Privacy Policy

Please read this privacy policy carefully as it describes how we collect, use, store and transfer your personal information.

The Student Lodge is committed to protecting your privacy. In order to provide our services to you, we need to collect, process and store certain personal information about you. Please read this privacy policy carefully as it describes how we collect, use, store and transfer your personal information. It also sets out the rights you have in relation to such data.

This policy may be updated from time to time. Please therefore check this policy frequently to ensure you are aware of the most recent version.

About The Student Lodge

The Student Lodge is a student accommodation provider in the UK and our registered office is at New Brook House, 385 Alfreton Road, Nottingham, NG7 5LR and the companies listed on our website under ‘Company registration’.

The Student Lodge is a “data controller” of the personal data that you provide to us. This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal information about you.

What does this policy apply to?

This policy applies to personal information collected by The Student Lodge. It does not apply to personal information collected by third-party companies, individuals or organisations or other websites which The Student Lodge website and/or customer portal may link to or be linked from. Where third parties collect your personal information, their own privacy policies will apply, and we take no responsibility for their handling of your data.

What information do we collect?

We collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal information about you to enable us to provide the services you have requested and/or to allow us to enter into and fulfil our obligations and exercise our rights under our contract with you.

We may collect, use, store and transfer the following personal information:

name
title
preferred name (e.g., known as)
home address
accommodation address at our property
date of birth
gender
nationality
email address
telephone numbers, including mobile number
emergency contact details, and in some circumstances details of family members who are not emergency contacts
guarantor contact details
college or university attending, and course details (including length and year of study)
student ID/matriculation number
bank account and payment card details and billing address
arrival and departure dates
health information if you complete a Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire to use the gym at a property
health information in connection with the transmission of infectious disease
details of injuries and medical treatment in the event of an accident at the property
information relating to your wellbeing and safety
CCTV footage
information gathered electronically relating to access to our properties, such as swipe card and key fob records
profile details
username and password
booking preferences, including details of persons in any group booking
marketing preferences, including communication preferences
history of past bookings
details of other products and services purchased from The Student Lodge
details of maintenance issues
feedback and survey responses
vehicle details (including vehicle registration number, make and model) if you park at a property
social media ID if you link your social media accounts to us
information obtained from lone worker personal safety recording devices
photographs and/or video recordings if you participate in photography or filming conducted by The Student Lodge or its agents
written testimonials of your experiences with The Student Lodge
information relating to any anti-social behaviour, or behaviour which could be construed as potentially in breach of your tenancy agreement and/or which could result in legal proceedings
IP address and MAC address used to connect your computer, tablet or smartphone to the internet, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions and operating system and platform
usage data on our website, including browsing actions, patterns of behaviours and uniform resource locators (URL) clickstream to, through and from our website
WhatsApp and WeChat history and conversations

If you are a guarantor or emergency contact, we will obtain contact details and basic information about you from the individual booking the accommodation in order to process their application. In addition, if you are a guarantor, we will also obtain proof of identity documents, such as a driving license or passport, and details of your occupation.

We may also collect, use and store special categories of personal data about you, including your ethnic origin, information about your health and any disabilities.

Where we need to collect personal information by law or under the terms of a contract we have with you and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to complete the booking application).

How do we collect your data?

We use different methods to collect personal information from you, including:

