Last updated: 9 October 2026
This policy explains how Stour Estates collects, uses and protects your personal information when you use www.stourestates.co.uk or use our property sales, land, valuation and auction services.
1. Who we are
Stour Estates is an estate agent covering Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch, Ferndown and the surrounding BH postcodes. We are the data controller for the personal information described in this policy, which means we decide how and why it is used.
- Legal name: Stour Estates / Justyn Roberts
- Company number: N/A
- Registered address: 14A Markham Avenue, Bournemouth, BH10 7HN
- ICO registration number: ICO:00015459328
- Email: info@stourestates.co.uk
- Phone: 01202 287847
We handle your information in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
2. Information we collect
Depending on how you deal with us, we may collect:
- Identity and contact details: name, postal address, email address and phone number.
- Property details: the address, description, photographs, floor plans and asking price of a property you ask us to value or sell.
- Buyer details: the properties you are interested in, your buying position, mortgage or proof-of-funds information, and your solicitor’s details.
- Identity verification information: passport or driving licence, proof of address and source-of-funds documents, which estate agents must check under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.
- Account information: your email address, password (stored encrypted) and saved properties if you register on our website.
- Messages: what you tell us through our contact and valuation forms, by email, by phone or on social media.
- Job applicant information: your CV, experience and contact details if you apply to join our team or associate scheme.
- Technical information: your IP address, browser, device type and the pages you visit, collected through cookies (see section 6).
We do not ask for special category data (such as health or ethnicity). If you choose to share it, for example to explain why you need to move, we use it only for that purpose.
3. How we collect your information
- Directly from you when you fill in a form on our website, book a valuation, create an account, call, email or visit us.
- From property portals when you enquire about one of our listings through a portal such as Rightmove, Zoopla or OnTheMarket.
- From other parties to a sale, such as solicitors, conveyancers, mortgage brokers and other estate agents in a chain.
- From identity verification providers and publicly available sources such as HM Land Registry and Companies House.
- Automatically through cookies and similar technologies when you browse our website.
4. How we use your information and our lawful basis
The law requires us to have a lawful basis for each use of your information.
| What we use it for | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Valuing, marketing and selling your property, and arranging viewings | Contract, or steps taken at your request before a contract |
| Matching buyers to properties and passing offers to sellers | Contract / legitimate interests (running a property sales business) |
| Answering enquiries sent through our website, phone or email | Legitimate interests |
| Managing your website account and saved properties | Contract |
| Identity and anti-money laundering checks | Legal obligation |
| Keeping records for tax, accounting and regulatory purposes | Legal obligation |
| Sending property alerts, newsletters and marketing emails | Consent (you can withdraw it at any time) |
| Considering job and associate scheme applications | Steps taken at your request before a contract |
| Improving our website and measuring its use | Consent (for non-essential cookies) |
| Handling complaints and legal claims | Legitimate interests / legal obligation |
We do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing.
5. Who we share your information with
We never sell your personal information. We share it only where needed to provide our services or meet legal duties:
- Other parties to a sale: buyers, sellers, solicitors, conveyancers, mortgage brokers, surveyors and other agents in the chain.
- Property portals and auction partners that display and market properties we are instructed to sell.
- Service providers who act on our behalf, such as our website host, our property listing software Alto, email providers, identity verification services, photographers and floor plan providers.
- Our redress scheme Property Redress Scheme PRS029306 if you raise a complaint with it.
- Regulators and authorities such as HMRC, the National Crime Agency, Trading Standards or the police, where the law requires it.
- Professional advisers such as our accountants, lawyers and insurers.
Our service providers may only use your information on our instructions and must keep it secure.
6. Cookies
Cookies are small files saved on your device when you visit a website. We use:
- Essential cookies that make the site work, such as keeping you logged in to your account and remembering saved properties. These do not need your consent.
- Analytics cookies that tell us how visitors use the site, such as Google Analytics. We use these only if you agree.
- Third-party content such as embedded Google Maps, Facebook links and GetAgent badges, which may set their own cookies when they load.
You can accept or reject non-essential cookies through our cookie banner and change your choice at any time. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings, although some parts of the site may then not work properly.
7. How long we keep your information
We keep personal information only for as long as we need it:
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Sale and transaction records | 6 years after the sale completes (limitation period for legal claims) |
| Identity and anti-money laundering records | 5 years after our business relationship ends, as the Money Laundering Regulations require |
| Enquiries that do not lead to an instruction | 2 years from your last contact |
| Website account | Until you delete it, or 2 years after your last login |
| Marketing list | Until you unsubscribe |
| Unsuccessful job applications | 6 months after the role is filled |
After these periods we securely delete or anonymise your information.
8. Keeping your information secure
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including an encrypted (HTTPS) website, password-protected systems, limited staff access and secure storage of paper documents. No method of sending data over the internet is completely secure, but we will tell you and the ICO about any serious data breach where the law requires it.
9. Transfers outside the UK
Some of our service providers may store data outside the UK. Where they do, we make sure the information is protected, either because the country has UK adequacy status or because the provider has signed the ICO-approved International Data Transfer Agreement or equivalent safeguards.
10. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- Access a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Correct information that is wrong or incomplete.
- Erase your information in certain circumstances.
- Restrict how we use your information.
- Object to us using your information based on our legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time.
- Data portability: receive information you gave us in a commonly used format, or have it sent to another organisation.
- Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on your consent.
To use any of these rights, email info@stourestates.co.uk or call 01202 287847. There is normally no charge, and we will reply within one month. We may need to confirm your identity first. Some rights do not apply where we must keep information by law, for example anti-money laundering records.
11. Marketing
We will only send you property alerts or marketing emails if you have agreed to receive them. Every email includes an unsubscribe link, or you can contact us to opt out.
12. Links to other websites
Our website links to other sites, such as property portals, Facebook and GetAgent. We are not responsible for how those sites handle your information, so please read their privacy policies.
13. Children
Our services are not aimed at children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their information.
14. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have used your information, please contact us first so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
- Website: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
- Helpline: 0303 123 1113
- Post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
15. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page, with the date it was last updated shown at the top.