GDPR Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy (together with our Website Terms of Use, and any other documents referred to) sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. This Privacy Policy also sets out how you can instruct us if you prefer to limit the use of that personal data and the procedures that we have in place to safeguard your privacy..For the purpose of the Data Protection Act (“the Act”) and the General Data Protection Regulations (“GDPR”), that replaced it from 25th May 2018, the data controller is Symonds & Sampson LLP (“Symonds & Sampson LLP”, “the Firm”, “us”, “our” or “we”).
Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.
1. ABOUT SYMONDS & SAMPSON LLP
Symonds & Sampson LLP is a firm (OC326649) of Chartered Surveyors, Estate Agents & Auctioneers, Head Office at Burraton House, Burraton Square, Poundbury, Dorchester DT1 3GR. There are 14 other offices in Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire. The Firm does not trade and has no interest outside the UK, except in the rare event that a purchaser or vendor, or landlord, is resident overseas. Further details are available on the Firm’s website symondsandsampson.co.uk (the “Website”). Our ICO reference number for Data Protection purposes is Z7110322.
The Partners of the Firm are committed to ensuring that the principles of GDPR are adhered to; that the rights of individuals under GDPR are appropriately protected; and that privacy by default and design is at the heart of our approach to data protection
2. INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT FROM YOU
In our business as Auctioneers, Estate Agents, Lettings Agents, and Chartered Surveyors, we may collect personal information from a range of subjects including, but not limited to:
- property vendors and landlords – prospective, current and past
- property purchasers and tenants – potential, current and past
- owners and occupiers of property managed by us
- purchasers or vendors of livestock and deadstock at auction - potential, current and past
- users of our professional services – potential, current and past
- people who we believe may be interested in our services, or who have expressed an interest in receiving our marketing material, or attending events organised by us
- job applicants. If unsuccessful, details may be kept on file a reasonable period in case alternative roles but only with your permission.
- employees - prospective, current and past
- personal identifiers such as name, address, dob, phone, email
- contents of correspondence from and to you
- preferences with regards to property to buy or to let, or other areas of interest
- financial and other personal information required for the purposes of effecting a sale, purchase or tenancy, or completing a professional task such as a BPS application or valuation
- Information required to meet our obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 as amended, (“MLR”) which may include passports and other identity documents, evidence of address, and supporting documents to verify proof of funds and source of wealth.
- some electronic data such as your IP address (your computer’s internet identity) and other details of visits to symondsandsampson.co.uk. This data is not used by us, or any third party, to identify an individual.
- telephone recordings in certain circumstances.
- For employees and job applicants:
o personal information included in a CV, any application form, cover letter or interview notes, your professional memberships, your references;
o details of your skills, qualifications, experience, work history and current remuneration with previous employers. - For employees
o information about your right to work in the UK and copies of proof of right to work documentation;
o copy of driving licence;
o other background check documentation;
o information about your marital status, next of kin, dependants and emergency contacts;
o information about medical or health conditions, including whether or not you have a disability for which the organisation needs to make reasonable adjustments;
o details of your bank account and national insurance number for payroll;
o details of periods of leave taken by you, including holiday, sickness absence, family leave and sabbaticals, and the reasons for the leave;
o details of any capability, disciplinary or grievance procedures in which you have been involved, including any warnings issued to you and related correspondence;
o assessments of your performance, including supervision notes, appraisals.
We do not specifically process special category data such as nationality, sexuality, belief etc, nor do we collect more than very limited personal data about children. Should we do so, we will ensure that extra safeguards are in place.
