Privacy notice housing register

Our housing register privacy notice explains how we use your personal information and tells you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

Information we collect

Some of the information we ask you for 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 be able to fully assist you to find a suitable home.

When you apply, we’ll ask you for the following essential information:

  • personal details including your current name and any previous names, date of birth, national insurance number, gender, nationality and immigration status
  • address history including, your current address, how long you’ve lived there and why you’re leaving. We may also ask about your past addresses, especially any time you have lived in temporary accommodation, have been homeless, or slept rough
  • employment details - if you’re working, we’ll ask for your employer’s name and whether you have a permanent or fixed-term contract. We will also ask for your hours of work, pay and deductions. We may also ask about your previous employers
  • criminal history - you must tell us about certain convictions or prison sentences.  We will need to know about the offence and the date you were convicted. If you’ve been to prison, we will need the length of your sentence and any current bail or licence conditions

Other information that is not essential but optional includes:

  • your health information, for example any physical or mental health conditions you have. We may also ask for your doctor or consultant details
  • financial information such as income, benefits received and expenditure. Details of any debts and to whom you owe money. Bank and building society details and account balances. Savings and any money from an inheritance. Details of any properties or businesses you own
  • support needs - details of any support you are getting or have previously had from support agencies, like Citizens Advice, MIND, SSAFA (the armed forces charity), Christians Against Poverty
  • education details - if you have been in education in the last two years, we will ask you for further details
  • armed forces - we need to know about both current and previous service
  • ethnicity, including nationality, race and ethnic group
  • sexual orientation - including your gender identity
  • voluntary work, including information about the organisation you volunteer for and how long you have been volunteering
  • preferred methods of contact, such as telephone number or email address

 

Why we collect this information

We collect your information for the following purposes:

  • personal information, to identify you when you contact us with a housing enquiry
  • health information, to assess your needs
  • financial information, we use this to confirm you are eligible to join the housing register and to work out how much rent you can afford
  • address history, as this helps us to understand your current situation.  We also need to know if there have been any issues with rent arrears or unacceptable behaviour at your current and previous addresses
  • employment details as we use this information to check that you have a connection to the area and to assess your needs
  • support needs, so we can assess your needs
  • criminal history, as we use this information to assess your needs. If necessary, we also use it to make sure we protect other residents who live near you
  • education to assess your needs
  • armed forces, as we use this information to assess your needs, to check you are eligible to join the housing register and to determine your position on the list
  • ethnicity, this is used for statistical purposes
  • sexual orientation, this is used for statistical purposes
  • voluntary work as we use this information to check that you have a connection to the area and to assess your needs
  • preferred way of contact, to ensure we can contact you quickly if we have any questions about your application

Who we might share your information with

We might share your information with the following organisations:

  • Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Your personal information may be shared for statistical monitoring purposes. We are allowed to do this under the Digital Economy Act 2017
  • statutory services such as the police and adult & children's social care. Your personal information may be shared for the prevention and detection of crime. We have a duty to do this under the Anti-Social, Crime & Policing Act 2014. We may also share information if we feel there is a risk to a child or vulnerable person. We have a duty to do this under the Children’s Act 2004, as amended by the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and the Care Act 2014

With your consent we may also share your details with:

  • probation and offender managers
  • our council tax and benefits teams
  • support agencies
  • housing associations
     

What we do with your information

We use the information you provide so we can meet our public duty under:

  • The Housing Act 1996
  • The Homelessness act 2002
  • The Localism Act 2011

How long we keep your information

If you don't qualify to join the housing register and have made a homeless application, your information is kept in accordance with our homeless and housing options services data retention policy.f you haven’t made a homeless application we will keep your personal information for 6 months after our decision that you don't qualify.

If you do qualify to join the housing register we will keep your personal details all the time you have an application on the housing register.

If you ask to be removed from the housing register and have made a homeless application your information is kept in accordance with our homelessness and housing options services data retention policy. If you haven’t made a homeless application we will destroy your personal information within one month.

If you move into a council owned property your information will be kept in accordance with our neighbourhood services data retention policy.
 

Your rights

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.