Housing Privacy Notice
Landlord Services
Housing Services respects the privacy of its residents and customers. Your contact with us generates records including records of some personal information that is subject to the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR). This privacy notice explains our approach to data protection.
How we collect personal information
We collect information in a variety of ways including via the website, on various forms, and contracts, and through our ongoing contact and correspondence with you, with other support agencies that relates to you, and from people associated with you such as family, friends and neighbours. We record some calls into our office.
If you provide us with personal information relating to members of your family or your associates, we will assume that you do so with their knowledge and consent. Information you give us relating to those that live with you will be retained and processed as this information is necessary for us to carry out our duties as a landlord as set out in the tenancy agreement.
It is important that you notify us of any changes to your personal information as soon as possible so that we can contact you easily.
What information we hold
When you apply for housing, we obtain information to determine your housing needs. To help us assess your application, we may take up references from other housing providers/private landlords, your mortgage lender (if you own/have owned your own home), the Police, the Probation Service, support workers, social workers, mental health workers and credit reference agencies.
Once you become a tenant, we will also need benefit information, feedback from our contractors about their appointments with you and other aspects of our routine contact with you. We will record information whenever you contact us or use our services and we will note any action taken, for example logging repairs, so that we have a record of what happened. We may also keep photographic records of you to help us identify tenancy fraud.
We might take photographs at events that we organise and host. We may use the images on our website, in brochures and other publicity material (such as newsletters) and provide them to the media for publication in local or national newspapers. We will always give you the option not to be included in a photograph. Where group shots are to be taken there will be a sign warning that photographs are being taken and any individual photographs will only be taken with your consent in writing.
Who the personal information relates to
We collect and hold personal information about:
Customers - This includes current, former and potential customers who live in our properties or use our services and includes members of their family and people associated with them.
Visitors - Visitors to our website and our offices. Anyone who makes a complaint or enquiry to Housing Services.
How we use our records
We keep records to allow us to:
- Make allocations of accommodation
- Manage tenancies including collecting rent and service charges
- Provide a repairs and maintenance service
- Monitoring and ensuring that our homes meet our health and safety obligations
- Ensuring that people are safe when working for us or on our behalf
- Offer help with debts and benefits
- Keep in touch with our customers, understand your needs and preferences and invite you to events
- Prevent and detect crime and resolve disputes
- Prevent and detect fraud and money laundering
- Promote safety and the quiet enjoyment of our neighbourhoods and communities
- Engage with customers and make improvements to our products and services
- Promote equality and fair treatment for all our customers
- Provide information (e.g. about products and services) you request from us
- Develop new products and services to meet the future needs of our communities
- Meet our legal obligations, including those owed to our regulators
- Produce statistics and reports to research and plan new services. Statistics are used in such a way that individuals or families cannot be identified from them.
- Assess performance and targets
"Sensitive" personal information
Under the GDPR, certain personal information is classified as “sensitive”. Sensitive data is information relating to physical or mental health, sex life, religious or philosophical beliefs, political opinions, membership of a Trade Union, biometric information, allegations of criminal offences and criminal convictions and offences.
We minimise our holding and use of sensitive categories of personal information but, given the services we provide, there are times when we use it to understand our customers and their needs better, for example when providing accommodation for disabled persons, when resolving neighbourhood disputes involving alleged criminal activity or when helping someone to access other services. When we collect specific sensitive data, we will notify you of how we will use it, including who it may be shared with, and seek your consent to this.
Sharing your information
We will keep your personal information secure and confidential. Our staff have restricted access to personal information on a “need to know” basis. We may share information with contractors, or agencies we work with, such as Social Services, Police, other social landlords when we believe it is in your, or the public’s, interest to do so. We will also disclose information as required by law.
Please be aware:
- We may share your information with Private Registered Providers (e.g. Housing Associations) if you are nominated for one of their properties through the Housing Register.
- We will share the information you provide as part of the CORE return (Continous Recording of social housing lettings and sales). Further details are available at https://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/info/74/housing/375/your_privacy_and_housing
- We will pass information about you to contractors who are working on our behalf so that they are able to contact you. We may provide these contractors with information about you or your home that we feel they need to know to ensure that they are safe in your home or to ensure they give you the best possible service.
- We may pass your contact information to a third party to conduct surveys and research on our behalf, which allow us to gather feedback and improve the services we offer you. The third party will be bound to strict terms and conditions outlined by us and will not share your data with other organisations. Should you choose not to participate in the surveys the third party will securely destroy your data.
- We may share current or forwarding addresses with utility companies and Council Tax offices to ensure billing details are correct.
- If you default on any tenancy / license conditons, we may provide information about you to authorised debt recovery agencies, to enable them to recover the debt. This may affect future applications for tenancies.
- We may share your National Insurance number to verify your Universal Credit application and manage these payments.
- We may also share your National Insurance number to prevent and investigate tenancy and right to buy applications fraud.
Further Information
For further information about your rights under GDPR and where to get advice, please see the Council Full Privacy Statement at http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/contact-us/website/data-protection.aspx.