We may collect or hold data from the following sources:
- our Website, if you complete a form registering your interest in receiving further information
- property portals to which we subscribe such as Rightmove and Zoopla, where you have completed a request for further information
- registration of your interest in our services in person, in writing, by email or on the phone
- gathered in the natural course of a transaction or ongoing professional service, where that data is relevant to performance of the contract, or legally required
- from our current databases of past and present clients, potential clients and applicants
- from official 3rd party sources, such as Land Registry, where we have identified that we may be able to offer a specific service to you
- from information provided by you to us in correspondence
- from telephone recordings for the purposes of quality assurance, dispute resolution, training or regulatory compliance
- by the use of any artificial intelligence tool that gathers and analyses input from you
- from CCTV operation at our locations for staff safety and crime prevention purposes
Under data protection legislation we are only permitted to use your personal information if we have a legal basis for doing so. We rely on the following legal bases to use your information;
a) For the performance of a contract – whether a sale or purchase, tenancy, professional service or block management – for the instigation and duration of that contract. Because of the extended limitation period on property-related claims, we may hold all or part of that information for an indefinite period thereafter unless you ask us to desist.
b) For the legitimate interests of ourselves and others in providing information to referencing companies, future landlords, debt collection agencies, insurers, deposit holders and the like, for 7 years after the expiry of the original purpose.
c) For the fulfilment of a request by you, via our Website or other means, to provide details of forthcoming auctions; suitable properties to buy or rent; or other professional services. We will continue to supply you with such details until you ask us to desist. We have assessed that we have a legitimate interest in providing you with related information that we believe may be of interest or helpful to you in relation to your request. You have the right to opt out of receiving this information at any time
d) For the fulfilment of a legal or regulatory duty, for as long as that obligation persists. In the case of evidence provided to meet our obligations under MLR, that will be for at least 6 years from the date of supply and we confirm that such data will not be used for any other purpose unless we have your consent.
e) For the provision of marketing information about our services that we consider may be of interest to you, or that we believe may assist you in your move or professional requirements. We have assessed that this is a legitimate interest for the purposes of demonstrating the full breadth and quality of our services to our clients and potential clients. We do not believe that this offering is detrimental to the rights of those data subjects and, on balance, consider that it is less intrusive than obtaining specific consent to send marketing material. We will not supply this data to third parties, except solely to effect delivery of the material, and will unsubscribe subjects immediately on request
f) For the protection of our partners and employees, if and for as long as appropriate.
g) For the investigation of complaints and other enquiries, if and for as long as appropriate.
h) Other marketing information for which we may request your specific consent, having advised you of the purpose and relevant retention period.
i) For employment-related purposes.
We, or third-party processors, may use limited automated decision-making for the following purposes: referencing or money-laundering checks, which are necessary for legal or contractual purposes; for the qualification of letting or property sale applicants, if and where such a tool is engaged. We ensure that there is human intervention to refine the automated results where necessary, and allow you to challenge the results or the data input to reach the decision.
4. CREDIT REFERENCE AND AFFORDABILITY CHECKS
To help us assess applications, prevent fraud, and meet our legal and regulatory obligations, we may obtain information about you from credit reference agencies (CRAs).
We obtain this information via Creditsafe (or other CRAs), which uses its data partner TransUnion to supply consumer credit and identity data.
- Creditsafe Business Solutions Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FCA Firm Reference Number: 742313
- TransUnion International UK Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FCA Firm Reference Number: 805757
Further information about how Creditsafe and TransUnion process your personal data can be found in their respective privacy notices:
- Creditsafe Privacy/Transparency Notice: Transparency Notice | Customers & Suppliers
- TransUnion CRAIN (Credit Reference Agency Information Notice): https://www.transunion.co.uk/legal/privacy-centre/pc-credit-reference
- TransUnion Bureau Privacy Notice: https://www.transunion.co.uk/legal/privacy-centre/pc-bureau
We have assessed that we have a legitimate interest in sharing your data with third parties, either directly or in passing, for the following purposes:
a) To help us in the fulfilment of a contract or service to you, including our current providers of the following services:
• EPC and brochure production
• Referencing
• Sign board erection
• Utility switching
• Money-laundering checking
• Inventories
• Deposit holders
• Property repairs and safety checks
• Lawyers, conveyancers and professional advisors
• The other party to a contract or potential transaction, or the lender in the case of a survey or valuation
b) To assist us in the running of our own business, including our current providers of the following services:
- Estate agency and property management software, including applications to look up postcodes, sign documents etc. and tools to qualify potential tenants and property purchasers.
