Residential Landlord Frequently Asked Questions

All HMOs of 5 or more tenants requires a HMO license. The 3 storey requirement was lifted in October 2018.



From 1st April 2022 Liverpool City Council have implemented a partial city wide selective license scheme. Details are vailable here: here



We can assist with the compliance and administration required for licensing, including the full application process. To advertise your property we will need confirmation (if tenanted) that you have applied for the license. We will apply for licensing on behalf of all owners for fully managed properties, unless we agree with you not to. We would require confirmation that you have applied for the license in that case.

We require the following for all properties under management:



• Electrical Condition Report or Periodic Inspection Report

• PAT test for all portable appliances (including fixed items with a plug and flex)

• Landlords Gas Safety Certificate (CP12)

• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)



For student properties we also undertake a Fire Risk Assessment at point of instruction. While not strictly a legal requirement under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2006 for joint tenancies with no communal areas (as the property is let as a whole) there is a general duty of care to ensure the property meets requirements. We undertake Fire Risk Assessments to ensure your property meets the legal requirements for letting, and will require any recommended works be completed prior to letting.

If the property is leasehold you should obtain the consent of the freehold/head
lessor prior to letting. If the property is subject to a mortgage you must obtain the consent of your lender prior to any letting.



In instructing us you are confirming that consent to lease has been obtained
and it is your responsibility to notify us of any particular requirements your mortgage company may have.

When considering offering your property to let it is important to remember
that insurance cover should be maintained throughout the letting period
including buildings and contents cover (where applicable).



Where yourproperty and contents insurance are currently covered under an existing
policy it is important to notify your insurers and advise us of any conditions
which they are seeking to place on their consent inorder to maintain a
satisfactory level of cover.



Any insurance should also include an element of Public Liability cover.

Yes. You will need to notify HMRC that you are earning money from rental properties and file a tax return reporting your income.



If you are based overseas (eg, you do not live in the UK) you will have to have tax deducted at source (eg by us) or apply for an exemption under the HMRC Non Residents Landlords Scheme. Details are available online.

Updated: May 1st 2026

We are registered with the ICO, registration number Z1712743. Contact details for the Data Protection Officer is Simon Topple, 337 Smithdown road, Liverpool L15 3JJ. Tel 0151 733 2200, at info@topproperty-services.com

As part of carrying out our duties, we need to process personal data. For the majority of these uses we need use the Legitimate Interest reason.

Use of data for tenants includes:

Application Stage
We may pass your data to the following people using the legitimate interest basis. This is to allow us to assess your suitability for a tenancy.

•  Credit Reference agencies
•  Agencies conducting Right to Rent checks.
•  Former landlords
•  The landlord of this property
•  Current employer
•  Fraud prevention agencies

Credit Reference and Affordability Checks

To help us assess applications, prevent fraud, and meet our legal and regulatory obligations, we may obtain information about you from credit reference agencies (CRAs).
We obtain this information via Creditsafe, which uses its data partner TransUnion to supply consumer credit and identity data.

• Creditsafe Business Solutions Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FCA Firm Reference Number: 742313
• TransUnion International UK Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FCA Firm Reference Number: 805757

The information we receive may include data relating to your identity, credit commitments, payment history, and public record information. This data is used solely for legitimate business purposes, including creditworthiness assessment, identity verification, and fraud prevention, in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Further information about how Creditsafe and TransUnion process your personal data can be found in their respective privacy notices:

• Creditsafe Privacy / Transparency Notice:
Transparency Notice | Customers & Suppliers
TransUnion CRAIN (Credit Reference Agency Information Notice):
[transunion privacy and transparancy notice]
• TransUnion Bureau Privacy Notice:
[transunion privacy notice]

At the application stage we require you to agree to our use of data for this legitimate interest.

As part of your application we ask the lead tenant to provide contact details for your co-tenants if the lead tenant is part of a group. We will use this information to send texts with links to the house being applied for, and may use it to call others in the group.
Retention period for data captured during tenancy signups will be for 12 months from point of application if the application is not successful. Your data will be used for your tenancy if your application is successful and will be kept for up to 12 years to allow up to comply with our legal requirements.

Active Tenancies
Once you are an active tenant we will use your data under the legitimate interest basis which you will have granted consent for at application stage. This consent will be used going forward for the duration of the tenancy.
During your tenancy we will use your data to manage your tenancy. The data may be used in the following ways:
•  Passing of data to third parties such as credit reference agencies, previous landlords, etc.
•  Passing of data to contractors for arranging works.
•  Passing of data to the local authority to enable you to be correctly charged for council tax (and for student tenancies, to have an exemption applies).
•  Use of data for marketing for houses from us.
•  Passing of data to third parties so they can contact you to set up a broadband account (for non-inclusive houses).
•  Passing of data to relevant agencies to allow the continual approval for right to rent.

Retention of data for tenancies will be up to 12 years. This is to allow us to respond to post tenancy queries and to allow us to fulfil our legal obligations.

Please note that in tenancies with more than one tenant you will have a joint obligation to pay rent and an individual (or number of tenants) not paying rent may have an impact on other tenants in the property because of this joint and several obligation.  We may discuss rent arrears with all members of a tenancy as all members have a right to know of rent arrears and the potential impact on them.

Use of data for landlord clients includes:

•  Processing data to enable us to market and let your property.
•  Disclosure to HMRC
•  Processing data to enable us to effectively manage your property.
•  Passing of data to third parties in the execution of our services, including local authorities, utility companies etc.

Third party marketing

We will NEVER share personal data with external companies for marketing services to you unrelated to your tenancy.

