Gran Terreno Ltd is a residential lettings and property management company. We are the data controller for the information described here, which means we decide how and why it is used.
This notice explains what we hold, why, and what you can ask us to do about it. It applies whether you are a landlord whose property we manage, a tenant in one of those properties, someone applying for a tenancy, a contractor who works for us, or a visitor to our website.
1. WHAT WE COLLECT
If you are a tenant or applying to be one
• Name, date of birth, contact details and previous addresses
• Identity and immigration documents, which we are required by law to check
• Employment, income and affordability information
• References from previous landlords or employers, and credit reference checks
• Bank details for rent payments and deposit returns
• Guarantor details, where one is provided
• Correspondence with us, including repair reports and any photographs you send
• Records of rent paid and arrears
If you are a landlord
• Name, contact details and correspondence address
• Proof of ownership and identity
• Bank details for rent payments
• Details of the property, its condition, and its safety certificates
• Tax status where it affects how we handle rent, including non-resident landlord arrangements
If you are a contractor
• Name, contact details and trading details
• Insurance, qualifications and registrations such as Gas Safe
• Bank details for payment
• Records of work carried out
If you visit our website
• Anything you enter into an enquiry form
• Standard technical information collected by cookies, described in section 9
We may occasionally hold health information — for example where a repair is urgent because of a medical condition, or where a property needs an adaptation. We only use it for that purpose, and only where you have told us or it is necessary to protect someone.
2. WHERE WE GET IT
• Directly from you
• From credit reference checks, which we obtain through our property management system, Arthur Online
• From your previous landlord or agent, and from your employer, whom we contact ourselves for references
• From your landlord, or from your tenant, where they give it to us as part of the tenancy
• From property portals where you make an enquiry
• From contractors reporting on work at a property
3. HOW WE USE IT, AND WHY WE ARE ALLOWED TO
To perform our contract with you
Arranging and managing a tenancy, collecting and paying rent, handling deposits, arranging repairs, and dealing with the end of a tenancy including inventories and deposit returns. Specifically, we use your information to:
• Identify you
• Make affordability decisions about renting our properties
• Evaluate your credit history
• Verify your employment status
• Verify your rent payment history
• Coordinate repairs with tradesmen, where you will be involved in letting them in
• Coordinate surveys, for example for remortgaging purposes
To comply with the law
Right to rent checks, gas and electrical safety obligations, deposit protection, tax reporting, and keeping records we are required to keep.
Personal data we receive under the anti-money-laundering regulations may be processed to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, or where other legislation allows it, or with your consent. It is used only for those purposes. This processing is lawful and necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.
Because we have a legitimate interest
Managing properties efficiently, responding to enquiries and repairs promptly, keeping records of what was agreed, recovering unpaid rent, defending claims, and improving how we work. We balance these against your right to privacy, and you can object — see section 8.
With your consent
Where we ask for it, such as marketing emails. You can withdraw consent at any time.
4. AI ASSISTANCE
We use AI assistance to help manage property communications and maintenance. It helps us reply faster and makes it less likely that something is missed — a repair that has gone quiet, or a safety certificate approaching its expiry date.
In practice this means correspondence with us, and messages in any WhatsApp group we have set up for a property, may be recorded in a database we control and read automatically to identify repairs, deadlines and matters needing a reply.
No decision that affects you is made automatically. AI may summarise, sort or draft. A person at Gran Terreno reads and decides before anything is sent or acted upon.
We do not use AI to decide anything about your tenancy, your rent, your deposit or any legal matter without a person's judgement, and we do not use your information to train AI models.
If you would rather we did not communicate with you by WhatsApp, tell us and we will use email or telephone only.
5. WHO WE SHARE IT WITH
• Your landlord, or your tenant — as far as necessary to manage the tenancy
• Contractors — your name, contact details and access arrangements, so they can carry out repairs
• Arthur Online — our property management system, which holds tenancy records and through which we obtain credit references
• Credit reference agencies and other companies — for use in credit decisions, for fraud prevention, and to pursue debtors
• The Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS) — where we protect your deposit, as required by law
• Your previous landlord or agent, and your employer — whom we contact directly to obtain references when you apply
• Utility companies, local authorities, and companies that manage changes of tenancy such as a freeholder's management company — your name, telephone number, address, move-in and move-out dates, and utility meter readings, so that accounts and council tax are transferred correctly
• Our accountants, insurers and solicitors — where needed for those services or to bring or defend a claim
• Redress and accreditation schemes — where a complaint or audit requires it
• Technology providers — who host our systems and process information on our instructions. Some are outside the United Kingdom, in which case appropriate safeguards are in place.
• Government bodies — where the law requires it
We do not sell your information, and we do not share it for anyone else's marketing.
6. HOW LONG WE KEEP IT
• Tenancy records and correspondence — for the tenancy and seven years after it ends
• Right to rent documents — for the tenancy and one year after
• Safety certificates — for at least two years, and longer where the law or good practice requires
• Financial records — six years, as required for tax
• Unsuccessful applications — six months, unless you ask us to delete them sooner
7. KEEPING IT SAFE
Information is held in systems we control, protected by access controls and encryption, with encrypted backups. We limit access to those who need it. Where we use outside providers, we require them to protect it to the same standard.
If there is ever a breach that puts your rights at risk, we will tell you and the Information Commissioner's Office as the law requires.
8. YOUR RIGHTS
You may ask us to:
• Give you a copy of the information we hold about you
• Correct anything that is wrong or incomplete
• Delete information we are not legally required to keep
• Restrict how we use it while a question about it is resolved
• Transfer it to another provider in a portable format
• Stop processing based on our legitimate interests, where you object
• Withdraw consent you have given
• Communicate with you by email or telephone rather than WhatsApp
Email enquiries@granterreno.co.uk or write to us at 31 The Grove, Reading, RG1 4RB. We will respond within one month, and there is no charge unless a request is clearly unfounded or excessive.
9. COOKIES
Our website uses cookies to analyse traffic and improve the experience. You are asked to accept or decline them when you first visit, and you can change your mind at any time through your browser settings. Declining does not stop you using the site.
10. COMPLAINTS
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk, by telephone on 0303 123 1113, or in writing to Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Gran Terreno Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under registration number ZA325981.
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