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Housing Services Privacy Notice

Who we are and what we do

The Housing Services are responsible for administering housing needs, housing options and homelessness services within the borough.

This privacy notice explains how we use information about you and how we protect your privacy in the Housing Services Department.

The Housing Services Department is part of Epsom & Ewell Borough Council (EEBC) which is a data controller. We have a Data Protection Officer who makes sure we respect your rights and follow the law. If you have any concerns or questions about how we look after your personal information, please contact the Data Protection Officer, at dpo@epsom-ewell.gov.uk or by calling 01372 732000 and asking to speak to the Data Protection Officer.

As a local authority we have a number of different functions, which are explained in more detail on our Privacy and Cookies page.

What we need

We collect a range of information about you and your households to enable an assessment of a housing needs and/or homelessness application/s. This information may include:

• name
• date of birth
• gender
• martial status
• National Insurance Number
• email & address telephone numbers
• address and address history
• information about your nationality and entitlement to live/work in the UK
• employment details
• information about your criminal record or offending history
• bank details,
• Information on your income and capital
• medical and support information
• sensitive personal data relevant to the application
• details of who else lives with you along with their details.
• optional equal opportunities monitoring information, including information about your age, sex, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, marriage status, gender reassignment, and religion or belief.

The source of the personal data:

For the purposes of administrating your housing needs, and/or homelessness application/s, or to provide advice on your housing situation you are the applicant and are the source of the personal data about you and the members of your household.

Personal information about you relating to you and your household may also  be gathered from other sources such as private sector landlords, housing associations, lettings agents, mortgage lending companies, providers of emergency accommodation, friends and relatives you and your household may have been living with and/or you are happy for us to contact about your situation, health services, Surrey County Council, children, family and adult services, education services, Department of Work and Pensions, Housing Benefit and Council Tax services, Job Centre Plus, Ministry of Defence, the Police, prisons, probation, youth offending services, secure training units, employers, banks, building societies, other financial institutions where you may have money invested, East Surrey Outreach Service, the Employment, Training and Housing Options Service, Citizen Advice Bureau and other voluntary sector organisations.

Why we need it

Housing Services have statutory duties under the housing and homelessness legislation. We are collecting your data for the purpose of assessing your housing needs and/ or homeless application/s and to make decisions about what legal duties the council may have to you.

Should you contact EEBC for advice on your housing situation, apply for social housing or if you are homelessness or threatened homelessness the personal data provided will be used to:

• assess your situation and assess any applications made for housing;
• contact you about your situation and the information you have provided;
• request you to provide documents to prove your housing situation, homelessness or threatened homelessness;
• contact third parties with your personal information to request further personal information about you;
• refer you to and contact third parties and/or other agencies to help assess your application;
• refer you to third parties and/or other agencies that may be able to help you; and
• refer you to third parties if the Council needs to take action to evict you from emergency accommodation and or to conduct a review you have requested or to seek medical opinion.

We carry out this processing as part of our legal obligation under Housing Act 1996 (as amended).

Will your personal information be shared?

The information that you have provided will be held by us and will only be accessed by authorised council employees.

In addition to administering your housing needs and/ or homeless application/s, we are allowed to share data about you with others for a range of reasons.

These include when we have to share your data for legal reasons and might result in your data being shared with:

• the police
• probation
• immigration service
• National Fraud Initiative
• Department for Work and Pensions
• HM Revenue and Customs
• Courts, tribunals and other regulatory bodies
• the Electoral Registration Officer
• the Council’s auditors

We may also use your personal information if it is in your vital interests, where your life is or could be in danger. This will not happen very often, if at all, but it will help to identify and assist individuals whose vital interests are threatened, and /or who need additional support during emergencies or major incidents, for example emergency evacuation.

We will share data about you between council departments so that we can keep your details up-to-date and improve our service to you. We may also share information where we have your prior consent or there is another legal reason for doing so.

If we use a third party to provide you with council services we will pass your details to them in order that they can provide the service. The third party will only be able to use data to provide the services and for no other reason. 
For the purposes of administrating your housing needs, and/or homelessness application/s, or to provide advice on your housing situation, we have a legal power and, in some cases, a legal duty to share your information without your consent with the people and or types of organisations listed below in this Privacy Notice.

Sometimes third parties may request information on your behalf about your housing situation, your housing needs and/or homelessness application/s and they must provide your consent and show they are compliant with the Data Protection Act 2018 (implemented from 25 May 2015) for us to do this. The processing of your personal data is necessary for EEBC to comply with its legal obligations under the law on housing and homelessness.

Recipients and categories of recipients of the personal data:

EEBC staff involved in the administration and management of the housing needs and housing options and homelessness service.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for the purpose of evaluating and researching homelessness nationally. See the MHCLG Privacy Notice on our website.

Information about you relating to your housing situation, your housing needs and/or homelessness application/s may be shared with third parties such as private sector landlords, housing associations, lettings agents, health services, Surrey County Council, children, family and adult services, education services, Department of Work and Pensions, Housing Benefit and Council Tax services, Job Centre Plus, National Fraud Initiative, the Police, prisons, probation, youth offending services, secure training units, contractors that repair the Council’s emergency accommodation, providers of emergency accommodation, debt collection agencies acting on behalf of the Council, East Surrey Outreach Service, the Employment, Training and Housing Options Service, Citizen Advice Bureau, voluntary sector organisations and for the purpose of gathering your feedback as one of the Council’s customers

Processing based on consent

If we are processing your data because you have consented to us doing so you can withdraw that consent at any time by getting in touch with us. Unless there is another legal basis for us to process your data we must stop processing your data when you withdraw consent. This may mean that we can no longer provide services to you.

How long will we keep it for?

Your details will be kept and updated in accordance with our legal obligations and in line with statutory retention periods.

What are your rights?

For full details you rights as a data subject please see our Privacy and Cookies Page  -https://www.epsom-ewell.gov.uk/council/about-council/data-protection/privacy-and-cookies