Privacy Policy
BACKGROUND:
Property118 Ltd understands that your privacy is important to you and that you care about how your personal data is used and shared online. We respect and value the privacy of everyone who visits this website,
www.property118.com (“Our Site”) and will only collect and use personal data in ways that are described here, and in a manner that is consistent with Our obligations and your rights under the law.
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully and ensure that you understand it. Your acceptance of Our Privacy Policy is deemed to occur upon your first use of Our Site
. If you do not accept and agree with this Privacy Policy, you must stop using Our Site immediately.
- Definitions and Interpretation
In this Policy the following terms shall have the following meanings:
“Account” |
means an account required to access and/or use certain areas and features of Our Site; |
“Cookie” |
means a small text file placed on your computer or device by Our Site when you visit certain parts of Our Site and/or when you use certain features of Our Site. Details of the Cookies used by Our Site are set out in section 13, below; |
“Cookie Law” |
means the relevant parts of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003; |
“personal data” |
means any and all data that relates to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified from that data. In this case, it means personal data that you give to Us via Our Site. This definition shall, where applicable, incorporate the definitions provided in the EU Regulation 2016/679 – the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”); and |
“We/Us/Our” |
Means Property118 Ltd , a limited company registered in England under company number 10295964, whose registered address is 1st Floor, Woburn House, 84 St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4AB. |
- Information About Us
- Our Site is owned and operated by Property118 Ltd, a limited company registered in England under company number 10295964, whose registered address is 1st Floor, Woburn House, 84 St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4AB.
- Our VAT number is 990 0332 34.
- Our Data Protection Officer is Neil Patterson, and can be contacted by email at npatterson@property118.com, by telephone on 01603 489118, or by post at 1st Floor, Woburn House, 84 St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4AB.
- What Does This Policy Cover?
This Privacy Policy applies only to your use of Our Site. Our Site may contain links to other websites. Please note that We have no control over how your data is collected, stored, or used by other websites and We advise you to check the privacy policies of any such websites before providing any data to them.
- Your Rights
- As a data subject, you have the following rights under the GDPR, which this Policy and Our use of personal data have been designed to uphold:
- The right to be informed about Our collection and use of personal data;
- The right of access to the personal data We hold about you (see section 12);
- The right to rectification if any personal data We hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete (please contact Us using the details in section 14);
- The right to be forgotten – i.e. the right to ask Us to delete any personal data We hold about you (We only hold your personal data for a limited time, as explained in section 6 but if you would like Us to delete it sooner, please contact Us using the details in section 14);
- The right to restrict (i.e. prevent) the processing of your personal data;
- The right to data portability (obtaining a copy of your personal data to re-use with another service or organisation);
- The right to object to Us using your personal data for particular purposes; and
- If you have any cause for complaint about Our use of your personal data, please contact Us using the details provided in section 14 and We will do Our best to solve the problem for you. If We are unable to help, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK’s supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office.
- For further information about your rights, please contact the Information Commissioner’s Office or your local Citizens Advice Bureau.
- What Data Do We Collect?
Depending upon your use of Our Site, We may collect some or all of the following personal data (please also see section 13 on Our use of Cookies and similar technologies):
- Name;
- Date of birth;
- Address and post code;
- Business/company name and trading status;
- Number of properties owned;
- Accountants details;
- Contact information such as email addresses and telephone numbers;
- Proof of residence and ID;
- Financial information such as income and tax status;
- Landlords insurance renewal dates;
- Property Portfolio details such as value and mortgage outstanding;
- How Do We Use Your Data?
- All personal data is processed and stored securely, for no longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. We will comply with Our obligations and safeguard your rights under the GDPR at all times. For more details on security see section 7, below.
- Our use of your personal data will always have a lawful basis, either because it is necessary for our performance of a contract with you, because you have consented to our use of your personal data (e.g. by subscribing to emails), or because it is in our legitimate interests. Specifically, we may use your data for the following purposes:
- Providing and managing your access to Our Site;
- Supplying our products and or services to you (please note that We require your personal data in order to enter into a contract with you);
- Personalising and tailoring our products and or services for you;
- Replying to emails from you;
- Supplying you with emails that you have opted into (you may unsubscribe or opt-out at any time by the unsubscribe link at the bottom of all emails;
- Analysing your use of our site and gathering feedback to enable us to continually improve our site and your user experience;
- Provide information to our partner service and product suppliers at your request.