Marketing from us

We may market services to you via mail providers. For tenants this will in most cases be to offer houses to re-let or for new houses coming to market when your tenancy ends. For landlords it may be to keep you updated about our services. You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time however if you receive such marketing without an unsubscribe option you can contact us directly to be removed from our list. For these reasons we require your consent. In the majority of cases we will use the email contact provided when you registered online to view a property. If you were not asked for consent at that stage, or did not select to grant consent when asked, we will not use your information for marketing.

Guarantors
If you have applied to be a guarantor we will use the legitimate interest basis to manage your data.
which you will have granted consent for at application stage. This consent will be used going forward for the duration of the tenancy you are acting as a guarantor for and for as long as your obligation as guarantor remains.
The data may be used in the following ways:
•  Passing of data to credit reference agencies.
•  Passing of data to third parties for debt collection if such need arises.
We will never use this data to market to you.

Storage of personal data:

We retain data for as long as necessary to carry out our duties. Tenancy Agreements and guarantor deeds will normally be kept for up to six years after your tenancy ends. Information about you may be kept for up to 10 years. Ancillary documents will be deleted and destroyed when no longer required and will vary depending on document type and use.

Categories of personal data being processed

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data, as necessary to provide our services and meet our legal, contractual, and security obligations:

• Identity data – including name, date of birth, title, username, or other identifiers.
• Contact data – including postal address, email address, telephone number.
• Account and access data – including user IDs, login details, access permissions, and authentication information.
• Professional or employment data – including job title, employer name, and business contact details.
• Financial and transactional data – including payment details, billing information, and transaction records (where applicable)
• Technical and usage data – including IP address, device information, browser type, operating system, access logs, and usage activity.
• Security and audit data – including system logs, monitoring records, access records, and incident related information. ‑related
• Communications data – including correspondence, emails, and records of interactions with us.
• Compliance and risk data – including records required for regulatory, audit, or due diligence purposes.

Source of personal data

We may collect personal data about you from:

• you directly
• employers/clients when you apply for a role or are considered for an opportunity.
• referees (where relevant and permitted)
• publicly available sources (for example professional networking sites, business websites, and public records)
• credit reference agencies (CRAs) where required for consumer credit, identity, or affordability checks.
• third party service providers used to support recruitment, screening, and compliance processes.

International data transfers & safeguards

We may transfer personal data to recipients or service providers located outside the UK and/or European Economic Area (EEA).

Where such transfers take place, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws. These safeguards may include the use of approved standard contractual clauses, international data transfer agreements, or transfers to countries that have been recognised as providing an adequate level of data protection.

Right of access
You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you and information about how it is used.

Right to rectification
You have the right to request that inaccurate or incomplete personal data is corrected.

Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”)
You have the right to request that we delete your personal data where there is no lawful reason for us to continue processing it.

Right to restrict processing
You have the right to request that we limit how we use your personal data in certain circumstances.

Right to data portability
You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine readable format, and to request that we transfer it to another organisation where technically feasible, readable format, and to request that we transfer it to another organisation where technically feasible.

Right to object
You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests or where data is used for direct marketing.

Right to complain to the ICO / supervisory authority
You have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) or another relevant data protection authority if you are dissatisfied with how we manage your personal data.

Whether provision of data is statutory/contractual & consequences

Provision of Personal Data

Is the provision of personal data statutory or contractual?
The provision of certain personal data is primarily contractual and, in some circumstances, required to meet legal and regulatory obligations.

Personal data is required to:

• Enter into and perform contracts with customers, suppliers, or business partners.
process orders, manage accounts, and deliver goods and services.
• verify identity and prevent fraud; and
comply with applicable legal, regulatory, accounting, and tax obligations.

What are the consequences of not providing personal data?

If you choose not to provide the personal data, we request:

• we may be unable to enter into a contract with you.
• we may be unable to fulfil orders, supply goods, or provide services.
• we may be unable to conduct necessary verification, compliance, or fraud prevention checks; and
• as a result, our services may be delayed, restricted, or declined.
• Where personal data is requested for optional purposes, such as marketing communications, providing this data is not mandatory, and you may withdraw your consent at any time without affecting your ability to receive goods or services from us.

Automated decision‑making or profiling details

Non-Automated Decision Making and Profiling Making and Profiling Making and Profiling

We may use automated systems and tools to support certain business processes, such as risk assessment, fraud prevention, affordability checks, identity verification, or record management.

These tools may analyse personal data using predefined criteria or rules to generate indicators, scores, or recommendations. However, we do not make decisions that have a legal or similarly significant effect on individuals based solely on automated processing. Any such decisions are subject to meaningful human review.

The use of these tools may influence the speed or level of review applied to an application or request, but individuals will not be subject to automatic rejection or adverse decisions without human involvement.

Our disclaimer is hosted online to allow emails to be shorter, saving on paper if printed.



Emails sent from Topproperty Services and the information they contain may be privileged and/or confidential. It is for the intended addressee(s) only. The unauthorised use, disclosure or copying emails, or any information they contain, is prohibited and could, in certain circumstances, be a criminal offence. If you are not the intended recipient please email info@topproperty-services.com or reply to the email immediately. Internet Communications are not secure and therefore Topproperty Services does not communicate formally by email and does not accept legal liability for the contents of this message.



Topproperty Services, Topproperty Lettings and Topproperty Sales and Lettings are the trading names of Topproperty Lettings Limited registered in England and Wales - company number 05820819

Use of cookies.



We use cookies to allow search functionality on our websites as well as allowing you to book in viewing appointments and to reserve houses. These are needed for the correct operation of the website.



Cookies may also be used to allow us to better track visitors to identify traffic sources (where you found us) as well as website visitor numbers and locations.