- Accounts and payment processing software
- Auction software
- Website and IT services
d) As required to authorities or regulators, including:
- HMRC and FCA
- RICS, ARLA, NAEA
- Ombudsmen
- Enforcement agencies
f) After assessment, to meet the legitimate interests of others in referencing, debt-collection, managing insurance claims and the like.
g) For the protection of our partners and employees, to police or lawyers.
We do not sell data to third parties.
6. SECURITY OF YOUR DATA
The security of information is very important to us. We are committed to taking appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage to personal data.
Security measures include but are not limited to:
• The information you provide to us will be held in our secure client management systems which are located on our premises or those of an appointed third party.
• Access to client data is restricted to those within the Firm who are required to have access to your information for legitimate business purposes.
• For data hosted in datacentres, systems and protections are in place to protect against both unauthorised access, and other external factors that could cause damage to, your personal data.
• Sensitive hard copy documentation is stored in locked cabinets/rooms.
As described in this Privacy Policy, we may in some instances disclose your personal data to third parties. Where we disclose your personal data to a third party, we require that third party to have appropriate technical and organisational measures in place to protect your personal data.
We may also allow access to your information by other third parties who act for us for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or for other purposes approved by you. We believe that we do not currently conduct any processing outside the European Economic Area (the EEA) but, should we be aware that your data is to be transferred outside the EEA, we will require that appropriate safeguards are in place.
Access to personal information is restricted to Symonds & Sampson’s employees, and authorised contractors on behalf of the Firm with a legitimate business purpose. Training is provided to all the Firm’s employees and contractors who need access to personal information.
OUR WEBSITE
Specific personal data, such as your IP address, is collected on our Website, and we may also transfer pieces of information known as Cookies to your computer or device. You may access other websites from our website. All of these matters, and other terms specific to the Website, are covered in our Website Terms of Use, available on the Website, or on request.
7. YOUR RIGHTS IN RESPECT OF YOUR DATA
GDPR clarifies a number of rights for data subjects, which are summarised below:
- Right to be informed – we should tell you what data we hold and what we do with it
- Right of access to your data – to be given a copy of data we hold on you
- Right to rectification - if you would like us to correct an inaccuracy or, where legally possible, to delete or anonymise your data
- Right to erasure (right to be forgotten) - if you would like us to delete or anonymise your data (where legally possible)
- Right to restrict processing
- Right to object to our processing data
- Right to portability of data – so that you can see and use the data for your own purposes
- Not be subject to wholly automated decisions which produce legal effects or which could have a similarly significant effect on you.
personal data is erased, we will take reasonable steps to inform any third parties with whom the data was shared, where applicable.
The data subject has a right of appeal in relation to the outcome of the Personal Data Erasure Request. If the data subject remains dissatisfied of the outcome of the appeal, the data subject will be has the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office or another supervisory authority and their ability to seek to enforce their rights through a judicial remedy. The Firm will inform the data subject of this right without undue delay and within one month of receipt of their Personal Data Erasure Request.
If you wish to exercise any of your rights, you should contact us as set out below.
8. UPDATES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICIES
We may update our policies from time to time if operational needs or legislation requires amendment. New versions of the policies will be published on our website or available on request, but will not otherwise be notified.
9. CONTACT US
It is our intention that we should adopt best practice to comply with the complicated and developing requirements of GDPR. However it may be that we have not interpreted the guidelines, or affected them in practice, as we should. If that is the case, we would prefer that you address any concerns in the first instance to us and we will do our absolute best to deal with the issue to your satisfaction in the appropriate timeframe.
Should you have any queries about our policies, or wish to exercise any rights conferred under GDPR, please email privacy@symondsandsampson.co.uk or write to:
The Data Protection Partner
Burraton House
Burraton Square
Poundbury
Dorset
DT1 3GR
If you are exercising any rights, we will ask you to verify your identity and detail your request in writing.
Please note that we will keep a record of the fact that you have made a request to exercise your rights, and our response to your request, in order to demonstrate compliance with our data protection obligations and so that we can handle any queries, complaints or claims in relation to your request. This record will be kept in accordance with our retention policies.
There is additionally much relevant information on the website of the Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ico.org.uk, including the ability to report a concern directly to them, should you wish to do so.
Reviewed March 2026