- With your permission and/or where permitted by law, We may also use your data for marketing purposes which may include contacting you by email and or telephone with information, news and offers on our products and or We will not, however, send you any unsolicited marketing or spam and will take all reasonable steps to ensure that We fully protect your rights and comply with Our obligations under the GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
- You have the right to withdraw your consent to us using your personal data at any time, and to request that we delete it.
- We do not keep your personal data for any longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. Data will therefore be retained for the following periods (or its retention will be determined on the following bases):
- Member profile information is collected with your consent and can be amended or deleted at any time by you;
- Anti-Money Laundering information and tax consultancy records are to be kept as required by law for up to seven years.
- How and Where Do We Store Your Data?
- We only keep your personal data for as long as We need to in order to use it as described above in section 6, and/or for as long as We have your permission to keep it.
- Some or all of your data may be stored outside of the European Economic Area (“the EEA”) (The EEA consists of all EU member states, plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein). You are deemed to accept and agree to this by using our site and submitting information to Us. If we do store data outside the EEA, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data is treated as safely and securely as it would be within the UK and under the GDPR
- Data security is very important to Us, and to protect your data We have taken suitable measures to safeguard and secure data collected through Our Site.
- Do We Share Your Data?
- We may share your data with other partner companies in for the purpose of supplying products or services you have requested.
- We may sometimes contract with third parties to supply products and services to you on Our behalf. Where any of your data is required for such a purpose, We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data will be handled safely, securely, and in accordance with your rights, Our obligations, and the obligations of the third party under the law.
- We may compile statistics about the use of Our Site including data on traffic, usage patterns, user numbers, sales, and other information. All such data will be anonymised and will not include any personally identifying data, or any anonymised data that can be combined with other data and used to identify you. We may from time to time share such data with third parties such as prospective investors, affiliates, partners, and advertisers. Data will only be shared and used within the bounds of the law.
- In certain circumstances, We may be legally required to share certain data held by Us, which may include your personal data, for example, where We are involved in legal proceedings, where We are complying with legal requirements, a court order, or a governmental authority.
- What Happens If Our Business Changes Hands?
- We may, from time to time, expand or reduce Our business and this may involve the sale and/or the transfer of control of all or part of Our business. Any personal data that you have provided will, where it is relevant to any part of Our business that is being transferred, be transferred along with that part and the new owner or newly controlling party will, under the terms of this Privacy Policy, be permitted to use that data only for the same purposes for which it was originally collected by Us.
- How Can You Control Your Data?
- In addition to your rights under the GDPR, set out in section 4, we aim to give you strong controls on Our use of your data for direct marketing purposes including the ability to opt-out of receiving emails from Us which you may do by unsubscribing using the links provided in Our emails.
- Your Right to Withhold Information
- You may access certain areas of Our Site without providing any data at all. However, to use all features and functions available on Our Site you may be required to submit or allow for the collection of certain data.
- You may restrict Our use of Cookies. For more information, see section 13.
- How Can You Access Your Data?
You have the right to ask for a copy of any of your personal data held by Us (where such data is held). Under the GDPR, no fee is payable and We will provide any and all information in response to your request free of charge. Please contact Us for more details at info@property118.com, or using the contact details below in section 14.
- Our Use of Cookies
- Our Site may place and access certain first party Cookies on your computer or device. First party Cookies are those placed directly by Us and are used only by Us. We use Cookies to facilitate and improve your experience of Our Site and to provide and improve Our products AND/OR We have carefully chosen these Cookies and have taken steps to ensure that your privacy and personal data is protected and respected at all times.
- All Cookies used by and on Our Site are used in accordance with current Cookie Law.
- Before Cookies are placed on your computer or device, you will be shown a cookie prompt requesting your consent to set those Cookies. By giving your consent to the placing of Cookies you are enabling Us to provide the best possible experience and service to you. You may, if you wish, deny consent to the placing of Cookies; however certain features of Our Site may not function fully or as intended. You will be given the opportunity to allow only first party Cookies and block third party Cookies.
