What we collect, why, who helps us run the site, how long we keep it, and your rights.
Homabu (homabu.co.uk) is a trading name. It is run by a sole trader in the UK, who is the controller of your personal data: the person responsible for deciding how it is used and for keeping it safe. In this notice, “we” and “us” means Homabu.
To ask anything about your data, or to use any of your rights, use the contact form and choose “Privacy request or complaint”.
| What | Why | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| The calculator and property check, without an account | Your answers are worked out in your browser and are not sent to us. If you tick “Remember my numbers”, they are kept on your device only. | Nothing for us to rely on: we don’t receive it |
| The postcode you enter in the property check | Sent from your browser to HM Land Registry’s public data service to look up past sales in that postcode. Only the postcode is sent; we don’t receive or store it unless you save the property. | Legitimate interests: showing the sales you asked to see |
| Your account: email address and password | To create your account and let you sign in. Your password is encrypted by our database provider; we never see it. | Contract: providing the account you asked for |
| Sign-in and security records (for example time of sign-in, IP address, browser type) | Kept by our database provider to protect accounts and stop misuse. | Legitimate interests: keeping the service secure |
| Numbers you save: the name you give them, incomes and extra income, deposit, monthly commitments and debts, ages, marital status, buying alone or jointly, first-time buyer or not, number of dependants by age band, mortgage term and options, and the budget we calculate | So you can come back to your budget and check properties against it. | Contract |
| Properties you save: postcode, price, property type, tenure, lease, service charge, other details you enter, and the result of the check | So you can return to and compare the properties you’ve checked. | Contract |
| Messages through the contact form or partner request form: name, email, firm, role and your message | To reply to you. | Legitimate interests: answering your enquiry |
| Analytics: pages viewed, buttons used (for example “calculator completed”), device and browser type, approximate location | To understand how the site is used and improve it. | Consent, through the cookie banner |
| Research data (see below) | To understand who uses Homabu and produce aggregated research. | Consent: the cookie banner and the “Help improve Homabu” box |
We only ask for what the calculator needs. Questions such as marital status and dependants are optional context for your budget; we don’t ask for your name, address, date of birth or any special category data (such as health), and we ask you not to put that kind of information in notes.
If you accept analytics cookies and tick “Help improve Homabu” on the calculator, we record the ranges your answers fall into, never exact figures: income band (for example £50–60k), deposit band, age band, buying alone or jointly, first-time buyer or not, marital status, mortgage term and tier, whether you have dependants and how many in each age band, and whether you have additional income.
This is recorded in Google Analytics against a random browser identifier. It is not linked to your name, email or account, but it isn’t fully anonymous, which is why we only collect it with your consent. We may publish, share or sell aggregated statistics produced from it, such as “the typical deposit of buyers aged 30–34”, in a form that can’t identify anyone. We will never share or sell information about an individual.
Firms such as mortgage advisers and estate agents (“partners”) can use a partner account to run checks for their clients. When they do, the partner is the controller of their clients’ data: they decide what to enter and save. Homabu stores it only on the partner’s behalf and on their instructions, and doesn’t use it for anything else. Partners are asked to use a client reference rather than a name, and our system blocks email addresses and phone numbers in client references. If you are a partner’s client, please ask the partner about your data; you can also contact us and we’ll pass your request on.
We use a small number of service providers (“processors”) to run Homabu. They may only use your data to provide their service to us, under contracts that require them to keep it safe:
We don’t sell your personal data and we don’t share it with lenders, brokers or advertisers. Links to partner sites (for example a mortgage broker or Checkmyfile) take you to their own site, where their privacy policy applies; they may set a cookie to record that you came from us. We would only disclose data if the law required it.
Supabase, Netlify and Google are US companies, so some of your data may be stored or accessed outside the UK. Where it is, the transfer is protected by the UK’s approved safeguards: the UK–US “data bridge” for certified companies, or the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the standard contractual clauses.
The whole site uses an encrypted connection (HTTPS). Every account’s data is separated at database level, so each person (or partner firm) can only ever read their own records. Passwords are stored encrypted by Supabase and we never see them. Only Homabu has administrator access to the database. If something goes wrong that puts your data at risk, we’ll tell the Information Commissioner’s Office within 72 hours where the law requires it, and tell you without delay if there’s a high risk to you.
| Name | What it does | Needs consent? |
|---|---|---|
| homabu_cookie_consent | Remembers whether you accepted or rejected analytics. | No: strictly necessary |
| Sign-in session (sb-…) | Keeps you signed in, if you have an account. | No: strictly necessary |
| Remember my numbers | Keeps your calculator answers on this device, only if you tick the box. | No: you asked for it |
| _ga, _ga_… (Google Analytics) | Counts visits and how the site is used. Lasts up to 2 years. | Yes: only set if you accept |
To remove cookies already stored, clear them in your browser settings.
You have the right to:
We’ll respond within one month. It’s free, though we may need to confirm it’s you.
If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your data, please tell us first using the contact form (choose “Privacy request or complaint”). We’ll acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, look into it without undue delay, and tell you the outcome.
You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection regulator: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or 0303 123 1113.
No automated decisions. Homabu’s results are estimates to help you plan. They aren’t a lending decision and don’t have any legal effect on you; lenders make their own decisions.
Adults only. Homabu is for people aged 18 or over who are planning to buy a home.
Changes. If we change this notice, we’ll update the date at the top, and tell account holders by email about any significant change.