Legal

Data Retention Policy Policy.

How long we keep personal data, why, and what happens when that period ends.

Last updated: 3 August 2026

Why we have this policy

Data protection law does not just say personal data must be kept securely — it says it must not be kept longer than necessary (Article 5(1)(e) UK GDPR, the storage limitation principle). This policy sets out how long PropertyGoose keeps each kind of personal data, why, and what happens when that period ends.

Our standard period: six years

Our default retention period is six years from the last activity on a file — not six years from when the record was created. A reference decided three years after it was raised is measured from the decision, not the application.

Six years is not arbitrary. It matches the ordinary limitation period under the Limitation Act 1980, which is the window in which a claim arising from a tenancy could still be brought. Deleting sooner could leave a landlord, tenant or agent unable to defend or bring a claim; keeping longer would not be necessary.

Retention by record type

Record	Kept for	Why
Tenant & guarantor referencing, including uploaded documents	6 years from last activity	Limitation period for tenancy-related claims
Record that a credit search was carried out	6 years	Evidence of the consent and lawful basis relied on
Tenancy records and signed agreements	6 years after the tenancy ends	Contractual and limitation requirements
Offers not proceeded with	6 years from archiving	Limitation period; then permanently deleted
Anti-money-laundering checks and landlord identity records	5 years from the end of the business relationship	Money Laundering Regulations 2017, reg. 40
Right to Rent checks	1 year after the tenancy ends	Home Office guidance under the Immigration Act 2014
Billing and accounting records	6 years	Companies Act 2006 and HMRC requirements
Data incident and near-miss register	Indefinitely	Article 33(5) UK GDPR requires breaches to be documented

How deletion actually happens

Retention is enforced automatically, not by someone remembering to tidy up. A scheduled process runs daily, identifies records that have passed their retention period, and deletes them.

Documents go with the record. Uploaded files are deleted from storage at the same time as the database record — a document must not outlive the record that justified holding it.
Live tenancies are never purged. Anything attached to a tenancy that is still running is retained until that tenancy ends, whatever its age.
Deletions are counted and logged, so that our retention practice can be evidenced rather than asserted.

Backups

Deleted data may persist in encrypted backups for a short period until those backups roll out of their own retention cycle. Backups are not used to restore individual records and are held under the same security controls as live data.

Asking us to delete your data sooner

You can ask us to erase your personal data at any time (Article 17 UK GDPR). We will do so unless we are required or permitted to keep it — for example where a tenancy is still running, where a legal or regulatory obligation applies, or where the data may be needed for a legal claim (Article 17(3)).

If we have to keep something, we will tell you what and why rather than simply refusing. Email info@propertygoose.co.uk and we will respond within one month.