Privacy notice
Last changed: 9 November 2026
The short version
- You can use every tool and guide without giving us your name or email address. Your answers stay in your browser.
- If you ask us to email your results, we use your email address to send them, then delete it after 30 days.
- We only send marketing emails if you tick the box and then confirm by email. You can stop them at any time.
- If you join the first group, we send one email to confirm and one when a place opens.
- We do not sell your information, and we do not use advertising trackers.
Who we are
Sift Homes Limited ("Sift", "we") is responsible for your information. In data protection law we are the "controller".
- Company number 17034220, registered in England and Wales.
- Registered office: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ.
- Registered with the Information Commission (the ICO), reference ZC095201.
- Privacy contact: [email protected].
What we collect, and why
When you use a tool or a guide
The sums are done in your browser. The prices, incomes and other answers you type are not sent to us.
Some pages remember your answers so they are still there when you come back:
- The three guides save your answers and ticks in your browser's storage on your device. They stay until you clear your browser's saved data for this site.
- The tools keep your answers only until you close the tab, so that going Back, or moving from one tool to the next, does not lose them.
We cannot see any of this. It never leaves your device. Each guide has a "Clear my saved answers" link. You can also clear the saved data for this site in your browser settings.
Like every website, this one is delivered by companies that see technical details, such as your IP address, when your browser connects. "Keeping the site safe" explains who they are.
We do not set cookies, and we do not use advertising or tracking technology. The robot check on our two forms is the one thing that may store something on your device, and it is explained below. We do not run analytics. If we add analytics later, we will change this notice first and ask your permission where the law requires it.
When you ask us to email your results
You type your email address and we send the results you asked for.
- What we keep: your email address, which tool you used, your answers as broad bands (for example a price range, never the exact figure), and the time.
- Why: to send what you asked for, to answer you if something goes wrong, and to stop the form being misused.
- Our legal reason: our legitimate interest in giving you what you asked for and keeping the service working.
- How long: 30 days, then we delete it.
The email itself contains your figures, because you asked for them. We do not keep a copy of the email. Resend, the company that sends it for us, keeps a copy for 30 days and then deletes it.
You do not have to give us your email address. The tools work without it.
Marketing emails
We send marketing emails only if you tick the box and then click the link in the confirmation email we send you. If you do not click it, you are not on the list, and we delete the request after 30 days.
- What we keep: your email address, the time you ticked the box, the time you confirmed, and the exact wording you agreed to.
- Our legal reason: your consent.
- How long: until you unsubscribe. Every marketing email has an unsubscribe link, and you can also email us.
When you unsubscribe, we keep a scrambled record of your address on a "no marketing" list. We do this so we never send you marketing by mistake later. Our legal reason is that the law requires us to respect your choice. If you later ask us to email your results from a tool, we will still send those, because you asked for them.
Joining the first group
Sift is opening to small groups. If you join the list:
- we send you one email to confirm you are on it, and
- we send you one email when a place opens for you.
We will not send you anything else unless you have also agreed to marketing emails.
- What we keep: your email address, your place in the queue, the time you joined, and the wording you agreed to.
- Our legal reason: your consent. You give it by joining the list, which asks us to send you these two emails. You can leave the list at any time, using the link in either email or by emailing us.
- How long: until 90 days after we have told you a place is open, or 12 months after you joined, whichever comes first.
Keeping the site safe
- Checking you are not a robot. The two forms use Cloudflare Turnstile. Cloudflare looks at technical signals such as your IP address and browser type. It does this for us, to protect the forms. Cloudflare also uses these signals itself, as a separate controller, to improve how it spots robots. To do the check, Cloudflare may store or read a small amount of information on your device. Cloudflare says this is only what is strictly needed to tell people from robots. It is not used to track you around the web. See Cloudflare's Turnstile Privacy Addendum.
- Limiting repeat requests. We keep a scrambled version of your IP address and your email address for up to 7 days, to stop one person or program flooding the forms. A scrambled address is still personal information, and we treat it that way.
- A record of each email we send. We keep the address, the type of email, the time and whether it was delivered, for 90 days. We use this to fix delivery problems and to avoid sending the same email twice.
- Our legal reason for all three: our legitimate interest in keeping the site secure and working.
Who helps us, and where your information goes
We use three companies. They work on our instructions, except where we say otherwise.
| Company | What it does for us | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase (Supabase Pte. Ltd, Singapore) | Stores the email addresses and records described above, and runs the code behind the two forms. | Our database is in London, and we make the form code run in London too. Supabase may keep backup copies for up to 7 days. Its staff outside the UK may access data for support. |
| Resend (Plus Five Five, Inc., United States) | Sends our emails. | Resend handles and stores the emails it sends, and its delivery records, in the United States, for 30 days. |
| Cloudflare (Cloudflare, Inc., United States) | Hosts this website and runs the robot check. | Cloudflare runs on servers around the world. |
This means some of your information is handled outside the UK. When it is, it is protected by one of these: the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, or standard contract clauses with the UK Addendum, which are part of our agreements with each company. Email [email protected] if you would like more detail or a copy of the safeguards.
A UK hosting location does not mean that every part of a company's work happens in the UK.
We do not sell your information. We do not share it with anyone else unless the law requires us to.
How long we keep things
| What | How long |
|---|---|
| Your email address and answer bands, after we email your results | 30 days |
| A marketing request you did not confirm | 30 days |
| Your place on the marketing list, and the record of your consent | Until you unsubscribe. We keep the record of your consent for 12 months after that. |
| The "no marketing" record | For as long as we need it to respect your choice |
| The first group list | 90 days after your place opens, or 12 months after you joined, whichever is first |
| The record of each email sent | 90 days |
| The copy of each email that Resend holds | 30 days |
| Backup copies held by our database provider | Up to 7 days after we delete something |
| Scrambled IP and email addresses used to limit repeat requests | Up to 7 days |
| Answers saved in your own browser | Until you clear them. We never hold them. |
We may keep something longer if we need it for a complaint, a dispute or a legal duty. If we do, we keep only what we need.
Your rights
You can ask us to:
- give you a copy of the information we hold about you
- correct it
- delete it
- stop or limit how we use it
- send it to you in a form you can reuse
Where we rely on our legitimate interests, you can object, and we will stop unless we have a strong reason to continue. You can always object to marketing, and we will always stop. Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time. That does not undo what we did before you withdrew it.
Not every right applies in every case. If one does not apply to your request, we will tell you why.
To use any of these rights, email [email protected]. We reply within one month. If a request is complex, the law lets us take up to two more months. If we need longer, we will tell you within the first month and explain why.
We do not make decisions about you by computer alone that have a legal or similarly significant effect on you. The robot check is automatic, but all it decides is whether to accept a form.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us. Email [email protected] with "Data protection complaint" in the subject line. We will confirm we have received it as soon as we can, and always within 30 days. We will look into it without delay and tell you what we found.
You can also complain to the Information Commission (the ICO) at ico.org.uk, or by phone on 0303 123 1113. You do not have to complain to us first.
Children
Sift is for adults who are buying a home. It is not aimed at anyone under 18.
Mia and artificial intelligence
Mia is Sift's AI assistant. She is not part of the tools on this site, and nothing you do here is sent to an AI service. Before Mia is available, we will rewrite this notice to explain what she does with your information.
Changes to this notice
We will change this notice before we change what we do with your information. The date at the top of the page shows when it was last changed. If the change matters to people who have already given us their email address, we will email them.