Legal
LD Homes Ltd Privacy Notice
LD Homes Ltd respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information.
This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, store and share personal information when you visit our website, contact us, make an enquiry, instruct us to provide services, work with us professionally, or otherwise interact with LD Homes Ltd.
1. Who we are
LD Homes Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales.
Company number: 16164545
Website: www.ldhomes.co.uk
For data protection purposes, LD Homes Ltd is the controller of personal information covered by this Privacy Notice.
If you have any questions about this notice, how we use your information, or your data protection rights, please contact:
Email: cquy@ldhomes.co.uk
2. The information we may collect
The information we collect depends on your relationship with us and the services you ask us to provide.
It may include:
Identity and contact information
Your name, address, email address, telephone number, organisation, job title and other contact details.
Site, property and ownership information
Information about land, property or development opportunities you ask us to consider, including site addresses, ownership or land interests, title or boundary information, photographs, plans and information relevant to a proposed purchase, sale, development or planning strategy.
Planning and project information
Planning application details, planning history, decision notices, officer reports, pre application correspondence, drawings, technical reports, consultant information, appeal material, local authority correspondence and other information relevant to our instruction.
Client and contractual information
Information relating to enquiries, proposals, instructions, Scopes of Services, Terms of Engagement, project correspondence, client decisions, deliverables, complaints and the management of our professional relationship.
Financial and transaction information
Billing details, invoices, payment status and records of transactions with LD Homes. We do not normally retain full payment card details where payments are processed through a third party payment provider.
Professional contact information
Details of architects, planning consultants, surveyors, engineers, solicitors, agents, developers, landowners, introducers and other parties involved in a project or professional relationship.
Marketing and communication information
Your communication preferences, records of enquiries and, where relevant, whether you have agreed to receive marketing or updates from us.
Website and technical information
Information about your use of our website, which may include your IP address, browser, device, pages viewed, approximate location derived from technical information, cookie preferences and website interaction data.
We do not routinely seek special category personal information. If information of this nature is provided to us and is relevant to an instruction, we will only use it where there is a lawful basis for doing so and where its use is necessary.
3. How we collect information
We may receive personal information:
- directly from you when you contact us, complete a website form, speak with us, send information to us, upload documents or instruct us;
- from another person acting for or with you, such as an architect, agent, solicitor, consultant, joint owner, developer or business partner;
- from professional introducers and referral contacts;
- from local planning authorities, the Planning Inspectorate and other public bodies;
- from publicly available sources, including planning registers, Companies House, Land Registry information where lawfully accessed, professional websites and other public records;
- from consultants and other professionals involved in a project; and
- automatically through our website and related technologies.
Where somebody provides personal information about another person, they should ensure that they are authorised to do so where required.
4. How we use your information
We may use personal information to:
- respond to enquiries and arrange initial consultations;
- assess what service or planning route may be appropriate;
- prepare proposals, quotations and Scopes of Services;
- provide planning consultancy, planning strategy, site assessment and related professional services;
- review planning applications, refusals, land and development opportunities;
- manage pre application and planning application work;
- communicate with clients and other authorised parties;
- review documents, plans, reports and information supplied as part of an instruction;
- liaise with local planning authorities, consultants and other parties where this forms part of our agreed role;
- manage client portals, document transfers and project records;
- administer invoices, payments and accounts;
- manage complaints, disputes and professional risk;
- maintain appropriate business and professional records;
- improve our services and website;
- manage professional relationships and referrals;
- assess potential land, planning gain, partnership or other commercial opportunities where relevant;
- send marketing or business communications where permitted;
- protect our systems, website, business and clients from fraud, misuse or security threats; and
- comply with legal, tax, regulatory and professional obligations.
5. Our lawful bases for using information
UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for processing personal information.
Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on the following.
Contract
We use information where it is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract or to perform our contract with you.
This includes handling an enquiry, agreeing a Scope of Services, delivering an instruction, communicating about the work and managing payment.
Legitimate interests
We may process information where it is necessary for the legitimate interests of LD Homes or another party and those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.
These interests may include:
- operating and developing our business;
- managing client and professional relationships;
- maintaining project and professional records;
- protecting and defending the business against claims;
- assessing enquiries and potential opportunities;
- preventing fraud and protecting our systems;
- improving our website and services; and
- undertaking proportionate business to business marketing and professional relationship activity where permitted.
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider whether the use of your information is necessary and proportionate and whether it would reasonably be expected.
Legal obligation
We may use or retain information where necessary to comply with legal, accounting, taxation, regulatory or other statutory requirements.
Consent
We will rely on consent where the law requires it, including for certain marketing communications and non essential website cookies or similar technologies.
Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time.
6. Planning and professional services
Providing planning advice often requires information to be considered alongside information held by third parties and public bodies.
Where necessary for the agreed instruction, we may use personal information when reviewing planning history, ownership context, local authority records, technical information and correspondence.
We may also need to disclose relevant information to a local planning authority, the Planning Inspectorate, statutory consultees or client appointed consultants where this is required to carry out the services you have asked us to provide.
We will not use information supplied for a client instruction for an unrelated purpose without an appropriate lawful basis.
7. Who we may share information with
We do not sell personal information.