- Certain features of Our Site depend on Cookies to function. Cookie Law deems these Cookies to be “strictly necessary”. These Cookies are shown below in section 13.5. Your consent will not be sought to place these Cookies, but it is still important that you are aware of them. You may still block these Cookies by changing your internet browser’s settings as detailed below in section 13.9, but please be aware that Our Site may not work properly if you do so. We have taken great care to ensure that your privacy is not at risk by allowing them.
- The following first party Cookies may be placed on your computer or device:
Name of Cookie |
Purpose |
Strictly Necessary |
JSESSIONID |
Used only to collect performance data, with any identifiable data obfuscated |
No |
__cfduid |
This cookie is strictly necessary for Cloudflare's security features and cannot be turned off. |
Yes |
- Our Site uses analytics services provided by Google Analytics and Facebook. Website analytics refers to a set of tools used to collect and analyse anonymous usage information, enabling Us to better understand how Our Site is used. This, in turn, enables Us to improve Our Site and the products AND/OR services offered through it. You do not have to allow Us to use these Cookies, however whilst Our use of them does not pose any risk to your privacy or your safe use of Our Site, it does enable Us to continually improve Our Site, making it a better and more useful experience for you.
- The analytics service(s) used by Our Site use(s) Cookies to gather the required information.
- The analytics service(s) used by Our Site use(s) the following Cookies:
Name of Cookie |
First / Third Party |
Provider |
Purpose |
__utma, __utmb, __utmc, __utmt, __utmz |
First |
Google |
Helps to understand how their visitors engage with our website |
_fbp |
First |
Facebook |
Helps to understand how their visitors engage with our website |
- In addition to the controls that We provide, you can choose to enable or disable Cookies in your internet browser. Most internet browsers also enable you to choose whether you wish to disable all cookies or only third party cookies. By default, most internet browsers accept Cookies but this can be changed. For further details, please consult the help menu in your internet browser or the documentation that came with your device.
- You can choose to delete Cookies on your computer or device at any time, however you may lose any information that enables you to access Our Site more quickly and efficiently including, but not limited to, login and personalisation settings.
- It is recommended that you keep your internet browser and operating system up-to-date and that you consult the help and guidance provided by the developer of your internet browser and manufacturer of your computer or device if you are unsure about adjusting your privacy settings.
- Contacting Us
If you have any questions about Our Site or this Privacy Policy, please contact Us by email at info@property118.com, by telephone on 01603 489118, or by post at 1st Floor, Woburn House, 84 St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4AB. Please ensure that your query is clear, particularly if it is a request for information about the data We hold about you (as under section 12, above).
- Changes to Our Privacy Policy
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time (for example, if the law changes). Any changes will be immediately posted on Our Site and you will be deemed to have accepted the terms of the Privacy Policy on your first use of Our Site following the alterations. We recommend that you check this page regularly to keep up-to-date.
Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118
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Sign Up17:43 PM, 16th July 2012, About 12 years ago
Mark, I totally concur with everything you have said. My own view is that Client Money Protection insurance should be mandatory for letting agents. As much as it pains me to say it as I love the NLA, I think UKALA merged with the wrong organisation are now, effectively a dead duck. When I was in the process of loading this article for you I wanted to provide readers with links to all of the organisations mentioned. I did a Google search via my Google Chrome browser on UKALA to find the website and link to them and my broswer told me "
This site may harm your computer." How bad is that???
The merger between NLA and UKALA could have been so much better handled in my opinion. All UKALA members should have encouraged their landlord clients to join NLA and NLA should have encouraged all of their members to work with UKALA members. The fact they haven't got their act together with Client money Protection is frankly ludicrous.
Whilst I'm on my soap box, I will mention The Property ombudsman too. Why is it that Estate Agents must be members but for letting agents it's not compulsory? As you said in your last article, anybody, literally anybody can set up a letting agents. There is no requirement to join any organisation or to provide any insurance yet these businesses often handle 100's of thousands of client money. if that's not inviting a disaster what is.
As SafeAgent continues to rally support and educate the public about CMP I see no future for UKALA unless they can get SafeAgent to accept their members as affiliates and that seems a million miles away. I suspect it's only a matter of time before all UKALA members realise that they have to bite the bullet (or "stick pins in your eyes" as you put it) and sign up to one of the five affiliate schemes that SafeAgent does recognise.
