What we do with your information.

Who is responsible

SOANE Architects Ltd is the data controller for the information described here. If you have a question about any of it, or want to exercise one of the rights below, write to giles@soane.uk or call +44 (0)7737 745211.

What we collect, and why

When you send an enquiry we ask for your name, phone number, email address, the address of the property, its designation, and a description of what you would like to do to it. We ask for all of it because it is what a Preliminary Planning and Heritage Appraisal is built from — without the address and your intentions there is nothing to appraise.

We use it to reply to you, to prepare that appraisal, and to carry out any work you subsequently instruct. The lawful basis is our legitimate interest in responding to an enquiry you chose to send, and, once you instruct us, performance of our contract with you.

We do not sell your information, and we do not add you to a marketing list on the strength of an enquiry.

Who else sees it

Only the services we need to run the site and reply to you:

• Vercel — hosts this website and processes the server request when you submit a form.
• Resend — delivers the enquiry to us and the acknowledgement to you.
• Cloudflare Turnstile — checks that form submissions come from a person rather than a script. It sees technical signals from your browser, not the contents of the form.
• postcodes.io — receives the postcode alone, to identify which local planning authority covers the property. No other field is sent.
• Google Analytics — measures how the site is used, and only if you accept it. See the note on cookies below.

Where preparing your appraisal requires it, we consult public records such as the National Heritage List for England and your local authority’s planning register. Those are searches we make; they do not involve sending them your details.

Cookies and analytics

Google Analytics is not loaded until you accept it. If you decline — or simply ignore the banner — no analytics script is placed on the page at all and no analytics cookies are set. Declining changes nothing about how the site works.

You can change your mind at any time using the Cookies link at the foot of every page. Choosing to decline there also deletes any analytics cookies already set. We ask again after twelve months.

Two things do not depend on your choice, because the site cannot work without them: the members area sets one cookie to keep you signed in, and your cookie choice itself is remembered in your browser’s local storage. Neither is used for tracking.

How long we keep it

Enquiries that do not lead to work are kept for two years, so that we can pick up a conversation you return to. Records relating to projects we are instructed on are kept for as long as our professional and insurance obligations require, which for architectural work is typically fifteen years from completion.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you may ask us for a copy of the information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, ask us to delete it, or object to our using it. Write to giles@soane.uk and we will respond within one month.

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your information, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk. We would rather you told us first, so we can put it right.