Direct from you – You may give us your personal information by applying for and/or booking accommodation, arranging a property viewing, making a booking enquiry, filling in forms, creating an account, visiting our website, using the customer portal, corresponding with us by email, post, telephone, text, SMS message, WhatsApp, WeChat or via our social media channels, submitting a query, booking additional services (such as resident cleaning services), subscribing to our marketing lists or newsletters, taking part in a survey or promotion or giving us feedback and/or participating in filming/photography, signing the visitor book at property reception or reporting an issue, fault or complaint.
Electronic means – Information obtained through CCTV footage and other electronic means when you access our premises, information from lone worker personal safety recording devices or other information about the use of our premises.
Technology – When you visit our website and/or customer portal we may automatically collect technical information about your device, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this information using cookies, server logs and other similar technologies. For more information on cookies see our Cookie Policy.
Other sources – We may receive personal information about you from various third parties and public sources. For example:
- (i) name, contact details and payment information from providers of technical, booking, payment and delivery services;
- (ii) name and contact details from online event registration systems; and
- (iii) technical data from analytics providers or advertising networks. Such providers/registration systems will collect personal information direct from you and you should read their privacy policies carefully. We take no responsibility for their handling of your data.
If you are a nominated guarantor or emergency contact, we will obtain contact details and basic information about you from the individual booking the accommodation in order to process their application.

What do we use your information for?

We use your personal information to:

manage and communicate with you about booking enquiries and property viewings
register you as a customer and manage your account
process your booking application
conduct right to rent checks and tenant reference checks (if applicable)
manage and administer your tenancy
carry out our obligations and exercise our rights under our contract with you
protect your damages deposit and send you the prescribed information
communicate with you in connection with your booking and tenancy and respond to your requests
provide customer service and support
enable us to make any reasonable adjustments where necessary to enable you to access and benefit from our facilities and services
manage and communicate with you about parcel delivery
assist with a personal emergency evacuation plan (PEEP) (if applicable)
manage and communicate with you about events and activities organised at the property (if you are a resident)
manage use of the gym at the property to ensure the health & safety of all gym users
manage, investigate and record any accident at a property involving you
provide support and assistance in the event of a medical or other emergency
provide you with support with any wellbeing or safety issues
manage, investigate and record any incidents or anti-social behaviour involving you at a property
process payments and refunds
recover any unpaid sums due to us
manage and communicate with you about resident cleaning services that you have booked
manage and communicate with you about any car park space at the property that you are permitted to use
if you are a guarantor, to confirm your identity, administer your guarantee and contact you if the customer has breached the terms of their tenancy agreement
if you are an emergency contact, to contact you in the event of an emergency incident involving the customer
operate CCTV systems and review CCTV footage for security purposes at our properties
prevent and detect criminal activity, fraud and misuse of or damage to our properties
operate lone worker personal safety recording devices for security purposes at our properties
provide you with support in using our website and the customer portal
administer and process offers and promotions
send you marketing and promotional materials (see Marketing section below)
seek your views on our services/take a survey
notify you about changes to our services
provide references (if requested) where you are moving to new accommodation after you leave The Student Lodge
administer our website and customer portal, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data
help us improve the design and content of our website and customer portal to ensure the best experience possible
exercise or defend legal claims or actions
promote The Student Lodge in publicity and marketing materials with your consent or where you have provided us with a written testimonial of your experiences with The Student Lodge (see Marketing section below)
comply with legal obligations and Government guidance to help minimise transmission of infectious diseases
manage, provide support and communicate with you in connection with any infectious disease
put in place protections for customers, employees, agents, contractors and the public against the transmission of infectious diseases
for administrative and quality assurance purposes
direct relevant and personalized online adverts about The Student Lodge to you
provide the fire authority with details about the occupants of a property in the event of a fire or other emergency
provide evidence about the occupants of a property to local authorities for council tax exemption or electoral roll services
keep a record of nominees and referrals from universities, agents and other partners and to track such customers for commission purposes
to communicate with you on WhatsApp, WeChat and similar messaging apps

Purposes for using your information

We will use your personal information where we need to perform a contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you (for example, booking a room), where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (for example, CCTV footage to monitor safety at a property to ensure the safety of residents, visitors and employees and to assist with law enforcement) or where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation (for example, to protect your damages deposit or to provide information for the electoral roll).

We will only send you marketing and promotional materials with your consent. You can tell us that you want to stop receiving marketing communications from us at any time. Please see the Marketing section below for more details.

We will only film and/or take photographs of you for use in publicity and marketing materials with your consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time. Please see the Marketing section below for more details.

