Privacy policy

Emerge Living Ltd ("Emerge Living", "we", "us", "our") respects your privacy. This policy explains how we collect, use and protect personal information when you visit emergeliving.co.uk, enquire about our services, work with us as a property owner, or stay in a property we manage as a guest.

1. Who we are

Emerge Living Ltd is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. We are registered in England and Wales under company number 17421345, with our registered office at Meadowcroft Cottage, Whittingham Lane, Goosnargh, Preston, PR3 2JJ. Our ICO registration number is [ICO REG. NO.].

We collect information directly from you, from booking platforms when you book one of our properties, and automatically when you use our website.

If you have any questions about this policy or your information, contact us at matt@emergeliving.co.uk or call +44 7402 112002.

2. Information we collect

Property owners and enquirers

• Contact details: name, email address, phone number and postal address.
• Property details: address, postcode, type, size, current status and photographs.
• Information needed to manage your property: ownership and consent documents, safety certificates, insurance details and access information.
• Financial information: bank details for payouts, and records of income, fees and costs.
• Identity verification information where required for our client checks.
• Records of our communications with you, including call bookings.
• Your marketing preferences.

Guests

• Booking details shared by booking platforms (such as Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo) or provided by you directly: name, contact details, dates, number of guests and purpose of stay.
• The names of other adult guests in your booking, where provided.
• For business or contractor stays: your employer or company name and invoicing details.
• Any special requests you make about your stay.
• Identity verification information, such as photo ID, where required under our guest screening policy.
• Payment and security deposit information for direct bookings (processed by our payment provider; we do not store full card details).
• Communications during your booking and stay.
• Smart lock access logs, and data from noise-level sensors (which measure decibel levels only and never record audio).
• Footage from exterior security cameras at some of our properties. Cameras are only ever placed outside, never inside, and are always disclosed in the property listing.

We don't keep separate records of health or accessibility information. If you tell us about accessibility needs through a booking platform, we only use that information to prepare for your stay.

Website visitors

• Information you submit through forms on our website.
• Technical data such as IP address, browser and device type, pages visited, time on site and referring site, collected through cookies and similar technologies. See our cookie policy.

3. How we use your information

• To respond to enquiries and provide income estimates.
• To deliver our management services, including listings, pricing, cleaning, maintenance and reporting.
• To manage bookings, verify guests' identity and age, send check-in instructions, communicate before, during and after stays, and protect properties.
• To process payments, payouts, invoices, security deposits and damage claims.
• To meet our legal, regulatory, tax and accounting obligations.
• To understand how our website is used and improve our website and services.
• To send you updates and marketing by email or post where the law allows (see section 10).

4. Our lawful bases

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, we rely on the following lawful bases:

• Contract: to provide our services to property owners and to fulfil guest bookings.
• Legal obligation: to comply with laws such as tax, accounting, safety and short-let registration requirements.
• Legitimate interests: to run and improve our business, screen bookings, prevent fraud, protect properties, neighbours and guests, and send postal marketing to people we already work with, provided your rights do not override those interests.
• Consent: for marketing emails and non-essential cookies. You can withdraw consent at any time.

5. Who we share your information with

We only share information where necessary, and never sell it. Recipients may include:

• Booking platforms such as Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo, and our channel management and pricing software providers.
• Cleaners, maintenance contractors, photographers and other service partners working on our behalf.
• Property owners, who receive booking and guest information needed to manage their property (for example, guest names and stay dates in reports).
• Payment processors, guest verification providers and damage protection providers.
• Our website host (Squarespace), email, scheduling and IT providers.
• Email marketing, printing and mailing providers who help us send marketing.
• Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers and solicitors.
• Police, local authorities or regulators where we are legally required to do so, or to protect people or property.

Our suppliers are required to keep your information secure and only use it for the purposes we specify.

6. International transfers

Some of our service providers may process data outside the UK, for example on cloud servers. Where this happens, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as UK adequacy regulations or the International Data Transfer Agreement.

7. How long we keep your information

• Enquiries that don't become clients: up to 24 months after last contact.
• Property owner records: for the length of our agreement and up to 6 years afterwards, for legal and tax purposes.
• Guest booking and financial records: up to 6 years for accounting and tax purposes.
• ID verification documents: deleted within 90 days of check-out, unless needed for a claim or dispute.
• Exterior camera footage, noise sensor data and access logs: up to 30 days, unless needed for an incident.
• Marketing preferences: until you unsubscribe. We then keep a short record of your opt-out so we don't contact you again.

When information is no longer needed, we securely delete or anonymise it.

8. Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including encrypted website connections, secure third-party payment processors, access limited to the people who need it, only collecting what we need, and regular reviews of how we handle data. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, but we work hard to keep your data safe.

9. Your rights

You have the right to:

• access the personal information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct inaccurate information;
• ask us to delete your information in certain circumstances;
• object to, or ask us to restrict, how we use your information, including objecting to marketing at any time;
• ask for your information to be transferred to another organisation;
• withdraw consent where we rely on it.

To exercise any of these rights, email matt@emergeliving.co.uk. We will respond within one month.

10. Marketing

If you're a property owner or have enquired about our services, we may send you updates by email or post, such as news about our services, new areas we cover, landlord guides, market updates, offers and company news.

We'll only send you marketing emails if you've agreed to receive them, or if you've used or enquired about our services and we've given you a simple way to opt out. We may occasionally send marketing by post where we have a legitimate interest in doing so. We don't send marketing to guests unless they've asked to receive it.

You can opt out at any time by using the unsubscribe link in any email, by contacting us about any letter, or by emailing matt@emergeliving.co.uk.

11. Children

Our services and website are intended for adults. We don't knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18, and the lead guest on any booking must be 18 or over. Where a booking includes children, we may ask how many guests are children and their ages, but we don't collect other information that identifies them.

12. Cookies

Our website uses cookies. When you first visit, a banner lets you accept or decline non-essential cookies, and you can change your choice at any time using the cookie settings link in our footer. For full details, see our cookie policy.

13. Complaints

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please contact us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page, with the date it was last updated.

15. Contact us

Emerge Living Ltd
Meadowcroft Cottage, Whittingham Lane, Goosnargh, Preston, PR3 2JJ
Email: matt@emergeliving.co.uk
Phone: +44 7402 112002
Website: emergeliving.co.uk