Cookie Policy

Storage and access technologies on our websites

Last Updated: 29/09/2026

This Cookies Notice explains how Homes for Students Limited, Universal Student Living Limited and BTR PRS Ltd trading as VervLife (“we”, “us”, “our”) use cookies and other storage and access technologies on our websites.

It should be read together with our Privacy Policy, which explains how we process personal data more generally. This Notice is the place to look for current information about cookies and similar technologies. The Privacy Policy links back here so that cookie detail is not duplicated and does not go out of date.

This Notice is written to meet the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), as amended by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, and the UK GDPR. It also reflects the Information Commissioner’s Office guidance on storage and access technologies published in April 2026.

The up-to-date list of cookies, vendors, purposes and expiry periods is in the Cookie Settings panel on the cookie banner, including the Cookie Report link in the footer of that panel. This Notice explains the categories and your rights. The panel is the authoritative list of individual cookies.

1. What this Notice covers

PECR does not only apply to cookies. It applies whenever we store information on your device, or access information stored on your device, by any method. In this Notice, “cookies and similar technologies” includes:

• cookies and similar files placed by our sites or by third parties;


• tracking pixels, web beacons and clear GIFs (including those in emails, where used);


• tags and scripts (including tags fired through Google Tag Manager);


• local storage, session storage and similar browser storage;


• device or browser fingerprinting techniques;


• link decoration and navigational tracking (for example identifiers added to URLs); and


• software development kits and embedded media or chat widgets that store or access information on your device.

Unless a PECR exception applies, we must give you clear information and obtain your consent before we use these technologies. Consent must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous, and you must be able to withdraw it as easily as you gave it.

2. Who we are

Depending on which site you visit, the relevant organisation is Homes for Students Limited (trading as Homes for Students, Prestige Student Living, EVO Student, Essential Student Living and Urban Student Life) or Universal Student Living Limited. Our registered office is The Innovation Centre, Hornbeam Park, Hookstone Road, Harrogate, HG2 8QT. Property, booking, document-upload and virtual-tour pages on the domains listed in section 6 are covered by this Notice.

BTR PRS Ltd trading as VervLife and the Orla Living brand are in the same wider group but are not part of the CookieScript cross-domain group described in section 6. VervLife currently uses HubSpot.

3. How we ask for and record your choices

We use CookieScript as our consent management platform. The cookie banner and Cookie Settings panel let you accept all, reject all non-essential technologies, or choose by category. Rejecting non-essential technologies is as easy as accepting them.

We also use Google Consent Mode v2 so that Google tags and connected scripts receive your choice and do not use advertising or analytics storage until the relevant consent is given.

You can change or withdraw your choice at any time by reopening the cookie banner and using Cookie Settings. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of use before you withdrew consent.

Strictly necessary technologies are always active because the site cannot function securely without them. All other categories stay off until you opt in.

4. Categories we use

We group technologies by purpose. A technology used for more than one purpose is only treated as exempt if every purpose meets the same PECR exception. In practice we keep advertising, analytics and essential functions separate so that your choice is meaningful.

• Strictly Necessary
  
  Essential for the website to function. Cannot be switched off.
  
  Consent Required? No (always active)
  
  Examples: CookieScriptConsent, CSRF and request-verification tokens, Cloudflare security cookies, Azure and AWS load-balancing cookies, Microsoft Forms session cookies, document-uploader session cookies


• Functionality
  
  Enable enhanced features and personalisation (for example live chat and embedded media preferences).
  
  Consent Required? Yes, unless the sole purpose is to adapt the appearance or function of the site to a preference you have set and we give you a simple free way to object.
  
  Examples: WeChat chat widget, VerbaFlo conversational AI / chat widgets, certain YouTube player preference cookies


• Performance / Analytics
  
  Help us understand how visitors use our sites and improve them.
  
  Consent Required? Yes, on our current configuration. PECR includes a narrow statistical-purposes exception, but our current tools (Google Analytics 4 alongside advertising tags, and Microsoft Clarity session recording) go beyond that exception.
  
  Examples: _ga, _ga_7QP77DPV11, _clck, _clsk


• Targeting / Advertising
  
  Used to show relevant ads and measure advertising effectiveness. There is no PECR exception for online advertising.
  
  Consent Required? Yes
  
  Examples: Meta _fbp, Google Ads / DoubleClick (_gcl_au, IDE, test_cookie), Microsoft Advertising and Clarity identifiers (MUID, _uetsid, _uetvid), YouTube advertising cookies, Typeform attribution_user_id


• Unclassified
  
  Cookies being assessed for classification. Until classified, we treat them as non-essential.
  
