Privacy policy

This Privacy Notice ("Notice") sets out how Dwell ("Dwell", "we", "us", "our"), operating the Dwell property management platform at dwell.lol, collects, shares and uses personal information about you and how you can exercise your privacy rights.

This Notice applies to personal information that we process when you use our websites ("Websites") and/or our online platform and any services we provide through it ("Service"), including the landlord portal, tenant portal, admin console and council share links.

Dwell provides UK property management and compliance tools for landlords (including HMO licensing and certificate tracking) and a tenant portal for rent, documents and maintenance reporting.

We may update this Notice from time to time in response to changing legal, technical or business developments. When we update it, we will take appropriate measures to inform you, consistent with the significance of the changes. We will obtain your consent to material changes if and where required by applicable data protection laws.

You can see when this Notice was last updated by checking the "last updated" date at the top of this page.

If you have any queries or concerns in relation to this Notice or the Service, please contact us:

• General enquiries: hello@dwell.lol or support@dwell.lol
• Privacy enquiries: privacy@dwell.lol

The personal information we may collect about you broadly falls into the following categories.

Information you provide voluntarily

You may be asked to provide personal information when you use our Service. As a user (whether a landlord, tenant or platform administrator), you create or are invited to an account ("Account"). Information may include:

• Identity and contact data — name, email address, username, telephone number and preferred language.
• Account credentials — a password (stored as a one-way hash; we never store your password in plain text).
• Property and tenancy data — property addresses, property type, room details, HMO licence information, tenancy start dates, rent amounts, deposit amounts and deposit protection scheme references.
• Payment and banking data — for landlords, optional bank transfer details shown to tenants; for card and Direct Debit rent payments, payment details are collected and processed by our payment provider (Stripe) and we store related identifiers (such as customer, mandate or payment intent IDs) rather than full card or bank account numbers where possible.
• Documents and evidence — tenancy agreements, deposit certificates, How to Rent confirmations, identity documents, compliance certificates (for example gas safety, EICR, EPC), maintenance photos and related notes you upload.
• Correspondence — messages and content you send us or upload through the Service (including maintenance issue reports).

If you are a landlord setting up Accounts for tenants, you confirm that you are authorised to provide their details to us and that you will communicate this Notice (or an equivalent privacy notice) to them as appropriate.

We use this information to:

1. create and administer your Account and provide the Service;
2. facilitate the landlord–tenant relationship managed through the Service (rent, documents, maintenance and compliance records);
3. process rent and related payments via our payment providers;
4. verify your identity and protect Accounts against misuse;
5. prevent, detect and investigate potentially illegal or abusive activity;
6. send Service-related communications (for example verification emails, rent notices, Direct Debit notices and compliance alerts);
7. provide customer support, handle enquiries and notify you of changes to the Service; and
8. where permitted by law and, for electronic marketing, where we have your consent or another lawful basis, send you information about Dwell products and updates — you can opt out at any time.

Information we collect automatically

When you visit our Websites or use the Service, we and our hosting providers may automatically collect technical information from your device. In the UK and EEA this may be personal information under data protection law. It may include IP address, approximate location (for example country or city), browser and device type, operating system, pages viewed, referral source, and diagnostic or security logs.

We use this information to:

1. operate, secure and troubleshoot the Websites and Service;
2. monitor performance and prevent abuse; and
3. understand usage in aggregate so we can improve the Service.

Information provided by third parties

Landlords or administrators who use our Service may provide your name and contact details so we can invite you to create an Account (for example a tenant invite). Payment and banking providers (such as Stripe or Monzo, where connected) may provide transaction status information so we can update rent ledgers. We use such information only to provide the Service to you and the relevant landlord.

Other than as set out in this Notice or as otherwise required or permitted by law, we will not share, sell or distribute your personal information without your consent.

We may disclose personal information to the following categories of recipients:

• the relevant landlord, tenant or platform administrator, as appropriate, so they can manage the tenancy and property through the Service;
• local authorities or other reviewers where a landlord or administrator shares a time-limited council compliance link for a property (this exposes property and compliance information intended for licensing or inspection review, not tenant rent or bank details);
• payment and banking providers who process payments or reconcile rent on our or the landlord's behalf (including Stripe and, where configured, Monzo);
• infrastructure and service providers who process data on our behalf (for example hosting, database and file storage, and transactional email);
• competent law enforcement, regulators (including the Information Commissioner's Office), courts or other third parties where disclosure is necessary to comply with law, protect rights or safety, or establish or defend legal claims;
• an actual or potential buyer (and advisers) in connection with a sale or restructuring of our business, provided they use the information only consistently with this Notice; and
• any other person with your consent to the disclosure.

Our legal basis for collecting and using personal information depends on the information and the context. We normally process personal information only where:

• it is necessary to perform a contract with you, or to take steps at your request before entering a contract;
• the processing is in our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and not overridden by your rights — for example operating and securing the Service, improving features, and communicating about the Service;
• you have given consent (for example certain marketing); or
• we need to comply with a legal obligation, or to protect vital interests.

Where a landlord uses Dwell to store and manage tenant and property records, we typically act as a processoron the landlord's instructions for that tenancy data, and as a controller for Account, billing-of-Service, security and platform administration data. If you have questions about the legal basis that applies in a specific case, contact us using the details above.

We use cookies and similar technologies that are necessary to operate the Service (for example to keep you signed in securely). We may also use limited analytics or performance technologies provided by our hosting platform. Where non-essential cookies require consent under applicable law, we will request it.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may prevent parts of the Service from working.

We employ appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information, designed to provide a level of security appropriate to the risk. These include access controls, encryption in transit, private document storage with short-lived signed download links, and database access restrictions.

Transmission of data over the internet is never completely secure. Although we take care to protect your information, we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.

You are responsible for keeping your password and Account details confidential. Dwell staff will never ask you for your password — do not share it with anyone.

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes it was collected for — including providing the Service you requested and meeting legal, tax, accounting or dispute-resolution obligations.

When we no longer need personal information, we will delete or anonymise it or, if immediate deletion is not possible (for example because it is held in encrypted backups), securely store it and isolate it from further processing until deletion is possible. Landlords may also archive properties or Accounts within the Service; archived records remain subject to this Notice until deleted.

Your personal information may be transferred to, and processed in, countries other than the United Kingdom. Those countries may have data protection laws that differ from UK law.

In particular, some of our infrastructure and subprocessors (such as hosting, database, storage or payment providers) may process data in the European Economic Area, the United States or other locations. Where we transfer personal information internationally, we take appropriate safeguards required by UK data protection law (for example adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses) so that your information remains protected in accordance with this Notice.

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• access, correct, update or request deletion of your personal information;
• in certain circumstances, object to processing, request restriction of processing, or request portability of your personal information;
• opt out of marketing communications at any time (for example via an unsubscribe link, or by contacting us);
• withdraw consent where we rely on consent — without affecting processing that took place before withdrawal; and
• complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (www.ico.org.uk) if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

To exercise these rights, contact privacy@dwell.lol. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request. We may not always be able to delete information where we have a legal reason to retain it; we will explain if that applies.

We respond to requests in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

The Service is intended for adults involved in UK residential lettings. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have collected information from a child, please contact us and we will take steps to delete it.

Our Websites and Service may contain links to websites operated by third parties (for example payment providers). We do not endorse those sites and are not responsible for their content or privacy practices. You should read the privacy policy of any third-party site you visit.

We do not use personal information to make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you. Compliance scores and alerts in the Service are tools to help landlords manage properties; they do not replace human judgement about tenancy or licensing decisions.