Privacy policy

Who we are

Beau Homes is a trading name of TOBO Property Solutions Ltd, registered in England and Wales (Company No. 11665051). Our registered office is 61 Ashford Street, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 2EL.

For the purposes of UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), TOBO Property Solutions Ltd is the data controller for personal information collected through this website and our lettings service. If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, contact us at

What information we collect

The information we collect depends on how you use the site:

• Enquiry and viewing requests. When you contact us through our enquiry or "book a viewing" forms, by email, phone or WhatsApp, we receive the details you provide, typically your name, email address, telephone number, the property you are interested in, your university and tenancy dates, and the content of your message. Viewing requests are handled through a form hosted by Jotform (see "Third parties" below).
• Live chat. Our website has a live chat feature. When you open a chat we automatically record the page you started on and, if available, the website that referred you, so our team has context when replying. A random visitor identifier is stored in your browser (localStorage) so you can resume your conversation if you return; this identifier does not identify you by itself. If you choose to give us your name, email address or phone number in the chat, we store those alongside the conversation. We also store your chat messages and our replies.
• Property enquiries and reservations. If you submit a reservation form, we receive the information you enter there, which may include your name, contact details, current address, university/course details, guarantor details and references.
• Tenancy administration. If you become a tenant, we process the additional information needed to set up and manage your tenancy, such as right-to-rent documentation, references, guarantor details and bank or payment details for rent.
• Technical information. Like most websites, our hosting provider processes standard technical logs (such as IP address, browser type and pages requested) for security and to keep the site working.

Why we use your information and our lawful basis

We only use your personal information where we have a lawful basis to do so:

• To answer enquiries and arrange viewings (legitimate interests). We use your contact details and the content of your enquiry, chat or viewing request to respond to you, answer questions about properties and arrange viewings. You have contacted us or asked us to get in touch, and it is in both our interests that we reply.
• To set up and manage a tenancy (contract). If you apply for or take a tenancy with us, we process your details, references and right-to-rent checks because it is necessary to perform the tenancy agreement with you.
• To manage an ongoing tenancy (contract and legal obligation). This includes maintenance and repairs, deposit protection, safety checks and communications about your property. Some of this processing, such as right-to-rent checks and deposit protection, we are legally required to carry out.
• To keep the website secure and working (legitimate interests). Technical logs are used to protect the site from misuse and to fix problems.
• To improve the website (legitimate interests). We look at how the site is used, in aggregate, to decide what to improve. We do not attempt to identify individual visitors from this.

We do not send marketing emails by default. If that ever changes, we will ask for your consent first and you will be able to unsubscribe at any time.

Cookies and similar technologies

We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how the site is used (for example which pages are viewed), so we can improve it. Google Analytics sets cookies that collect information such as the pages you visit, how long you spend on them and roughly where you are in the world. We never use this to identify you personally, and we do not use advertising cookies or third-party advertising/tracking pixels.

Analytics cookies are only set after you give consent through our cookie banner. If you decline (or have not yet chosen), no analytics cookies are set. You can change your choice at any time by clearing this site's cookies in your browser settings, which will show the banner again on your next visit.

We do use a small amount of browser storage that is necessary for the site to work as you would expect:

• Google Analytics 4 cookies. Set only after you accept analytics cookies in our banner (see above).
• Live chat visitor identifier. A random identifier stored in your browser's localStorage so your conversation continues if you leave and come back. You can clear this at any time via your browser settings; a new chat conversation will simply start next time.
• Essential cookies/storage from our hosting provider, needed to serve the site securely.

If you sign in to an administrative account, essential session storage is used to keep you signed in. You can control or delete cookies and site data through your browser settings at any time.

Who we share your information with

We never sell your personal information. We share it only with the organisations below, or where the law requires us to:

• Jotform, which hosts our enquiry and reservation forms on our behalf. Your form submissions are stored by Jotform and passed to us so we can respond. Jotform's own privacy notice is at jotform.com/privacy.
• Convex, which hosts the database powering this website, including live chat messages and enquiries, on our behalf.
• Macaly, which hosts this website.
• Meta (WhatsApp), if you choose to contact us through WhatsApp, your messages are processed under Meta's terms and privacy policy.
• Referencing and right-to-rent providers, when you apply for a property, to carry out reference, credit and immigration checks.
• The Deposit Protection Service, which protects your tenancy deposit if you become a tenant (this is a legal requirement).
• Contractors and tradespeople, who carry out maintenance or viewings at your property and need relevant details (such as your name and address) to do so.
• Utility providers and local authority (council tax), when setting up or closing accounts for a property you occupy.
• Professional advisers, insurers or the police, where necessary, for example to prevent fraud, comply with a court order or defend a legal claim.

International data transfers

Our core website and database are hosted in the EU (Ireland). Some of the providers listed above are based in, or use servers in, the United States and other countries outside the UK. Where your information is transferred outside the UK, we rely on the protections permitted by UK data protection law, such as the UK extension of the EU Standard Contractual Clauses adopted by the provider, or the UK International Data Transfer Addendum. Our providers include, for example, Jotform (United States) and Meta (United States, for WhatsApp messages you choose to send).

How long we keep your information

How long we keep information depends on what it is and why we hold it:

• Enquiries, chats and viewing requests that do not lead to a tenancy: kept for up to 24 months, so we can help if you contact us again, then deleted.
• Tenancy records: kept for the length of the tenancy and then for 6 years afterwards (the limitation period for most legal claims), or longer where specific rules require it, such as right-to-rent records, which must be kept for at least 1 year after the tenancy ends.
• Deposit protection records: kept for as long as required by the deposit scheme rules.
• Live chat conversations: kept for up to 24 months after the conversation is closed, then deleted. Technical typing-indicator data is automatically deleted within seconds.
• Technical logs: kept by our hosting providers for a short period (typically days to weeks) for security purposes.

We review what we hold periodically and delete or anonymise anything we no longer need.

How we keep your data safe

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS) throughout the site, access controls that limit who on our team can view enquiries and chats, and hosting with established providers who maintain their own security certifications. Access to tenancy records is limited to the members of our team who need it.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• Ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you (access);
• Ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• Ask us to delete your personal information in some circumstances;
• Object to or ask us to restrict our use of your information in some circumstances;
• Ask us to port information you provided to us to another provider in some circumstances;
• Withdraw consent at any time where we rely on consent (for example, for marketing);
• Ask not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing that has a significant effect on you. We do not make such decisions about you.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at

Complaining to the ICO

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator, if you are unhappy with how we use your personal information. We would appreciate the chance to put things right first, so please contact us, but you do not need our permission to complain to the ICO.

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Telephone: 0303 123 1113. Website: ico.org.uk.

Contacting us about privacy

For any privacy or data protection question, request or complaint, contact Thomas Beaumont at TOBO Property Solutions Ltd:

Email:

Updates to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time, for example if we add new features to the website or change the tools we use. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "last updated" date. If a change is significant, we will make that clear on the page or contact you directly where appropriate.