A tenant application form collects personal information from people who will mostly not become your tenants, and the consent on it decides what you may lawfully do with what they tell you. That is the part most forms handle worst, usually by saying too little. This page is the consent, the permitted use, and the retention.
Consent to contact the referees
Name the referees the applicant is authorising you to contact, which is normally their current landlord and their employer, and say what you will ask about. A blanket permission to contact anyone about anything is both broader than you need and less reassuring than a specific one, and specific consent is easier to rely on if a referee later asks why you called.
Consent for a screening report, only if you run one
If you obtain a credit or background report you need the applicant's authorisation and a permissible purpose, and if you decline them in whole or part because of it you owe them an adverse-action notice naming the agency and their right to dispute. If you do not run reports, leave the clause out. This hub's worksheet collects the application only and screens nobody.
What you may use the answers for
Deciding this tenancy, against criteria you wrote down before you advertised. Not marketing, not a list for the next vacancy unless they agreed to that separately, and not sharing with another landlord who asks. A one-line statement of purpose on the form is honest and costs nothing, and it also disciplines the field list: if a field serves no stated purpose, it should not be there.
How long to keep the ones you did not house
Long enough to show your process was consistent if it is questioned, which in practice means a couple of years, treated the same for everyone. Then dispose of them properly. Indefinite retention is the default nobody chose and it carries all of the risk of holding identity and income data with none of the benefit.
Questions people ask about tenant application form
Does the consent need to be signed separately?
A signature on the form covering a clearly stated consent is normally enough. What matters is that the applicant could see what they were agreeing to.
Can I keep an application for a future vacancy?
Only with the applicant's agreement, asked for separately on the form. Many applicants are happy to say yes, and the asking is what makes it lawful.
What if an applicant asks what I hold?
Tell them, and be able to. A form whose answers live in three inboxes makes a simple question into an afternoon.