Privacy policy and statements

At Paran Property, we take your privacy and use of personal data very seriously. The use of your personal data is subject to your instructions and agreement, as well as General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

The website is managed by Paran Property – Paran Property Services, 2 Veals Mead, Mitcham, Surrey CR4 3SB

This Privacy Notice sets out which personal information we hold about you and why. We explain what the lawful basis is for processing it, how we process it and who your information is shared with. It also sets out how long your data will be stored and your rights and options to control the personal data held by us. This Privacy Notice will be regularly reviewed and updated.

During a visit to our offices, website or via telephone enquiry, you may be asked to provide data about yourself, for example to register an interest in a property. At this point, we will record the following details;

  • Name and address
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Verification information – for UK residence checking purposes
  • Details about why you are contacting us e.g. to arrange a viewing

If you begin to use our services, then additional personal information may be requested. As well as gaining information from you directly, there are other ways in which we collect your information, for example, from employers, a bank or building society or other relevant third parties. Please note that we only collect information and personal data that is relevant to Paran Property and the services we offer.

Your personal data will be stored safely and when we have stopped acting on your behalf or advising you, information that is no longer required will be anonymised and deleted. The period of time over which information is retained may vary in different circumstances. To meet agreed industry practices in relation to property sales, details may need to be kept for 12 years. Financial records need to be held for a minimum of 6 years to ensure legal and regulatory requirements are met.

Information we hold about you

We hold information that you provide us with for the purpose of letting, managing or renting a property. This information is provided to our staff by you either directly or via third party websites. We also hold information about you from third parties who are instructed to assess your suitability for a tenancy, or who are contacted by us to confirm any information you have provided. This might include tenant referencing companies, current employers, other lettings agencies or land registry information.

The data we hold might include:

  • Name and address
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Passport or ID
  • Visa details
  • NI number
  • Date of birth
  • Marital status
  • References
  • Employer or Accountants
  • Salary
  • Bank account details
  • Proof of residence – bank statements or utility bills
  • Current landlord
  • Next of kin
  • Credit history
  • Financial commitments
  • Tax codes
  • County Court judgements
  • Land Registry information
  • Insurance details
  • Trade regulatory bodies information
  • Online identifiers
  • IP addresses and cookie identifiers

When you visit our website we may collect information about your computer, including where available your IP address. We may obtain information by using a cookie file which is stored on the hard drive of your computer. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive. They help us to improve our site and to deliver a better and more personalised service. You may refuse to accept cookies by activating the relevant setting on your browser. For more details, please refer to our Cookie Policy.

This policy only applies to our site. If you leave our site, via a link or otherwise, you will be subject to the privacy policy of the subsequent website provider. We have no control over that privacy policy or the terms of any other website and you should check their privacy policy before continuing to access the site.

Why we hold and process information about you

We process personal information about potential and actual tenants, permitted occupiers, guarantors, relevant persons and landlords for the purpose of providing residential accommodation in order to effectively manage the tenancy and the property and to comply with legal requirements. We process personal information about relocation clients. We also process information about potential and actual employees.

The lawful basis for processing data is to fulfil our contractual obligations, to comply with legal requirements or legitimate interest. For any other processing we will seek your express consent.

Personal information of applicants is processed to inform them about properties to let and to arrange viewings.

Personal information of tenants and permitted occupiers is processed to reference a tenant, to carry out right to rent checks, to issue a tenancy agreement, to manage maintenance, to issue prescribed information, to contact tenants during a tenancy, to chase potential arrears, to issue legal proceedings should monies due be outstanding, to manage utilities and council tax and to help with the switchover of utilities.

Personal information of guarantors and relevant persons is processed to confirm their identity, to include in the relevant paperwork related to a tenancy, to establish who pays a deposit, to issue prescribed information.

Personal information of landlords is processed to verify their identity and property ownership, to issue a landlord contract, to issue a tenancy agreement, to use on prescribed information, to manage utilities and council tax, to help with the switchover of utilities, to manage maintenance at the property and to enable rental payments.

