Honest, regulated property advice for landlords, vendors and tenants across Leeds.

HMRC Anti-Money-Laundering Supervision

Morton & Co Estate Agents Ltd is registered with HMRC for anti-money-laundering supervision under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017). We are entered on HMRC's supervised business register and our supervision is current.

Redress Scheme — The Property Ombudsman (TPO)

Morton & Co is a member of The Property Ombudsman (TPO), the government-approved redress scheme for property agents. We are bound by the TPO Code of Practice for Residential Estate Agents and the TPO Code of Practice for Residential Letting Agents. If you have a complaint that we have been unable to resolve through our in-house complaints procedure, you may refer your case to TPO for independent review.

Client Money Protection — Money Shield

As a letting agent holding client money in England, Morton & Co Estate Agents Ltd is a member of an approved Client Money Protection scheme as required by the Client Money Protection Schemes for Property Agents (Requirement to Belong to a Scheme etc.) Regulations 2019. Your money is protected in the event of agent insolvency or misappropriation by:

• Scheme: Money Shield (a government-approved CMP scheme)
• Membership number: MS00000001

Our Money Shield certificate is displayed at our Leeds office and is available on request. Client funds are held in a designated client account with Lloyds Bank plc, separate from the firm's own funds.

Anti-Money-Laundering Policy

Morton & Co Estate Agents maintains a documented Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) policy that complies with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017, SI 2017/692) and HMRC's published guidance for estate-agency businesses. Key elements of the policy include:

• Named Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO): Henry Morton, Owner. Deputy MLRO duties are covered by Sarah Chen (Head of Lettings) in his absence.
• Customer Due Diligence (CDD): applied to every client at the point of instruction. We verify identity (passport or photographic driving licence) and proof of address (utility bill or bank statement within 3 months) for all vendors, landlords, buyers and high-value tenants.
• Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD): applied where the client is a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), where the transaction involves a high-risk jurisdiction, where the source of funds is unclear, or where the transaction value exceeds the firm-wide trigger set in our risk assessment.
• Source-of-funds and source-of-wealth checks: documentary evidence required for cash buyers and for any transaction where the funding route is not transparent.
• Firm-wide risk assessment: documented, reviewed annually by the MLRO and after any material change to the business.
• Staff training: all client-facing staff complete AML training on induction and refresh annually. Training records are held by the MLRO.
• Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs): reported to the National Crime Agency through the NCA SAR Online portal where the MLRO forms a suspicion under POCA 2002 s.330.
• Record-keeping: CDD records retained for 5 years from the end of the business relationship, in line with MLR 2017 reg 40.

Privacy Policy & Data Protection

This privacy policy sets out how Morton & Co Estate Agents Ltd ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses and protects your personal information. We are committed to UK data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

• Data controller: Morton & Co Estate Agents Ltd, 10 Broadoaks Lane, Churwell, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS27 7TF. Company No. 12300000.
• ICO registration number: XX0000001. Our entry on the Information Commissioner's Office register is publicly searchable at ico.org.uk.
• Data protection lead: Henry Morton — contactable at paulwmorton+agent1@gmail.com.
• Lawful basis for processing: contract (to provide the agency services you have instructed); legal obligation (AML CDD, Right to Rent checks, tax records); legitimate interests (marketing properties you have asked us to sell or let, prevention of fraud); consent (for marketing communications to people who are not already our clients).
• Categories of personal data processed: identity (name, date of birth, photo ID), contact (address, email, phone), financial (source of funds, bank details for refunds), property (records of viewings, offers, transactions), and immigration status (for Right to Rent checks in lettings).
• Retention periods: CDD and AML records — 5 years after the end of the business relationship (MLR 2017 reg 40). Tenancy records — 6 years post-tenancy. Sales transaction records — 6 years post-completion. Marketing contacts — until you withdraw consent.
• Your rights: the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, objection to processing, and the right to withdraw consent at any time. Exercise these rights by writing to the data protection lead at the email above.
• International transfers: we do not transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom. All personal data is stored on servers located in the UK or the European Economic Area under an adequacy decision.
• Right to complain to the ICO: if you are not satisfied with our handling of your data, you may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, by phone on 0303 123 1113, or in writing to Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
• Automated decision-making: we do not carry out solely automated decision-making with legal or similarly significant effects on data subjects.

Complaints Procedure

We operate a written, two-stage complaints procedure in line with The Property Ombudsman Code of Practice. We are committed to resolving concerns promptly, fairly and at the lowest possible level.

Stage 1 — Branch Manager (in-house resolution):

• Submit your complaint in writing — by email to paulwmorton+agent1@gmail.com, or by post to: The Branch Manager, Morton & Co Estate Agents, 10 Broadoaks Lane, Churwell, Leeds, LS27 7TF.
• Acknowledgement within 3 working days of receipt.
• Investigation and written response from the Branch Manager within 15 working days.

