1. Who this notice applies to and our role
This notice applies to the Landlord Buddy website and platform. For information used to run Landlord Buddy itself, such as customer accounts, subscriptions, support, security, service administration and our own communications, Landlord Buddy determines the relevant purposes and means of processing.
Landlords also use the platform to store and work with information about their properties, tenancies, tenants and applicants. Where Landlord Buddy processes that information solely to provide the platform on a landlord's instructions, the landlord will normally determine why that information is being processed and Landlord Buddy will process it on their behalf. Data-protection roles depend on the particular activity, and Landlord Buddy may act as a controller for separate purposes such as platform security, fraud prevention, legal obligations or its own customer relationship.
Data Controller: Mr John Nicholas P Catchpole, trading as Landlord Buddy. Landlord Buddy is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office under reference ZC234710. The registration was recorded on 31 August 2026 and expires on 30 August 2027. The ICO register also records Landlord Buddy as an Other Name.
2. Information we may use
Depending on the features used, this may include landlord account and contact details, subscription and billing records, mobile numbers, login/security events, SMS/email delivery records, property addresses and property information, purchase and rent information, tenancy details, tenant or applicant contact details, rent ledgers, deposit records, compliance documents, tenancy documents, inspection photographs, maintenance reports and media, receipts, support messages, training bookings, document acknowledgements and audit events.
Landlord Buddy is designed to keep records relevant to managing a rental property. Customers should not upload personal information that is unnecessary for the purpose they are using the platform for.
3. Why information is used and lawful bases
Information may be used to provide and secure the service, authenticate users, maintain property and tenancy records, operate paid features, send transactional communications, provide customer support, administer subscriptions, prevent abuse, maintain audit trails, improve reliability and meet legal obligations.
Where Landlord Buddy acts as a controller, the lawful basis will depend on the purpose and may include performance of a contract, legitimate interests, legal obligation or consent. Where a landlord acts as controller for tenant or applicant information, that landlord is responsible for identifying an appropriate lawful basis and providing required privacy information.
4. Landlord, applicant and tenant records
A landlord decides what tenancy and property information to add to their workspace and who should receive tenant-portal access. Tenant portal records are linked to the relevant tenancy so that an outgoing tenant's rent, deposit and communication history remains with that tenancy rather than being treated as the next tenant's record.
Landlords remain responsible for using tenant and applicant information lawfully. Landlord Buddy provides technical controls and record-keeping tools; it does not make a landlord's data-protection decisions for them.
5. Optional partner and referral services
For properties in England, a landlord can choose to request an introduction to a selected letting-agent partner for tenant-finding or re-letting. Landlord Buddy carries out checks before recommending an agent; checks may include statutory redress membership, Client Money Protection where relevant, ICO/data-protection checks, company or business checks, customer reviews, Propertymark or Safeagent where relevant, and other appropriate quality checks. We do not operate this letting-agent partner proposition in Scotland. An introduction is optional and uses only the information shown in the consent step.
A landlord can also choose to request help with full management, a tenanted-property valuation, another sale route or specialist legal support. At the initial referral stage Landlord Buddy shares only the contact and basic property information shown in the consent step with the configured destination partner. A valuation or support request does not authorise sharing a tenancy agreement, tenant identity or personal documents, compliance documents, passports or other sensitive tenancy files.
If a landlord later wants relevant tenancy or compliance material to form part of a management handover, legal instruction or Sale Readiness Pack, a separate permission or secure sharing step is required. A referral does not give any partner general access to the landlord's Landlord Buddy workspace. Partners act independently under their own privacy information and service terms. Landlord Buddy may receive referral, commission or other commercial income where a commercial arrangement applies.
If a landlord asks Landlord Buddy to arrange another optional third party service, for example tenant verification, a deposit alternative, deposit registration, insurance or home-moving services, we may share the minimum information reasonably needed to progress that chosen service. Where The Lettings Hub is used for a selected product or referral journey, information is only sent when that feature is enabled and the relevant service has been chosen. The relevant third party will have its own privacy information, eligibility criteria and service terms.
6. Service providers and sharing
Landlord Buddy uses service providers where needed to operate the platform. Depending on the feature selected and the production configuration, these may include website/hosting and backup providers, email delivery providers, Twilio for configured SMS verification and service notifications, GoCardless for recurring Direct Debit payments, WooPayments and/or Stripe for configured one off card payments, WooCommerce for administration of those one off orders, QuickBooks/Intuit where a landlord connects accounting, OpenAI for configured AI tools, PropertyData, Tuxa for property licensing and Article 4 address screening, EPC data services, SignWell, The Lettings Hub, MyDeposits and other providers a landlord chooses to use through the service.
Information is only sent to a provider where it is needed for the relevant feature or service. Some providers may process information outside the UK. Where a restricted international transfer occurs, the applicable UK data-protection transfer requirements must be addressed for that processing.
7. AI assisted features
Ask Landlord Buddy and document checking are support tools. Uploading a document stores it in the Landlord Buddy workspace; it is not sent to the configured AI provider simply because it was uploaded. When a customer actively chooses an AI feature such as Check with AI, the information needed for that request may be sent to the configured AI provider for analysis. Landlord Buddy-created documents do not need to be sent back through the external document checker simply because the platform created them.
AI output may be incomplete or wrong and should be reviewed before consequential action. Landlord Buddy's AI tools are not intended to make a tenancy decision on a landlord's behalf or to replace regulated or specialist professional advice.
8. Retention and security
Records are kept for no longer than reasonably necessary for the purpose for which they are used, taking account of the active customer relationship, legal obligations, dispute handling, fraud/security requirements and legitimate record-keeping needs. Different record types may need different retention periods. Where deletion cannot take effect immediately in protected backups, information should be placed beyond normal use until the relevant backup cycle expires.
Landlord Buddy uses controls including SMS two-factor authentication for landlord and tenant accounts, trusted-device expiry, customer/account separation, protected document delivery, restricted upload types, rate-limiting, audit events and encryption at rest for configured platform credentials. Tenant invitation links are used to activate an account rather than acting as a permanent portal key. No online service can promise absolute security and customers should also protect their own email accounts, phones, devices and passwords.
9. Individual rights
Depending on the circumstances and the applicable role, individuals may have rights relating to access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection and portability. A request concerning information held in a landlord's workspace may need to be dealt with by that landlord as controller, with Landlord Buddy providing appropriate assistance where it is acting as processor.
Individuals may also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office about the handling of their personal information.
10. Personal-data breaches and security incidents
Landlord Buddy maintains incident-response controls for the platform, including the ability to lock landlord access, end landlord sessions and revoke tenant portal access where necessary. If an incident affects personal information, it should be assessed, contained and documented, and notifications made where applicable data-protection law requires them.
11. Marketing and service messages
Where SMS features are enabled, mobile numbers may be used for account verification and operational messages such as tenant invitations, maintenance/request notifications, rent-due prompts and notices that new correspondence is available. Sensitive tenancy or arrears detail is kept inside the authenticated portal rather than placed in the SMS itself. Delivery status and approximate messaging usage/cost may be logged for security, support and service administration.
Service messages needed to operate an account are separate from optional marketing. Where marketing is sent, the applicable preference or opt-out mechanism will be provided. Marketing preferences do not prevent essential account, security, billing or tenancy-service messages.
12. Cookies
See the Cookies page for information about website cookies and similar technologies.
13. Contact
Privacy questions, requests or concerns can be sent to info@landlord-buddy.co.uk or through the contact page. This notice should be read together with the service terms and will be updated where the way Landlord Buddy processes or shares personal information materially changes.