Do Landlords Need To Register With The ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office)?

Table of contents

• Who should register with the ICO (in theory)
• Wait, what?! I’ve never heard of this!
• How Landlords can register with the ICO
• Is it a legal requirement for Landlords to register with the ICO?
• What’s even the point of landlords registering with the ICO?

Who should register with the ICO (in theory)

If you currently, or at some point, stored, used or deleted tenant personal information (e.g. name, email, telephone, address etc.) on any electrical device (e.g. computer, phone or tablet etc.) – which is most likely everyone that isn’t a fossilised dinosaur – then it seemingly makes sense to register with the ICO. There are a few exemptions according their guidelines, but they’re unlikely to apply to you.

Exemptions

• You are unfamiliar with the names or details of your tenants, and/or;
• All your interactions with agents and tenants are conducted on paper, without using email, and/or;
• You operate as a registered charity or non-profit organisation.

Interestingly, the issue of landlords registering with the ICO became a prominent talking point when GDPR was introduced, which is why many believe it’s been required since then. But actually, registering with the ICO has always been required (or at least, before GDPR was a thing).

If you think that you don’t need to register (all the power to you) you can use this tool to discover if you’re exempt (which you probably won’t be).

Joint landlords should individually register with ICO

If you don’t operate your BTL property through a corporate entity/business and you’re a joint landlord, it appears that each landlord must register individually. I wasn’t sure if this was the case, but then I received the following response from the horse’s mouth (ICO’s official X account) after I asked the question on X (Twitter):

I interpreted their response to mean that each landlord is considered a “legal entity” (unless the property is managed through a company).

Wait, what?! I’ve never heard of this!

Yup, I get it.

If it’s of any consolation, you’re probably within the majority.

I’m going to go out on a limb and make the bold claim that the legal requirement for landlords to register with the ICO is not only the most bizarre, but also the most unheard of, and therefore neglected.

But of course, ignorance of the law has never been a defence. I assure you, this is a real thing.

While we’re all frantically trying to deal with real issues, like gas safety, electrical safety, EPCs, and deposit registration, the requirement to register with the ICO seems to get literally no airtime whatsoever. Even by letting agents.

How Landlords can register with the ICO

It costs £35-40 per year to register (how much you pay will depend on the payment method; setting up a Direct Debit seems to be the cheapest). You can register here.

The registration process is pretty straightforward. When asked to select “Nature of work” from a predefined dropdown, I selected the following:

Landlord ICO Registration

Is it a legal requirement for Landlords to register with the ICO?

I believe most landlords are required to register.

But it’s important that you understand I’m not offering legal advice here (least of all because I’m not qualified). However, I’m definitely able to explain to you why I think it’s necessary for almost all landlords to register, and then you can do your own due diligence and make up your own mind.

Fair enough? Cool.

Firstly, I think it’s very telling that there’s an option to select “Landlord” in the registration form when choosing “Nature of work”.

Secondly, most of us will meet the requirements of the Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018 simply because many of us hold and/or process our tenants personal information:

Under the Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018, individuals and organisations that process personal data need to pay a data protection fee to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), unless they are exempt.

That said, the issue of mandatory registration for landlords has been a contentious one – I’ve come across mixed views over the years:

• Tessa Shepperson of Landlord Law says it’s required on multiple occasions;
• Adrian Thompson of GRL (Guild of Residential Landlords) also says it’s required by landlords;
• The NRLA is in agreement, that “Landlords are required to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office.”;
• however, this article on LandlordToday says it’s “unlikely” to be unnecessary for small scale landlords;
• meanwhile, we also have a couple of super irate twits squabbling on LandlordReferencing’s forum (link has been removed, the forum no longer exists), absolutely refusing to believe it’s necessary (it’s quite an amusing read: the LandlordReferencing’s CEO, Paul, really seems to be getting bent out of shape about the whole ordeal).

So, who are we to believe?

I know which horses’ I’m backing.

But perhaps the following exchange puts the final nail in the coffin…

I contacted the ICO directly to get their view on the matter. I spoke to one of their ‘Registration Advisers’ (after being on hold for 40 minutes; they were experiencing high call volumes), and this is what the conversation went like:

I’m a private landlord, do I need to register?

Have you held or do you hold any personal information about your tenants on an electrical device, for example, tenancy applications, contact details, tenancy agreements?

I sure do!

You need to register then.

Ok, what if I only have everything on paper? (regardless of how unlikely that scenario is for a landlord in the 20th century, I asked the question out of curiosity)

If you have printed the documents yourself off an electrical device, then you need to register, even if they’ve since been deleted. That also applies for details held in emails.

If you only ever receive personal information about your tenants directly onto paper, then you don’t need to register.

Thank you. You’re cute.

Discussion over as far as I’m concerned.

So unless your name is Fred Flintstone, I think it’s safe to assume almost all landlords are required to register. But even if you’re still not a believer (for whatever reason), you may want to register just to err on the side of caution for the sake of £40’ish.

What’s even the point of landlords registering with the ICO?

*shrugs shoulders*

I’m just the messenger.

I honestly don’t know how it all works, I’ve just been blindly paying my registration fee for as long as I can remember, like a mindless drone. Ahh, the beauty of being an obedient slave in the system.

I think the idea is that if you’re abusive and/or irresponsible with your tenants personal information, they may come after you.

On the ICO website, there is a Action we’ve taken section, which highlights some of the monetary penalties, enforcement notices, undertakings, prosecutions and reprimands they have issued.

I’ve personally never heard of a private landlord being prosecuted, but I would not use that as a reason to side-step your legal obligations.

Yes, the whole thing seems kinda’ pointless, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Either way, I’ll leave it in your capable hands to decide what’s best for you.

Landlord out xo