Privacy notice homelessness and housing options

Some of the information we need from you is essential – we can’t consider your application without it. Other information is optional. However, if you choose not to tell us something we may not make the right assessment. This means we may not be able to give you the help you need or find you a suitable home.

When you apply we will ask you for the following essential information:

• personal details including your current and any past names, nationality, date of birth, gender and national insurance number
• employment details including your current, and previous, employer’s name, contract type, hours of work, pay and deductions
• address history including your current and previous addresses, how long you’ve lived there and why you’re leaving, including any other times you’ve lived in temporary housing, slept rough or been homeless
• information about certain criminal convictions or prison sentences including information about the offence and the date you were convicted, the length of your sentence (if you've been to prison) and any current bail or licence conditions
• personal connections including the names and addresses of any relatives you have living in Arun or elsewhere

Other information that is not essential but optional includes:

• physical or mental health information including your doctor or hospital consultant’s details
• financial information including your income, benefits received, expenditure, details of any debts, bank and building society details, account balances, savings, any money from inheritance and properties and business you own
• support needs including details of any support you are getting or have previously had from support agencies like Citizens Advice Bureau, MIND, SSAFA (the armed forces charity), Christians Against Poverty or other organisations
• safety information, for example if you are fleeing domestic violence or if you are worried about any other threats/risks to your safety
• ethnicity
• sexual orientation
• other relevant information, for example if you have any pets that need to be considered or which schools your children attend
• preferred contact details, which could be a phone number and/or email address

We collect your information for the following purposes:

• personal details, to identify you
• health information, to understand your needs
• financial information, to work out how much rent you can afford, whether you have enough money for a deposit and whether you can afford any moving costs
• your support requirements, so we can assess your needs
• employment details, to see if you have a connection to the area
• address history, which helps us to understand how you have come to your current situation, whether there are any issues with rent arrears or if there has been any unacceptable behaviour in your previous addresses
• criminal information, to assess your needs and to make sure we protect other people around you if needed
• personal connections, to helps us understand what support you have from family or friends in Arun or elsewhere
• safety factors, to assess your needs and check any home we offer is safe for you and your family
• ethnicity information, for statistical purposes
• sexual orientation information, for statistical purposes
• other relevant information, to assess your needs
• preferred contact so we can contact you, if we have any questions

We might share your information with:

• Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), as personal information may be shared for statistical monitoring purposes, which we are allowed to do under the Digital Economy Act 2017
• Adult or Children's Social Care for the prevention and detection of crime, or if we feel there is a risk to a child or vulnerable person, under our duty according to the Anti-Social, Crime & Policing Act 2014, Children’s Act 2004, as amended by the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and/or the Care Act 2014
• police for the prevention and detection of crime, or if we feel there is a risk to a child, under our duty according to the Anti-Social, Crime & Policing Act 2014, the Crime & Disorder Act 1998 and the Children’s Act 2004, as amended by the Children and Social Work Act 2017.
• probation services for the prevention and detection of crime as we have a duty to do this under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998

With your consent we may also share details with the following:

• your doctor and other medical professionals
• the local health authority
• prisons
• support agencies
• relevant charities
• your current landlord
• your previous landlord
• housing associations or private rental landlords offering a potential home
• schools and other education establishments
• The Department for Work and Pensions
• current or past employers
• HM Revenues and Customs
• banks/building societies
• immigration services and the Border Agency
• family members/friends who are supporting you

The information you provide is used for us to execute our public duty under:

• The Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977
• The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017
• The Housing Act 1996
• The Homelessness act 2002

We will keep your information for six years from the date you approach us.

If we find you a suitable privately rented or housing association home we will keep your information for 12 months, then it will be destroyed.

If you go on to become a tenant in one of our properties, your information will be retained in accordance with our neighbourhood data retention policy which can be found on our website.

You do have some legal rights in respect of the personal information we collect from you. Please see our Privacy policy page for further details.

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office at: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.

You can also contact our Data Protection Officer by email at data.protection@arun.gov.uk.