Question

England | Pre-tenancy (England) | Record Keeping and Data Protection (England)

Tenant consent to use their number w.r.t. GDPR

31 Jan 2022 | 2 comments

I always get tradesmen to book directly with my tenants for repairs and safety checks. And always send my tenants a message like this: “Are you ok if I give your number to [ACME Ltd] so they can call you and book a time that is convenient for you?

But I want to get their consent to give their number whenever I need to, so I don’t have to keep asking.

I understand that “arranging a plumber for a repair may fall under the lawful basis of processing of contract fulfilment, and may not therefore need the consent of the tenant” (copied from Landlords Guild website). But I would prefer to be clear and get consent with a standard message.

Something like this…

Dear Joe Soap

I would like your permission to give you first name and mobile number to potential tradesmen so that they can call you and book a time to do repairs and safety checks.

If consent, please reply to this email with “CONSENT GRANTED”

Also , the Landlords Guild website says “You should also make sure any third party will be handling the data in accordance with GDPR and what they are and are not allowed to do with the data“.

So, should I send the plumber a message like this…

I will sent you my tenant’s number so you can call them directly and book an appointment, but first please confirm that you will manage their personal data in accordance with GDPR rules.

Looks like overkill – I know! But I want a set of standard templates that I can use to make this landlord thing a little easier. Maybe someone will know how to make those messages sound a little friendlier.

Any help / advice would be appreciated
Craig

Answer

2 Comments

  1. guildy

    If you’re using our Tenancy Builder, you don’t need to do anything for the tenants because there’s a privacy policy already built in to the agreement which includes using data for contractors.

    Otherwise, we have a privacy policy template available here which you could send to the tenants. We don’t believe such a policy needs to be “agreed” in any event because you’re not using their data for anything like marketing or sales. When only using within the lawful basis rules (e.g. in the normal running of a business), “consent” is not required and you only need inform them of your policy. That being said, if you can get agreement that’s even better.

    In respect of the contractors, all your essentially checking is they won’t use the data for sales or marketing (or even sell their list of contacts). We guess what you ask is fine although, a little like the tenants not needing to consent, as long as you tell your contractors that any data you supply is to be used for “arranging repairs or inspections and nothing else”, they don’t need to consent to that as it’s an instruction and the basis of you using them. If they agree that’s even better though.

  2. Craig

    Thanks, @guildy — that is exactly what I wanted to know

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