Where necessary and lawful, information may be shared with:
- local planning authorities and other public bodies;
- the Planning Inspectorate and statutory consultees;
- architects, surveyors, engineers, planning specialists and other professional consultants;
- solicitors, accountants, insurers and professional advisers;
- website hosting, email, IT, cloud storage and document management providers;
- providers supporting our secure client portal and document sharing arrangements;
- payment, accounting and invoicing service providers;
- contractors or service providers supporting LD Homes;
- regulators, government bodies, courts or law enforcement bodies where disclosure is legally required; and
- a purchaser, investor or professional adviser where LD Homes is involved in a genuine business sale, investment, restructuring or similar corporate transaction, subject to appropriate confidentiality arrangements.
Where another professional is appointed directly by you, that organisation may act as a separate controller of the information it receives and will be responsible for its own data protection obligations.
8. Client portal and document uploads
LD Homes may provide clients with a secure electronic location for uploading and exchanging project information.
Documents supplied through a client portal may contain personal information about the client, property owners, applicants, consultants, neighbours or other people connected with a planning matter.
Clients should only provide information that is relevant to the instruction and which they are entitled to provide.
We use appropriate cloud and document management services to store and manage information supplied through these arrangements.
9. Marketing
Service related communications about an enquiry, existing instruction, invoice, project or professional relationship are not treated as marketing.
We may send marketing or business development communications where permitted by data protection law and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.
Where consent is required, we will obtain it before sending the relevant communication.
In appropriate business to business circumstances we may rely on legitimate interests where the law permits this.
You can ask us to stop sending marketing communications at any time.
Where you opt out, we may retain a limited suppression record so that we can make sure your preference continues to be respected.
10. Cookies and website technologies
Our website may use cookies and similar technologies for website operation, security, preferences, analytics and optional functionality.
Strictly necessary technologies may operate without consent where permitted by law.
We will ask for consent before using non essential cookies or similar technologies where consent is required.
Our website may also use third party functionality, including services used to display or translate website content. Where a third party service requires access to information from your device, it will only be activated in accordance with the consent choices available through the website.
You can review or change your cookie preferences through the privacy or cookie settings provided on the website.
Blocking some optional technologies may affect the way certain website features operate.
11. How long we keep information
We do not keep personal information indefinitely.
Our standard retention approach is:
Enquiries that do not become instructions: normally up to 24 months after the last meaningful contact.
Client and project records: normally six years after the relevant instruction has ended, unless there is a reason to retain them for longer.
Financial, accounting and transaction records: normally six years, subject to applicable accounting and tax requirements.
Complaints, disputes and potential claims: for the period required to deal with the matter and any applicable legal or professional limitation period.
Marketing information: until you withdraw consent, object to marketing or the information is no longer reasonably required. We may retain an opt out record after this.
Website and analytics information: according to the duration of the relevant cookie, technology or service and the preferences selected through the website.
We may retain information for longer where this is necessary because of an ongoing dispute, legal requirement, insurance matter, regulatory issue or potential claim.
Information will be securely deleted or anonymised when it is no longer required.
12. International transfers
Some technology, cloud or professional service providers may process information outside the United Kingdom.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will ensure that an appropriate legal mechanism is used where required. This may include transfers to countries recognised as providing adequate protection or the use of approved contractual safeguards.
13. Keeping information secure
We take reasonable organisational and technical measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, loss or destruction.
Access to client and project information is limited to those who reasonably need it for the relevant business or professional purpose.
No electronic storage or transmission method is completely secure, but we take proportionate steps to protect the information we hold.
14. Your data protection rights
Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis on which we process your information, you may have the right to:
- ask for access to personal information we hold about you;
- ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
- ask us to erase personal information in certain circumstances;
- ask us to restrict how information is used in certain circumstances;
- object to certain processing, including direct marketing;
- receive certain information in a portable format where the right to data portability applies; and
- withdraw consent where our processing is based on consent.
These rights are not absolute and do not apply in every situation. We may need to retain or continue processing information where there is a lawful reason to do so.
We do not use personal information to make solely automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on individuals.
To exercise your rights, contact cquy@ldhomes.co.uk.
We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.
15. Your right to object to direct marketing
You have the right to object at any time to the use of your personal information for direct marketing.
If you ask us to stop using your information for direct marketing, we will do so.
You can contact us at cquy@ldhomes.co.uk or use any unsubscribe facility provided in a marketing communication.
16. Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to websites operated by other organisations.
LD Homes is not responsible for the privacy practices of third party websites. You should review the privacy information provided by those organisations before supplying personal information to them.
17. Children
Our professional services and website are not directed at children and we do not intentionally collect personal information from children for marketing purposes.
Information relating to children may occasionally appear within planning or property information supplied as part of a legitimate client instruction. Where this occurs, we will only process the information where necessary and lawful.
18. Complaints
If you have concerns about how LD Homes has handled your personal information, please contact us first so that we have an opportunity to address the issue.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK regulator for data protection.
Information about making a complaint is available at www.ico.org.uk.
19. Changes to this Privacy Notice
We may update this Privacy Notice where our services, systems, website or legal obligations change.
The latest version will be published on our website and the date at the top of this notice will show when it was last updated.