In your area there are 60 letting agents of which just 8 are members of SafeAgent. As a landlord, knowing what SafeAgent stands for, that would make my life very easy as it would instantly rule out 52 letting agents that I would consider using. I'd then talk to the other 8 if I wanted somebody to manage my properties. They may, of course, all be useless for many other reasons. They may think it's OK to collect rent with a baseball bat, SafeAgent wouldn't even look into that but I suspect the bodies their members are affiliated to would take an interest.
In short, SafeAgent isn't the be all and end all so far as I'm concerned when it comes to choosing which agent to work with. However, a very logical first question for any landlord to ask a prospective letting agent "Are you current members of Safe Agent".
Good luck with your NALS application - you will be fine I'm sure 😉
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Sign Up18:38 PM, 16th July 2012, About 12 years ago
Hi Mark, Thanks for your comments which I wholeheartedly agree with.
I hang on to the vain hope that the UK ALA will come good in the end ..... but the signs are not good at the moment ....... as nothing has really happened since it was taken over by the NLA ... which is a real shame.
If all else fails, as you say, I will have to put those pins away and re-start (from the beginning) my NALS application!
Mary Latham
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Sign Up19:03 PM, 16th July 2012, About 12 years ago
Mark A, I googled this Government web site last week http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/section/21 I got the message the same "This site may harm your computer"
Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118
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Sign Up19:28 PM, 16th July 2012, About 12 years ago
Now why doesn't that surprise me? LOL - I have treid but I couldn't replicate the problem, perhaps they got Barclays to fix it LOL. What was even more amusing was that many Government websites didn't comply with their own Cookie regulations when they came into force either!
What are your thoughts on UKALA and Client Money Protection?
Mary Latham
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Sign Up19:38 PM, 16th July 2012, About 12 years ago
In my opinion client money protection is the absolute minimum a landlord should expect. Any business can fail but if a Letting Agent fails, and tenants deposits are lost, it is the landlord who will have to repay those deposits, despite the fact that he has not touched the money. If a Letting Agent cannot get Client Money Protection Insurance he should place the tenants deposits into the custodial scheme where it will be protected for the tenant regardless of what happens to the Agents business. Most of the problems I deal with are caused when the Letting Agent has used tenants deposits as working captial and has only taken out protection with one of the schemes that charge a premium to provide arbitration in the event of a dispute - they offer no protection of the funds.
This is not about Landlords and Letting Agents it is about Tenants money. If an Agent has not got Client Money Protection the landlord has no way of ensuring that his rent is safe.
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Sign Up20:54 PM, 16th July 2012, About 12 years ago
Some good points well made. Please note - my comments are made in my capacity as MD of Bushells. The issue is that SAFE must have a set of common denominators otherwise it will devalue its principles and create a 'SAFE light'. This cannot happen. However noble the intentions of UKALA, they do not provide CMP nor do they require membership of an independent redress scheme. As such, UKALA membership offers no exemption from the requirements of membership of any of the regulators. I cannot speak for any of these bodies on their membership criteria - but to have CMP you must have a dedicated, ring-fenced clients account and have it independently audited. This not NALS or anyone else being 'difficult' - it a requirement of the insurers who provide the CMP cover. If you think NALS criteria is onerous, try RICS or ARLA - and rightly so. There are, as you say, so many agents failing, stringent checks are essential.
Respectfully, 30 mins of application is not painful when protecting clients. How long do returns take to companies house of HMRC? The difference is that they are compulsory. It took me longer than 30 minutes to complete my CRB checks to coach rugby - but it's also important as its for the good of others and a one off exercise.
I cannot comment on the benefit or point in joining UKALA - that is for their members to decide. TPOS is different - all sales agents are required by law to be members. It's not their fault that HM Government neglected to include those who solely undertake lettings from the 1979 Estate Agents act and subsequent amendments.
You state - "Remember – letting agencies are engaged to act as agents on behalf of the landlord. So, if the tenant’s security deposit money or the landlord’s rent money is misappropriated (or lost when the business goes bust) – then the LANDLORD remains liable for the loss."
This is especially true where an agent goes bust or misappropriates funds and is lying on a beach in Corfu.
Yes - if they use a UKALA member, the Landlord must take the loss. But if they use say, an ARLA member, then the CMP covers this loss, subject to limits of the respective scheme.
Respectfully, I ask, where is the protection from UKALA? In order to provide this protection then of course extensive checks are required in order to make the CMP costs affordable and viable.
