Privacy policy and cookies

As a legal advice provider, using personal information is fundamental to what we do at the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) - from connecting calls to analysing key housing concerns. It is essential that our customers trust us with their personal information.

This privacy notice explains what personal information we collect about you and how we use it during our relationship with you. You can also find details of what rights you have (including the right to object to some of the data handling we carry out), as well as how to exercise those rights in the Your Rights section below.

The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) provides free advice on residential leasehold and park homes law. We are a publicly funded independent body, and we only advise residential leaseholders and park home owners.

We collect personal information when you request advice from us or engage with any other services provided or used by us, such as surveys, websites, and newsletter subscriptions. We regard the privacy of our users as very important. All personal information we receive is treated confidentially.

We work in the public interest to empower consumers by providing personalised, accessible advice that helps residents understand their rights and responsibilities - so they can make informed decisions. Processing customer information - such as name and contact details, and property circumstances - is necessary to fulfil this official function. This aligns with article 6(1)(e) of the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which allows processing where it is “necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority”.

This notice applies to the services we provide you (such as free legal advice relating to residential leasehold, commonhold and park homes), your use of our service (whether phone or any format of written advice) and our website.

It also applies even if you’re not one of our customers, but you interact with us as part of us running our business, for example by:

• using one of our services - requested for by someone else
• acting with authorisation on behalf of one of our customers
• taking part in a survey or trial
• calling our helpdesk
• subscribing to our newsletter
• generally enquiring about our services

If you need to give us personal information about someone else in relation to our services, this privacy notice will also apply to their information. If we need the permission of the other person to use that information, we will ask you to check that permission exists.

You can ask us to provide you with a copy of your personal data at any time. You have given us your personal information because you have requested our help with a legal matter, you are entitled to ask us for a copy of this information.

In some circumstances (including where we rely on ‘legitimate interests’), you have the right to object to our processing of your data and can ask us to restrict our use of your data and to delete it.  You also have the right to ask us to correct your information if it is inaccurate.

We aim to provide our services in a way that protects information and respects your request. Because of this, when you delete or change (or ask us to delete or change) your information from our systems, we may need to keep some information to fulfil your request.

Where we can, we will confirm any changes. For example, we’ll check a change of address against the Postal Address File, or we might ask you to confirm it.

There are some exceptions to these rights, for example we might not be able to delete your data if we are required to keep it by law. We also might not be able to provide you with information if it would infringe someone else’s rights. We’ll always try to help you with your request and if we believe we are unable to fulfil your request we will always explain why.

Where you have provided us with your personal information to handle in order for us to provide a service, you can change your mind and ask us to stop using your data. This only applies to how we use your personal information in the future, not what we have done in the past.

Under the General Data Protection Regulations, you have the right to request a copy of the information which we hold about you. If you would like a copy of some or all of the personal information we hold about you please email [email protected]. We take the security of your personal information seriously and you may be asked to provide proof of address and/or your identity before we can act on your request.

For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data-sharing issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner at: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Phone: 0303 123 1113 or 01625 54 57 45 Fax: 01625 524510 Website: ico.org.uk

The personal information we collect, store, and use will depend on the service you have asked us to provide to you. In most cases we have this information because we collect it directly from you, or because it has been derived from your use of our services.

Some of the personal information we collect, store and use is more sensitive. We will only collect, store and use this more sensitive information to support you and your use of our services.

Below you can find details of how and why we use your information and our permitted reason in law (known as ‘legal basis’) to use it.

LEASE is a publicly funded body that delivers housing advice, therefore processing client information - such as name, contact details, and property circumstances - is necessary to fulfil its official functions. This aligns with article 6(1)(e) of the GDPR, which allows processing where it is “necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority.”

LEASE may also process data under legitimate interests, particularly for:

• internal record-keeping
• service improvement and training
• performance monitoring
• analytics

We record telephone advice calls for training, quality and analysis purposes. Our calls are also processed by secure AI software to transcribe the contents and generate summaries which are reviewed by our advisers and stored alongside your enquiry details in our system.

We will never share your information with other organisations for marketing, market research (unless conducted on our behalf) or commercial purposes.

In the event that you contact us once and once only, then your details will be removed from our records in keeping with our Destruction Policy. In summary, this policy is that we will retain your data for seven years after your last contact. For example, if you contacted us for advice in 2019, then contacted again in 2021, and you never contact us again, then we will delete your data in 2028 (seven years after the last contact).

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, you have the right to make a complaint to us.

You can contact us by:

• email: [email protected]
• phone: 020 7832 2500
• post: Leasehold Advisory Service, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF

When we receive your complaint we will:

• acknowledge it within 30 days
• investigate and respond as quickly as possible
• keep you informed if it takes longer

Once we have completed our investigation, we will explain the outcome and any actions we have taken.

If you are not satisfied, you have the right to raise your complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

• email: [email protected]
• phone: 0303 123 1113
• post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF

We use cookies and similar technologies to ensure our website functions correctly, improve your experience, understand how our services are used, and help us improve our content and services.

This policy explains what cookies are, how we use them, and the choices available to you.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your computer, tablet, or mobile device when you visit a website. They allow websites to recognise your device and store information about your preferences or previous actions.

We also use similar technologies, including browser storage and service workers, to support certain website features such as offline access and performance improvements.

How we use cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies to:

• ensure the website operates securely and effectively
• remember your cookie preferences
• understand how visitors use our website
• improve website performance and user experience
• measure the effectiveness of communications and campaigns
• support offline functionality through our Progressive Web App (PWA)

Cookie categories

Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are essential for the operation, security, and functionality of the website. They cannot be disabled through our cookie settings.

Analytics and performance cookies

These cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our website. The information collected is used to improve our services and user experience.

We use Google Analytics and Hotjar for this purpose.

These cookies are only placed on your device if you choose to accept analytics cookies.

Marketing cookies

Marketing cookies help us understand the effectiveness of our advertising and outreach activities.

These cookies are only placed on your device if you choose to accept marketing cookies.

Progressive Web App (PWA) functionality

This website uses Progressive Web App technology to improve performance and provide limited offline functionality.

To support these features, we may use browser technologies such as:

• service workers
• cache storage
• local storage
• IndexedDB

These technologies allow website resources to be stored locally on your device so that pages can load more quickly and certain content may remain available when your internet connection is limited.

Where these technologies are strictly necessary to provide functionality you have requested, they may operate without additional consent.

Managing your cookie preferences

You can manage your cookie preferences at any time through our cookie settings tool.

You can also control cookies through your web browser by:

• deleting existing cookies
• blocking cookies from being stored
• configuring browser privacy settings

Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the website.

Third-party services

We use the following third-party services:

• Google Analytics
• Hotjar
• Meta (Facebook)
• Reddit
• Cloudflare

These providers may process information in accordance with their own privacy policies.

Changes to this policy

We may update this cookie policy from time to time to reflect changes in technology, legislation, or our services.

Any updates will be published on this page and will take effect from the date shown at the top of the policy.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this cookie policy or our use of cookies and similar technologies, please contact us.