Privacy Policy

At House Smart Property Group, protecting your personal information matters to us as much as arranging your property services well. This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have.

Who we are

House Smart Property Group Limited ("HSPG", "we", "our", "us") is the company responsible for your personal information under this policy. In data protection language, we are the data controller.

What we do, and why it matters here

We arrange and co-ordinate property services for customers: surveys, conveyancing, mortgage advice and specialist reports. We do not carry out all of that work ourselves. We introduce you to firms that are qualified and regulated to do it, and we manage the arrangement so that it runs smoothly. We also handle customer administration and collect payment for the services we arrange.

That shapes how your information moves. To arrange a service for you, we have to pass your details to the firm that will carry it out. What happens to your information once it reaches them is governed by their privacy policy, not ours. The section headed "The firms we introduce you to" explains this properly.

Who this policy applies to

This policy applies whenever you interact with HSPG: visiting our website, asking for a quotation, booking a service, contacting us for help, buying one of the services we arrange, or where we receive your details from a referral partner such as an estate agent, mortgage broker or conveyancer.

The information we collect

What we collect depends on how you deal with us and what you ask us to arrange.

Information you give us

When you contact us for a quotation or book a service, we usually collect your name, postal address, email address, telephone number and the address of the property concerned. Depending on the service, we may also need details such as your date of birth, the names of others involved in the transaction, and information about the transaction itself — for example whether you are buying, selling or remortgaging, and your expected timescales.

Information about your instruction

We keep records of the services we arrange for you: which firm we placed the work with, when, what was quoted and agreed, the progress of your instruction, and its outcome. Where a firm sends us a report or update so that we can pass it to you or track progress, we hold that too.

Payment information

For some of the services we arrange you pay us directly, and we pass the relevant part of your payment on to the firm carrying out the work. For others you pay that firm yourself. Where you pay us, the payment will show as House Smart Property Group on your statement or receipt. Payments are handled securely through authorised payment providers and we never store your full payment card details.

Your communications with us

We keep records of our dealings with you so we can give you a proper service. This may include emails, website enquiries, contact forms, WhatsApp messages, SMS messages and telephone conversations. Telephone calls may be recorded for training, quality assurance, complaint investigation and monitoring customer service standards.

Technical information

Like most websites, ours collects certain technical information automatically when you visit: your IP address, browser type, operating system, device information and how you use the site. This helps us keep the site working, secure and useful.

Your preferences

We record how, and whether, you would like to hear from us in future.

How we use your information

The main reason we collect your information is to arrange and deliver the services you have asked for. We use it to prepare quotations, place your instruction with the right firm, arrange appointments, keep you updated, handle payment, and support you before and after the work is done.

We also use it to run our business properly. That includes improving our services, monitoring quality, training our staff, investigating complaints, assessing how the firms on our panel perform for our customers, meeting our legal obligations, protecting the business against fraud, and keeping appropriate records for insurance purposes. Where appropriate, we may also use your information to tell you about services we offer that we believe may be relevant to you.

Our legal basis for using your information

UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful reason for using your personal information. Depending on the circumstances we rely on one or more of the following:

• to perform our contract with you, or to take steps at your request before entering into one;
• to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
• where it is in our legitimate interests to operate, protect and improve our business, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights; and
• your consent, where the law requires it. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

Sharing your information

The firms we introduce you to

To arrange a service for you we pass your details to the firm that will carry it out — a surveying firm, conveyancer, mortgage broker or specialist report provider. We share what that firm needs in order to quote for the work, take your instruction and deliver it.

We have commercial arrangements with these firms, and we are paid for the work we place with them. That does not change what we do with your personal information, but you are entitled to know about it: our terms of business set out how we are paid, and we will tell you before we introduce you.

Other organisations we work with

We use trusted suppliers who provide services such as payment processing, cloud hosting, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, telephone systems, IT support, marketing platforms and professional advice. They receive only the information they need to do their job, act on our instructions, and are contractually required to keep it secure.

Referral partners

If you were introduced to us by a referral partner such as an estate agent, mortgage broker or conveyancer, we may share information about the progress of your instruction where this is necessary to administer the referral, confirm completion, or meet our contractual arrangements with that partner. We will not share more than is necessary, and we will not share a report prepared for you unless you have authorised it, the partner commissioned the work on your behalf, or we are legally entitled to do so.

Where we need your consent before introducing you to another business, or before sharing your information for marketing purposes, we will obtain it first. You are free to withdraw that consent at any time.

Legal and regulatory disclosures

We may share information where we are legally required to, for example with law enforcement agencies, the courts, or a regulator investigating a firm we introduced you to.

