This policy explains how Cloud Sales & Lettings collects, uses and protects your personal information when you use our website or our sales, lettings and property management services.
1. Who we are
Cloud Sales & Lettings is a trading name of Cloud Real Estate LTD, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 14116932), registered office 113 Platform St. Peters Street, Bedford, England, MK40 2FH.
We are the “controller” of your personal information, which means we decide how and why it is used. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), registration number ZB467101.
If you have any questions about this policy or your information, contact us:
- Email: lettings@cloudsalesandlettings.co.uk
- Phone: 01234 900 191
- Post: Unit 401, Brickhill Drive, Bedford, MK41 7PH, United Kingdom
2. Who this policy covers
Sellers, buyers, landlords, tenants and tenancy applicants, guarantors, anyone who contacts us or fills in a form on our website (including our leaflet and QR-code pages), and visitors to our website.
3. The information we collect
Depending on how you deal with us, we may collect:
- Identity and contact details: name, address, email, phone number, date of birth.
- Property details: the address, type and features of a property you want to sell or let, and your reasons and timescales.
- Identity documents: passport, driving licence, proof of address, and immigration/right-to-rent documents where the law requires them.
- Financial information: proof of funds, mortgage agreements in principle, income, employment details, bank statements, and rent and payment records.
- Referencing and credit information: results of tenant referencing and credit checks, including references from employers and previous landlords.
- Transaction and tenancy records: offers, agreements, correspondence, inspection reports, inventories, and maintenance and deposit information.
- Communications: emails, messages, call notes and anything you tell us in a form.
- Website and marketing information: the pages you visit, the device and browser you use, and which campaign brought you to us (for example, a leaflet or advert). See our Cookie policy.
We do not normally ask for “special category” information (such as health details). If you choose to share it, for example to tell us about accessibility needs for a viewing, we only use it for that purpose.
4. Where we get it from
Mostly from you. We may also receive information from property portals (such as Rightmove and Zoopla), referencing and credit reference agencies, landlords and sellers we act for, the other parties to a sale or tenancy and their solicitors, people who refer you to us, and public sources such as HM Land Registry and Companies House.
5. How we use it and our lawful basis
- To respond to your enquiry or book a valuation or viewing: to take steps at your request before entering a contract, or our legitimate interest in responding to people who contact us.
- To provide our sales, lettings and management services: to perform our contract with you.
- To carry out anti-money-laundering, identity, right-to-rent, sanctions and deposit-protection checks, and to keep records we are required to keep: to comply with our legal obligations.
- To carry out tenant referencing and credit checks: to perform the contract, or our legitimate interest (and our client landlord’s) in letting to suitable tenants.
- To send you property alerts, updates and marketing: your consent, or, for existing customers, our legitimate interest in telling you about similar services. You can opt out at any time.
- To improve our website and understand which marketing works: our legitimate interests.
- To establish, exercise or defend legal claims: our legitimate interests.
6. Who we share it with
We only share what is needed, with:
- The other parties to your sale or tenancy, their solicitors, and the landlord or seller we act for.
- Property portals, to advertise properties (listings do not include personal contact details).
- Referencing agencies, credit reference agencies and identity-verification providers.
- Government-approved tenancy deposit protection schemes.
- Inventory clerks, surveyors, contractors and tradespeople who carry out work at a property.
- Mortgage brokers or other advisers, only if you ask us to introduce you.
- Our professional advisers, insurers, redress scheme and client money protection provider.
- The providers of our IT systems, including website hosting, our customer relationship management (CRM) system, email, phone and document storage.
- HMRC, the National Crime Agency, the police, local authorities or courts, where the law requires it.
We never sell your personal information.
7. Transfers outside the UK
Some of our service providers, such as our CRM and email systems, may store or process information outside the UK, including in the United States. Where they do, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum, or the UK–US “data bridge” where the provider is certified.
8. How long we keep it
- Enquiries that don’t lead to our services: up to 24 months after our last contact.
- Anti-money-laundering records: 5 years after the end of the business relationship or transaction, as the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 require.
- Sales, tenancy and property management records: 6 years after the transaction or tenancy ends, in case of legal claims.
- Right-to-rent checks: at least 1 year after the tenancy ends.
- Marketing preferences: until you unsubscribe. We keep a record of your opt-out so we don’t contact you again.
After this, we securely delete or anonymise the information.
9. Your rights
You have the right to:
- ask for a copy of your information;
- ask us to correct it if it is wrong;
- ask us to delete it, or restrict how we use it;
- object to how we use it, including an absolute right to object to direct marketing;
- ask for your information in a portable format;
- withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent.
We don’t make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects. Referencing agencies may use automated scoring, but a person at our office always reviews the outcome.
To use any of these rights, contact us using the details above. There is normally no charge, and we will respond within one month.
10. Complaints
If you’re unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first. We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days and look into it promptly. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office: ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113.
11. Keeping your information secure
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including access controls, secure systems and staff training. Only people who need your information to do their job can see it.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page, with the date it was last updated.
If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us.