We will only use special categories of personal data with your consent (for example, ethnic origin or information about your health). However, on occasion there may be reasons of public interest or law that enable us to use such information without consent. For example, if it is necessary to protect your vital interests where you are physically or legally incapable of giving consent or it is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal claim or it is necessary to perform a public task to minimize the transmission of an infectious disease.

Where you have specific disability needs, we will use such information to perform our contract with you (for example, to provide an accessible room) and to comply with our obligations pursuant to equality laws.

Who do we share your information with?

Our group and owners. Your personal information may be shared with our owners and with companies within The Student Lodge group of companies as different parts of the business are responsible for different activities.

We may also share your personal information with third parties as follows:

service providers, suppliers, business partners, sub-contractors and agents who provide services and/or process information on our behalf (e.g., IT providers, parcel management services provider, managing agents, marketing and media partners) so that they may help us to provide you with the services
third parties used to facilitate payment transactions and refunds (e.g., financial institutions)
the tenancy deposit protection scheme being used to protect your damages deposit
if you book a dual-occupancy room, we may contact/share your information with your co-occupant
tenant reference service providers/agents who conduct tenant reference checks (if applicable) on our behalf
if you are a tenant and you breach the terms of your tenancy agreement and/or fail to pay your rent, we may contact your guarantor and inform them of the breach or failure to pay your rent in connection with exercising our rights under the guarantee
if you are a guarantor, to contact you and arrange payment if the tenant has failed to pay their rent and/or any other charges due, and to notify you if the tenant has breached their tenancy agreement, and subsequent updates
debt collection agencies in the event that you fail to pay your rent and/or any other charges due
external lawyers in connection with eviction proceedings
law enforcement and fraud prevention agencies in connection with the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences
local authorities for the purpose of informing them who lives in the accommodation in order for the local authority to administer and collect council tax or rates. See the Privacy Notice on the relevant local authority website where you live for details of how that particular local authority uses your data and any automated decision making used.
relevant utility suppliers for the purpose of informing them who lives in the accommodation and in respect of any bills that you have failed to pay
local authorities / the local electoral registration office for the provision of electoral roll services
the emergency services in the event of a medical or other emergency
your emergency contact in the event of an emergency or where there are wellbeing/mental health concerns
if you are an emergency contact, we will share your contact information with the medical or emergency services as necessary in the event of an emergency incident involving the customer, so that the medical/emergency services can reach and update you
your college or university in the event of a medical or other emergency so they can provide you with support
your college or university for the purposes of informing them of any incidents or anti-social behaviour relating to your stay at our property
your college or university so they can provide you with support in the event that we have concerns regarding your wellbeing or safety
the Home Office if you fail a right to rent check (if applicable) or follow up right to rent check
where it is necessary to protect or defend our legal rights or the legal rights of others
if we sell our business or a property we will transfer information relating to tenants and guarantors to the new owner
our professional advisors (e.g., bankers, lawyers and insurers) and auditors for the purposes of seeking professional advice or to meet our audit responsibilities
social media sites if you have linked your social media accounts to us
where we have a legal or regulatory obligation to do so (i.e., to comply with a court order, contract or when required to do so by our regulators, government agencies or law enforcement)
public health bodies to help minimize transmission of infectious diseases
your college or university for the purposes of ensuring compliance with any legal obligations and/or guidance imposed by the Government to help minimize transmission of infectious diseases
analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimization of our site
third parties who assist The Student Lodge with promotional/marketing/publicity activities in the event that you provide us with a written testimonial of your experiences with The Student Lodge
if you need a reference for the purposes of moving to new accommodation after you leave The Student Lodge, we will provide information relating to your tenancy as requested by the landlord or letting agent, with your consent. The information shared will depend on the request and may include tenancy start/end dates, tenancy address, weekly/monthly rent paid, confirmation that your payments are up to date/were paid on time etc

We do NOT sell or share your personal information with third parties for them to use for marketing purposes.

