When an agent or a landlord collects your email address, they should provide you with a clear and concise Privacy Notice. This is your “right to be informed” under the Data Protection Act 2018 [DPR]. The Privacy Notice outlines how they will use and store your personal data, as well as your rights in relation to your data. Just like anyone else who handles personal data and stores it electronically, landlords should register with the Information Commissioners Office. But too many landlords ignore their duties in this regard.
- The right to be informed – you should be told what data the landlord (or their agent) hold about you and what they do with it
- The right of access – you can request a copy of any data held by the landlord/their agent
- The right to rectification – you can have inaccurate data corrected
- The right to erasure – you can ask a property owner/their agent to delete your data
- The right to restrict processing – you can limit how your data used
- The right to data portability – you can request that your electronically-held data is shared with another business, which could mean asking for confirmation that you always paid your rent on time by way of a reference for a new tenancy
- The right to object – you can request that a landlord or agent stops using your data.
To process data lawfully, a landlord must show one of three interests:
- Legitimate interest – keeping relevant details such as your email address and telephone number during your tenancy
- Contractual interest – which might possibly allow a landlord to pass your telephone number to a plumber to arrange an appointment
- Legal interest – when the landlord must comply with a legal requirement, to register your deposit money with a protection scheme
Even if your tenancy agreement says that the landlord can share information with third parties, that’s normally restricted to disclosing when there is a legal duty to do so. For example, giving a forwarding addresses to utility companies if your energy accounts are in credit when you leave.
If a landlord or agent shares your telephone number or emails or email address in any way which feels like a breach of your security, you should take action. The DPR defines a personal data breach as a breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data.
A “personal data breach” is about more than just data. The law acknowledges that a data breach can have a range of effects on people, including emotional distress and physical and material damage. If that happens, you can register a complaint with the Information Commissioners’ Office .
What if a landlord exercises a break clause?
By exercising the break clause, a landlord can bring the fixed term of your tenancy to an end. But if the landlord wishes you to move out, they also have to serve notice that they will seek possession under section 21 of Housing Act 1987. If they don’t serve notice properly, your tenancy continues as a periodic tenancy, rolling from month to month.
As with any other section 21 notice, it’s only valid if all aspects of your tenancy are in order. Where there’s a gas supply, you should have a Gas Safety Certificate issued within the previous 12 months. Also, an EPC certificate dated within five years; a valid EICR; details from the deposit protection scheme and; the government’s How to rent guide. If you haven’t been given all the required documentation, any section 21 notice is invalid.
If that’s the case and you’re not ready to move, just keep paying the rent on time. The landlord will then have to proceed to court to ask for a possession order. Possession will not be granted while the section 21 notice is invalid. But as soon as you receive notice of a court date, you have to respond, stating that you intend to defend against eviction.
As with any section 21 notice, please seek professional advice as soon you receive it, unless you actually want to move, anyway.