Stage 2 — Director review:

• If you remain dissatisfied with the Branch Manager's response, you may escalate in writing to the Director (Henry Morton) at the same address.
• The Director will issue a final viewpoint letter within 8 weeks of the original complaint being received.

Stage 3 — How to complain to The Property Ombudsman:

• If you remain dissatisfied after our final viewpoint letter (or if 8 weeks have passed without resolution), you may refer your complaint to The Property Ombudsman within 12 months of our final letter.
• TPO, Milford House, 43–55 Milford Street, Salisbury SP1 2BP. Telephone 01722 333 306. Online: tpos.co.uk/consumers/how-to-make-a-complaint.
• TPO will only consider complaints once our internal process has been exhausted or 8 weeks have passed.

Terms of Business

Our terms and conditions of service, together with our terms of business for both sales and lettings clients, comply with the Estate Agents Act 1979, the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, and (for lettings) the Tenant Fees Act 2019. Terms cover:

• Services we provide: sales agency, lettings agency, rent collection, full management — scope itemised in your client agreement.
• Fees: as set out in the Tariff of Charges above. The fee that applies to your instruction is confirmed in your client agreement.
• Cancellation rights: a 14-day statutory cooling-off period applies to any contract entered into off our premises, in line with the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. You may cancel by writing to us within 14 days of signing.
• Sole-agency, joint-agency and multi-agency clauses (sales): sole-agency tie-in period is typically 12 weeks unless otherwise agreed. The withdrawal fee shown in the Tariff applies only during the tie-in period. We do not levy any fee at all if no sale completes after the agreed period.
• Landlord terms (lettings): deposit handling through a government-approved scheme; quarterly property inspections on managed properties; instruction of contractors only with the landlord's prior consent above £250; rent payable within 5 working days of receipt.
• Limitation of liability and governing law: our liability is limited to the lesser of £1,000,000 or the value of fees paid; the contract is governed by English law and subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
• Complaints reference: our complaints procedure (above) and TPO escalation route apply.

Right to Rent Immigration Checks

For every prospective tenant of a property let in England, Morton & Co Estate Agents conducts a documented Right to Rent check in accordance with the Immigration Act 2014 (as amended by the Immigration Act 2016) and the Home Office Code of Practice on illegal immigrants and private rented accommodation.

• Documents accepted: we verify identity and right-to-rent status using the documents on the Home Office prescribed list — UK or Irish passport, biometric residence permit (BRP), biometric residence card, Home Office share-code check for digital immigration status, or other Group A / Group B documents as set out in the published guidance.
• Online checks: for tenants with digital immigration status (e.g. EU Settlement Scheme), we use the Home Office online "check a tenant's right to rent" service with a share code provided by the tenant.
• Time-limited rights: where a tenant's right to rent is time-limited, we record the expiry date and conduct a follow-up check before the rights expire, or after 12 months — whichever is sooner — as required by the Home Office Code of Practice.
• Record retention: a clear copy of each document checked is retained for the duration of the tenancy and for at least 12 months after the tenancy ends.
• Joint-tenant checks: conducted on every adult occupier aged 18 or over before keys are released.

Financial Sanctions Compliance

Morton & Co Estate Agents screens every client and counterparty against the UK consolidated sanctions list maintained by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) within HM Treasury. Our sanctions-compliance programme operates under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA 2018) and the various regulations made under it (including, where applicable, the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019).

• Screening at the point of CDD: every vendor, landlord, buyer and tenant is screened against the OFSI consolidated list before we accept the instruction or release keys.
• Screening tool: SmartSearch automated sanctions screening, refreshed against the OFSI list daily.
• Ongoing monitoring: existing clients are re-screened on a quarterly cycle and immediately following any OFSI list update that affects a relevant jurisdiction.
• Reporting matches: any positive or potential match is escalated to the Sanctions Officer (Henry Morton) and, where confirmed, reported to OFSI without delay using the OFSI compliance reporting form.
• Named Sanctions Officer: Henry Morton — also our MLRO, responsible for both AML and sanctions compliance.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs)

It is our standing policy that every property we market for sale or for rent displays the Energy Performance Certificate rating on the listing, in line with the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012. All three featured properties on this page show their EPC band — C, D and B respectively — directly on the listing photograph.

For lettings instructions, we additionally check that the property meets the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES). Properties rated F or G cannot be let to a new tenant unless a valid exemption is registered on the PRS Exemptions Register. We will not market a sub-standard property without first ensuring an exemption is in place, or recommending energy-efficiency works to bring the property up to band E or above.

Where the vendor or landlord does not hold a valid EPC, we order one on their behalf through an accredited Domestic Energy Assessor at the fee shown in our Tariff of Charges (£95 inc. VAT).