  Consent Required? Yes
  
  Examples: ttwid (TikTok), _scor_uid (Giphy), msal.cache.encryption

You can manage your consent preferences at any time by reopening the cookie banner and using Cookie Settings.

5. Similar technologies, pixels and email

If a pixel, tag, script, local-storage item, fingerprint or decorated link stores or accesses information on your device, it is listed in Cookie Settings under the same categories as cookies and is controlled by the same banner.

Email tracking pixels (used to see whether a message was opened or a link was clicked) are storage and access technologies. We will not place an email tracking pixel unless we have a valid PECR consent for that purpose. Subscribing to receive emails is not, on its own, consent to be tracked when you read them. Where we use email pixels:

• we will tell you at the point we collect the address, or in a clear just-in-time notice;


• consent will be separate from the consent to receive the email itself;


• you will be able to withdraw tracking consent as easily as you gave it, without losing the email service itself where that service does not depend on the pixel; and


• the same standard applies across Homes for Students, Universal Student Living, VervLife and Orla Living — not only on one brand.

We do not use covert fingerprinting to track you across sites. If that ever changed, it would require prior consent and an update to this Notice.

6. Cross-site consent sharing

When you give or withdraw consent on one of the websites below, CookieScript may apply that preference across the other sites in the same group. This is the only cross-domain group we use. VervLife and Orla Living are not included.

The sites in this group are:

• Homes for Students (HFS): wearehomesforstudents.com


• Prestige Student Living (PSL): prestigestudentliving.com


• EVO Student (EVO): evostudent.com


• Essential Student Living (ESL): essentialstudentliving.com


• Universal Student Living (UVSL): universalstudentliving.com


• Urban Student Life (USL): urbanstudentlife.com


• Booking platforms used by those brands: basepms.com and the related booking test environment on basesoftware.co.uk

Prestige Student Living, EVO Student, Essential Student Living and Urban Student Life are trading names of Homes for Students Limited. Universal Student Living is operated by Universal Student Living Limited.

VervLife (verv-life.com) and Orla Living (orla-europe.com) are outside this group. A choice made on an HFS, PSL, EVO, ESL, UVSL or USL site is not applied to VervLife or Orla, and a choice made on VervLife or Orla is not applied back. VervLife currently uses HubSpot on verv-life.com and manages consent on that site separately.

7. Third-party vendors

We work with carefully selected third-party service providers. CookieScript maintains and updates the full list of vendors and cookies. You can view the complete, up-to-date vendor list and individual cookies in the Cookie Settings panel on the cookie banner.

Key tools we currently use include:

• CookieScript (consent banner and preference storage)


• Google services via Google Consent Mode (Analytics, Ads, DoubleClick, YouTube embeds)


• Microsoft (Forms, Clarity, Bing / advertising identifiers, Azure)


• Meta advertising


• Typeform


• Cloudflare and Amazon Web Services (security and load balancing)


• WeChat live chat widget


• VerbaFlo conversational AI / chat widgets


• TikTok, Matterport, Kuula, Pexels, Instagram and Giphy embeds where that content appears on a page

8. How long do cookies last?

• Session cookies: deleted when you close your browser (examples: YSC, SM, ARRAffinitySameSite, __RequestVerificationToken).


• Persistent cookies: remain on your device for a set period. Current examples include under one hour (__cf_bm, test_cookie); a few hours (document-uploader session cookies); one day (_clsk, _uetsid); one week (AWS load-balancing cookies, MR, msToken); about three months (CookieScriptConsent, _fbp, _gcl_au); about six months (Typeform and several YouTube cookies); and about one year (_ga, MUID, IDE, _uetvid, _clck, cf_clearance).

Exact expiry for each item is shown in Cookie Settings. We do not keep a technology longer than needed for its purpose.

9. Your rights and how to manage cookies

• You can accept, reject or customise your preferences via CookieScript at any time.


• You can also block cookies through your browser settings (this may affect site functionality).


• To withdraw consent, reopen the cookie banner and use Cookie Settings. Withdrawal is as easy as giving consent.


• UK GDPR rights (access, erasure, restriction, objection, portability, and complaint to the ICO) are explained in our Privacy Policy.

Browser help is available at www.allaboutcookies.org. The ICO is the UK regulator: ico.org.uk.

10. Updates to this Notice

We may update this Cookies Notice from time to time. Any changes will be posted here with an updated effective date. Because Cookie Settings is generated from live scans, individual cookie rows may change without a full republish of this Notice.

11. Contact

Homes for Students Limited / Universal Student Living Limited / BTR PRS Ltd t/a VervLife, The Innovation Centre, Hornbeam Park, Hookstone Road, Harrogate, HG2 8QT.

Privacy enquiries: [email protected] (or the contact address given in the Privacy Policy).