The personal information of relocation clients is processed in order to contact the applicants for relocation searches as requested and to provide details to the letting agent to facilitate the renting of a property.

Personal information of staff or applicants is processed to assess suitability for employment, to verify identity and right to work in the UK, to verify previous employment records and to make salary payments. We do not use your personal data for marketing purposes.

Where we hold data and personal information and how we protect it

Your personal data may be stored in a paper file or electronically on computers, phones and email. It will be held securely in accordance with legislation around data storage.

The security of your personal information is very important and Paran Property Services are committed to protecting it. We maintain administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information you provide – these include, amongst others, data access only for staff required to process your data, password protection of all computer equipment and software programs and key operated locks to restrict access to physical files kept in our office.

Who your information is shared with:

We may need to share personal information we process with other individuals, businesses or organisations. We may share personal information with:

  • Relevant staff, landlord and tenants
  • External referencing company (Rent4sure Ltd)
  • Other named parties on the tenancy agreement
  • Contractors, surveyors or retailers delivering appliances or furniture
  • Other named parties that have a financial interest in the property like mortgage companies or building societies
  • Utility suppliers for gas, electricity and water and local council for council tax
  • Public and government bodies to effectively deal with benefits
  • Landlords, letting agents, managing agents or tenants of properties we market on their behalf
  • Inventory clerks & companies
  • Freeholders or building managers for building issues affecting the property
  • Tenancy deposit schemes (Mydeposits) to comply with legal requirements
  • Solicitors or court services in case of legal proceedings
  • HMRC or government offices to comply with legal requirements
  • Accounting contractors

This does not mean that we necessarily share information with all of the above but we retain that right should we need to. We reserve the right to transfer your information in the event of a sale or transfer (wholly or partially) of our business or assets, with reasonable efforts for the acquirer to protect and use your information consistent with our Privacy Notice.

How long we keep information about you

We will keep information for a reasonable amount of time for the purposes listed above. We generally keep personal information for 6 years after the end of a tenancy, after a business relationship ceases or after employment with us ceases. Applicant information is deleted 6 months after the applicant first makes contact if no contract is entered into. If the lawful basis for processing your data was consent then you may withdraw consent at any time.

We reserve the right to keep information for longer if this is in the legitimate interests of Paran Property Services.

What are your rights? 

You have a right of access to check your personal data to verify the lawful basis of processing. You also have the right to data portability. We are obliged to respond to an access request within 30 days and may not charge a fee unless the request is unfounded, excessive or repetitive. If a fee is charged it is to be a reasonable fee based upon the administrative cost of providing the information.

You have a right to rectification if the data we hold is either inaccurate or incomplete. If your data has been disclosed to third parties then we must inform them of the rectification, where possible.

You have a right to the removal of your data when consent is our basis of processing (the right to be forgotten). You may request that your personal data be erased, for example, where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing or where you withdraw consent. We will comply with your request unless we have another basis of processing justifying our retaining the data (for example a legal requirement or the defence of a legal claim).

You do have a right to object to further processing of your personal data. We may be required to stop processing unless there is some other legitimate basis of processing such as a legitimate interest or a requirement for the exercise or defence of a legal claim.

For any personal information of yours that is held or processed as a result of your consent, you have the right to withdraw this consent at any time.

We will require proof of identity prior to releasing or updating any personal information. Any requests are to be made to:

FAO: Data Controller

Paran Property Services

2 Veals Mead

Mitcham

Surrey

CR4 3SB

Alternatively, please send an email to info@paranproperty.co.uk

The Data Controller, Nagalingam Thayaparan, is the person responsible for data protection.

How to complain

The supervisory authority responsible for data protection is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to whom concerns may be reported.  They can be contacted by phone on 0303 123 1113 or +44 1625 545 745 if calling from outside the UK, by email using the form on the website ico.org.uk or the live chat function.

Paran Property Services is a registered member of the ICO with registration number Z8663390