which it was collected and any applicable legal or regulatory requirements.

We may need to retain information relating to tenant applications, referencing checks, tenancy agreements, landlords, guarantors, rental payments, deposits, property management and correspondence to maintain appropriate records, resolve disputes, establish or defend legal claims and meet our obligations.

Some information may be deleted sooner if it is no longer required for the purpose for which it was collected and there is no other lawful reason to retain it. In certain circumstances, information may need to be retained for longer where permitted or required by law.

When personal information is no longer required, we will take appropriate steps to delete it securely or anonymise it.

Under applicable data protection legislation, you may have the following rights in relation to your personal information:

Right of access: You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.

Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete.

Right to erasure: You can ask us to delete your personal information in certain circumstances.

Right to restrict processing: You can ask us to restrict how we use your information in certain circumstances.

Right to data portability: In certain circumstances, you can request that information you provided to us is transferred to you or another organisation in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.

Right to object: You can object to certain types of processing, including processing based on our legitimate interests and processing for direct marketing.

Rights relating to automated decision-making: You may have rights where decisions are made solely by automated means and produce legal or similarly significant effects.

These rights are subject to certain conditions and exemptions. For example, we may need to retain some information to comply with legal obligations or establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

To exercise your rights, please contact us using the details provided in Section 1.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request. We will respond within the time limits required by applicable data protection legislation.

Where you apply to rent a property or act as a guarantor, we may use third-party referencing providers to carry out identity, employment, income, affordability and credit checks.

This may involve sharing relevant personal information with the referencing provider and, where necessary, obtaining information from employers, previous landlords, credit reference agencies or other relevant sources.

The referencing provider may have its own privacy policy explaining how it uses your information. You should refer to that policy for further details about its processing activities.

Referencing outcomes may be shared with the relevant landlord or authorised representative to help assess the application.

Where credit reference agencies are involved, they may retain records of searches or other information in accordance with their own legal obligations and retention policies.

Where required by law, we carry out Right to Rent checks on prospective adult tenants in accordance with the applicable requirements.

This may involve checking identity documents, immigration documents or a share code through the relevant government service.

We may retain evidence of checks and related records where required or permitted by law.

Identity information will only be used and shared where necessary for verification, tenancy administration, legal compliance or another lawful purpose.

We may keep records of telephone calls, emails, letters and other communications with you to help us manage enquiries, administer tenancies, maintain accurate records, deal with complaints and resolve disputes.

Where telephone calls are recorded, we will provide information about this where required by law. Recordings will be accessed only where necessary for legitimate business or legal purposes and retained in accordance with our retention arrangements.

If you contact us by email or through our website, we may retain the correspondence and associated information as part of our business records.

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to help it function, understand how visitors use the website and improve the user experience.

Cookies are small text files stored on your device. Some are necessary for the website to operate, while others may be used for analytics, preferences or marketing.

Where required by law, we will seek your consent before placing non-essential cookies on your device. You can also manage cookies through your browser settings or any cookie preference tool provided on our website.

Property location maps load automatically using Leaflet, served as part of our website, and map images (tiles) from OpenStreetMap. This map implementation does not use advertising or analytics tracking, request your device location, or send cookies with requests to the map tile service. Your browser may cache map images for display and performance. To deliver map images, the OpenStreetMap Foundation and its delivery providers receive technical information such as your IP address, browser information, our website origin and the map tiles requested. See the OpenStreetMap Foundation Privacy Policy at https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy for details.

Google Maps is not embedded in our property pages. If you choose an Open in Google Maps or Directions link, you will visit Google's website, where Google's privacy and cookie rules apply. Optional YouTube video players remain subject to your cookie preferences.

Disabling certain cookies may affect how some parts of the website function.

For further information about our website and any cookies used, please refer to the relevant information available on our website.

We may contact you about our services or relevant properties where permitted by law.

Where consent is required, we will obtain it before sending direct marketing communications. You can withdraw your consent or object to direct marketing at any time.

If you no longer wish to receive marketing communications, you can contact us using the details in Section 1 or follow any unsubscribe instructions provided in the communication.

Please note that opting out of marketing will not prevent us from sending essential communications relating to an application, tenancy, property management arrangement or other existing business relationship.

Our services are generally intended for adults, including landlords, prospective tenants and guarantors.

Where we process personal information relating to a person under the age of 18, we will do so only where necessary for a legitimate and lawful purpose, such as tenancy administration or compliance with legal obligations, and will take appropriate care in handling that information.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, how we use your personal information or wish to exercise your data protection rights, please contact us:

Tenant Link Equity Property Services Ltd 19 London Road Southampton SO15 2AE

Telephone: 02380 366555 Email: lettings@tenantlink.co.uk

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first so that we have an opportunity to address your concerns.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator.

You can find further information on the ICO's official website: https://ico.org.uk/

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our business practices, the services we provide or applicable data protection legislation.

Any revised version will be published on our website, with the date of the latest update shown at the beginning of the policy.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to remain informed about how we handle personal information.