What personal data they can ask for to rent a flat
The data that shows who you are and whether you can pay: your identity, your income and, if that falls short, your savings or a guarantor. Data protection law says they should only ask for what's needed for that. Your health, your religion, your ethnic origin or your sex life have nothing to do with renting.
What they can ask for
What helps decide whether to rent to you:
- Who you are
- Your ID document.
- Whether you can pay
- Your payslips and your contract, or your tax return if you're self-employed.
- If your income falls short
- Your savings, or the papers of a guarantor.
What has nothing to do with renting
The law bans processing this data except in specific cases. None of it is needed to decide whether to rent to you:
- Your health
- Nothing about sick leave, disability or pregnancy.
- Your beliefs
- Religion, political views or whether you belong to a trade union.
- Your origin and your sex life
- Neither your ethnic origin nor your orientation.GDPR, art. 9.1
Before you send anything
- Cover what isn't needed
- To see whether you can pay, nobody needs the bank account number on your payslip.
- Send them to whoever manages the flat
- And only when you're really interested in the flat, not to every listing.
- If you don't sign, ask them to delete them
- Once they're no longer needed for what they were asked for, you have the right to have them erased.GDPR, arts. 5.1.e and 17.1.a
Get them ready once. Don't send them to every agency.
Every copy you send by email or WhatsApp stays in an inbox you don't control.
Building your profile and getting verified is free.
- You upload your papers only once.
- Agencies see your verified badge, not your papers.
- Your papers are only seen by the agency you give permission to, and you can withdraw it.
What people ask most about their data.
Can they ask for my work history?
They can ask for it to see your track record: it helps assess whether you can pay.
Can they ask about my health or my religion?
They have nothing to do with renting a flat. If they ask, you don't have to tell them.
What happens to my papers if I'm not chosen?
They're no longer needed for what they were asked for: you can ask whoever has them to delete them.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679, General Data Protection Regulation, arts. 5.1.c, 5.1.e, 9.1 and 17.1.a. OJ L 119, 4.5.2016.