We require third parties to respect the security of your personal information and to treat it in accordance with the law. All our third-party service providers are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information. We only permit them to process your personal information for specified purposes in accordance with our instructions.

How long do we keep your information?

We only hold your personal information for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements, and take into account the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of the personal data, the purposes for which we process the personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means. As a result, the length of time that we keep your information for will vary depending on the above circumstances and the purposes for which we have it. We will review what information we need on an ongoing basis and will only retain it for the minimum amount of time that we need it for or are legally obliged to keep it for.

In some circumstances, you can ask us to delete your personal information. See ‘Right to be forgotten’ section below for further information. We may retain basic information on a suppression list to record your request and to avoid sending you unwanted materials in the future.

Your personal information may be anonymized, so that it can no longer be associated with you, for research or statistical purposes, in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

Marketing

We will only send you marketing and promotional materials about The Student Lodge, our partner companies if you have specifically consented to receive them. We may contact you for this purpose by email or SMS/text. When you book your room, you have the option to opt out of our marketing communications. You can also opt-out from receiving such communications at any time by updating your preferences in your account or by emailing us on info@thestudentlodge.co.uk. You can unsubscribe from our email marketing communications using the links provided in the emails we send you. Similarly, you can unsubscribe from our SMS/text marketing communications by following the opt out instructions in any SMS received.

We will only film and/or take photographs of you for use in publicity and marketing materials (in any format, including printed publications and social media) with your consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time by emailing us at info@thestudentlodge.co.uk with your name, URB & Building number. Once you withdraw your consent, we will not use any images of you in any of our future marketing materials. Any images of you already published in our marketing materials at the time you withdraw your consent will continue to be used.

Please note that if you are a resident in one of our properties, we will send you emails related to your accommodation and tenancy agreement (even when you have unsubscribed from marketing communications) as this is important information you will need about your accommodation.

Security and storage of information

We are committed to keeping your personal information secure. In order to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, we have put in place appropriate security measures to safeguard the personal information we collect, including secure servers. In addition, we limit access to your personal information to those employees, agents and suppliers who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal information on our instructions and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

If you believe your account has been compromised (for example, your password is stolen, or you receive suspicious communication from someone holding themselves out to be a The Student Lodge employee) please report the incident to us on info@studentlodge.co.uk or write to us at The Student Lodge, New Brook House, 385 Alfreton Road, Nottingham, NG7 5LR.

We have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data breach. We will notify you and the Information Commissioner’s Office of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

Sending information to countries outside the UK

Sometimes we might need to transfer your personal information to third-party processors outside the United Kingdom. We will take reasonable steps to ensure there are appropriate safeguards in place so that your personal information is protected in accordance with this policy and applicable laws.

Your rights

You have various rights under data protection laws (some of which are highlighted below). If you would like to exercise any of your rights, please email us on info@studentlodge.co.uk or write to us at The Student Lodge, New Brook House, 385 Alfreton Road, Nottingham, NG7 5LR.

If you exercise any of your rights, we may ask for proof of identity. This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also ask you for further information in relation to your request to help identify your personal information and speed up our response.

Your rights include:

Right of access/obtaining copies of your information You have the right to ask us for details of the personal information we hold about you.
Amending your information It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current. If your details change, or if you think any information we have about you is wrong or incomplete, please correct it in your account or contact us using the details given above.
Right to object You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest as the legal ground for processing. Should you wish to object, please set out the specific reasons why you are objecting. These reasons should be based upon your particular situation.
Right to be forgotten You have the right to have your personal information erased in certain circumstances.

More information about your rights is available on the ICO website at www.ico.org.uk.

Further information

If you have any questions about this policy or how we treat your personal information, please email us on info@studentlodge.co.uk or write to us at The Student Lodge, New Brook House, 385 Alfreton Road, Nottingham, NG5 5LR.

If you are not satisfied with how we respond to any request or query you raise then you can refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Information about how to do this is available on the ICO website at www.ico.org.uk.

Last revised Feb 2025