Nevertheless, I agree we should all work together and I actively campaign for this as MD of Bushells and also as a member of SAFEagent steering group. We don't undertake this role for fun - we do it because we believe in consumer protection and awareness. Nevertheless, we must apply the same basic principles to all and continue to strive to spread the message for the good of the industry and our customers.
This is about tenants money - and consumer protection as you will agree.
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Sign Up2:39 AM, 17th July 2012, About 12 years ago
You may well consider yourself reputable but there is no way I would even consider using you if you did not have CMP.
That would be just one of the requirements that you would have to comply with before I would use you.
If more of your customers were aware of the risks in using you your business would disappear overnight.
So far you have been lucky due to the ignorance of your customers.
For your sake let's hope your customers' ignorance continues.
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Sign Up6:21 AM, 17th July 2012, About 12 years ago
Yes Mark I very much tend to agree with all your thinking on these issues.
I think your suggestions of how things should be managed are insightful and the way to go.
Unfortunately following such an appropriate stategy would force thousands of LA out of business because they can't or won't conform to what I think are eminently sensible ideas from you.
I would not even countenance instructing a LA ,unless the criteria you have suggested all LA should subscribe to was in force.
I know LA like NPG are how all LA should be but I would say about 60 % of the industry is not and would not wish to comply with any of your suggestions.
The reason they get away with it is become tenants and LL don't know how exposed they are to LA that do NOT conform to your suggested policies.
Until all tenants and LL are aware of how a LA should be they will continue to be ripped off by wrongun LA.
Govt is not minde to regulate the sector so I am afraid the rogues will continue to defgame the good LA out there.
Caveat emptor must be exercised but too few people fail to appreciate what sort of enquireis they should make about the probity of LA.
An intractable problem.
Your forum amongst a few other forums are the only way to fight battles in the war.
Knowledge is the key and I don't really see what more you can do apart from the site gaining increasing exposaure and hopefully informing the naive like I was and probably still am; though I reckon to a substantially lesser degree based on all the info I have picked up from your site.
Knowledge is power and all that and I can't see youn being able to do anymore than that you are.
You keep on onforming and hopefully the message gets out there on an increassing scale.
In the present climate I think that this is all we can expect to achieve.
Keep up the good work.
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Sign Up9:01 AM, 17th July 2012, About 12 years ago
As an aside to CMP is the subject of just what is a regulated agent. I saw recently an agents website which claimed the following: "
As members of The Property Ombudsman Scheme for Estate Agents and Letting Agents, you can be assured that you are dealing with a responsible, professional and regulated agency. "
This statement is clearly untrue and misleading as the agent in question is not a member of anything other than TPOS. There is a world of difference between a redress scheme and a regulator as this agent will NOT have CMP and indeed may not have PI Insurance or subscribe to any clients account audit nor controls on the way it operates the same. There is simply a body to whom you can complain, but this is of no use in the event the agent goes bust or is intent on misappropriating funds as all TPOS can do is impose a financial award.
This is the sort of clarity SAFE agent seeks to achieve; an unambiguous signpost to indicate which agents have CMP and those which do not. SAFE is not perfect - after all it was only launched one year ago, however SAFE is listening to consumer stakeholders and evolving for the benefit of consumers.
Gilly
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Sign Up9:05 AM, 17th July 2012, About 12 years ago
Be thankful you do not live in Wales (could we have an article/discussion on this please Mark?). If the Assembly gets its way all letting agents (and landlords of course) will not only have to be accredited, but be licensed and registered - but I fear that even with all that bureaucracy and expense (although I would agree that some regulation is needed) it would not address the issues to which you are referring.
Please will everyone fill out the consultation by August 16th as the proposals are just not going to work and we all need to object NOW. http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/housingcommunity/proposalprivaterentsector/;jsessionid=1l91P6GSL542LTrQyWVJjMY93Lrj4gKZCxHLgBQlv7VSS5LrNV6T!545803488?lang=en
I make no apology for going off on a slight tangent here and including this link, as this is important for everyone.
I fear that this government will only be happy when every rented room and house in Britain is monitored by some official in the council, who will insist on every regulation under the sun or even better when there are no private landlords whatsoever and we have donated our properties to the state to manage.......(please, I am joking....just!)