New Template GDPR- Compliant Documents for Residential Lettings Agencies

It is nearly a year since the Data Protection Act 2018 came into force. In light of this forthcoming anniversary, companies and businesses are assessing and reviewing their GDPR requirements and practices to ensure that they are complying with their obligations under this Act. The GDPR requirements have been an administrative challenge and time consuming for many businesses.

We have produced new GDPR compliance documents specifically tailored for Residential Lettings Agencies to assist with the ongoing GDPR requirements.

Under the GDPR letting agents must keep tenants, guarantors and landlord clients informed about the agents use of their personal data and about their legal rights in respect of that data.

In order to comply with their GDPR obligations, letting agents should carry out a data audit and use their findings to prepare a privacy notice. The privacy notice should then be provided to all existing tenants, guarantors and landlord clients. The privacy notice should also be provided to all potential tenants, guarantors and landlord clients at the point their data is collected.

A privacy notice must cover the following key points:

• What personal data is collected from tenants, guarantors and landlord clients;
• What the data is used for;
• The legal basis (i.e. grounds) for using it;
• How long the letting agent will hold data for successful and unsuccessful tenancy applicants;
• How long the letting agent will hold data for potential landlords who do not contract with the letting agent for its services; and
• The third parties (such as utility companies) with whom the landlord will share the data.

The notice must also give information about tenants’, guarantors’ and landlords’ rights, including the right of access to their data and the right to withdraw consent (if applicable).

The Property portfolio has been updated to include GDPR documents for Residential Lettings Agencies, including Guidance Notes, Data Audit and Privacy Notice templates.