Can I still send HMO letters even with GDPR?
Jacquie Edwards
Helping women business owners to confidently invest their money by understanding fun, ethical and sustainable investments that make an impact.
Sending HMO letters is very important in a Rent to Rent business. HMO Letters is basically when you get the list of licensed HMO’s from the council and send them marketing letters. In other words educate them as to how you can help them manage their properties etc. This is a really great techniques to create a direct link with these HMO landlords (if HMO’s are your ultimate strategy).
A lot of people now ask how this can still work in terms of data protection and GDPR. If you want to know more specifically regarding the GDPR you are more than welcome to browse our YouTube and Facebook videos for those – we have plenty. When sending HMO letters the only thing that you need to ensure is that your data protection controls and processes are all documented. That is one of the key points within GDPR (which is basically the data protection rules).
You need to head to ico.gov.uk (the Information Commissioners Office), which is basically the data police of the UK, and register with them if you are planning on keeping any details or information of private individuals. This obviously includes things like landlord contact numbers, tenant details etc. For Rent to Rent you don’t need anything much more than a basic account and it’s not expensive (between ￡35 - ￡40 a year). You will also find very useful information on their website.
For more tips and advice regarding HMO letters and the GDPR, watch our short video here.