International transfers

We are based in the United Kingdom, but some business support services may be provided by trusted overseas contractors working on our behalf. At present this may include business development and administrative support, and as we grow it may extend to customer support, booking administration or other back-office services.

Wherever personal information is accessed or processed outside the United Kingdom, we put appropriate safeguards in place. These may include International Data Transfer Agreements (IDTAs), the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or transfers to countries the UK Government recognises as providing an adequate level of protection.

Whoever handles your information on our behalf, and wherever they are, we require them to meet strict confidentiality obligations, robust security standards and applicable UK data protection law.

How long we keep your information

We keep personal information only for as long as it is needed. Records relating to the services we arrange are generally kept for six years from the completion of your instruction, which reflects the period during which a claim could ordinarily be brought. Financial records are kept for the periods required by law. Marketing records are kept until you ask us to stop contacting you, or until they are no longer needed.

The firms we introduce you to set their own retention periods, which may be considerably longer than ours — a surveying firm, for example, will typically keep survey records for many years to meet its professional indemnity insurance requirements. Their privacy policy will tell you what they keep and for how long. If you would like more detail about our retention periods, please contact us.

Keeping your information secure

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to keep your personal information safe. These include secure systems, access controls, staff training, and contractual safeguards with the third parties who process information on our behalf. No system can guarantee complete security, but we keep our processes and technology under review to protect your information as well as we reasonably can.

Marketing communications

From time to time we may contact you about services we believe are relevant to you, based on your relationship with us. These typically relate to buying, selling, owning, maintaining or improving a property.

Where you are an existing customer or have asked us about our services, we may contact you by email, telephone, SMS or post where we are permitted to do so, relying either on our legitimate interests or on the "soft opt-in" rules under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Where the law requires your consent before we send you marketing, we will ask for it.

You can opt out at any time, by clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails, following the instructions in our communications, or simply contacting us. Opting out of marketing will not affect the service messages we need to send you about an instruction you have placed with us.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to help it work properly and to understand how visitors use it. Where the law requires it, non-essential cookies such as analytics and marketing cookies are placed on your device only after you have given consent through our cookie banner. You can change your cookie preferences at any time.

Third-party websites

Our website may link to websites operated by other organisations, including the firms we work with, professional bodies and regulators. Those sites operate under their own privacy policies and terms. We are not responsible for the content, security or privacy practices of websites we do not control, and we encourage you to read their privacy policies before providing any personal information.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have a number of rights over your personal information. You can:

• ask for a copy of the information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete;
• ask us to delete information, where it is appropriate for us to do so;
• ask us to restrict how we use your information;
• ask to receive your information in a portable format;
• object to us using your information on the basis of our legitimate interests;
• withdraw your consent, where we have relied on it; and
• object to direct marketing at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details at the end of this policy. We will not charge you, and we will respond within one month.

If your request concerns information held by a firm we introduced you to, you will need to make it to that firm directly, because they hold the information and control what happens to it. Tell us if you are struggling to reach them and we will help you make contact.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please tell us first — we would like the chance to put it right, and our Complaints Policy explains how we will deal with it. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at any time.

Fraud prevention and legal compliance

To protect our customers, our people and our business, we may process personal information to detect, investigate and prevent fraud, financial crime, cyber security threats and other unlawful activity. We may also use your information where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, comply with court orders, respond to law enforcement agencies or regulators, or meet other legal and regulatory obligations.

Keeping your information accurate

We aim to hold information about you that is accurate and up to date. If your details change — particularly your contact details — please let us know as soon as you can, so we can update our records and keep in touch with you properly during your instruction.

Artificial intelligence

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) and other automated tools to support and improve our services — for example to help draft communications, summarise information, improve customer service, analyse business data and support our internal processes.

Where AI is used, it assists our people rather than replacing their judgement. Decisions about your instruction, or about any service we arrange for you, are not made solely by automated means and remain subject to human review.

We only use AI systems we consider appropriate for business use, and we take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information processed through them is handled securely and in line with data protection law. Where we use third-party AI providers, we seek appropriate contractual, technical and organisational safeguards. As the technology develops we may introduce further AI tools to improve the efficiency and quality of our service, and we will update this policy where appropriate.

Children's privacy

Our services are intended for adults arranging property-related services. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our business, the services we provide, or the law. The latest version is always available on our website, and the date at the foot of this policy shows when it was last revised.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this policy or how we use your personal information, please contact us:

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to contact the Information Commissioner's Office at www.ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

House Smart Property Group Limited · 20 Swan Street, Manchester, M4 5JW · Registered in England and Wales, company number 17301837 · Version 1.0 · Last updated 28 August 2026