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CHOICE BASED LETTINGS SCHEME KNOWN AS B-WITH-US


Privacy Notice for Rental Applicants

 

Introduction

This privacy notice explains how we collect, use, share, retain and protect your personal data when you engage with our choice-based lettings scheme known as B-with-Us. We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected, and this notice outlines our data protection principles and your rights for the purposes of administering applications to the B-with-Us Scheme in line with the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

It is important that you read this policy, together with any other privacy policies which any of the partners may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal information about you, so that you are aware of how and why we are using such information.

All Partners of the Choice Based Letting Scheme known as B-with-Us include:

  • Accent Housing
  • Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
  • Burnley Borough Council
  • Calico Homes Limited
  • Great Places Housing Group
  • The Guinness Partnership
  • Hyndburn Borough Council
  • Irwell Valley Housing Association
  • Muir Group Housing Association LTD
  • Onward Homes
  • Pendle Borough Council
  • Places for People LTD
  • Progress Housing Group LTD
  • Regenda Group
  • Rossendale Borough Council
  • Together Housing Association
  • Your Housing Group
  • Calderdale Council
  • Yorkshire Housing
  • Connect Housing
  • Sanctuary Housing
  • Stonewater Housing
  • Home Group

 

Data Protection Principles

There are six overarching principles of the UK GDPR which each Partner will comply with when using your personal information:

  1. Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency: We process your data lawfully, fairly, and in a transparent manner.
  2. Purpose limitation: We collect data for legitimate purposes only and do not process it in ways incompatible with those purposes.
  3. Data minimisation: We collect only the data that is necessary for the purposes outlined in this notice.
  4. Accuracy: We ensure that your data is accurate and kept up to date.
  5. Storage limitation: We retain your data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected.
  6. Integrity and confidentiality: We process your data in a manner that ensures its security.

Accountability: We are responsible for, and able to demonstrate compliance with, these principles. 

 

Why We Collect and Process Information about you.

We collect and process your personal data for the following reasons:

  • To register your application with the B-with-Us Scheme
  • To assess your eligibility for housing
  • To manage our contract and services provided to you in line with your application to the B-with-Us choice-based lettings scheme
  • To provide you with information about available properties
  • To communicate with you regarding your application and tenancy
  • To comply with legal and regulatory requirements
  • To improve our services and address any queries/concerns
  • Keep you informed of, or make suggestions or recommendations to you, about similar services that may be of interest to you

 

What data is collected?

If you register and apply for a rental property, bid on a property, communicate with us, or do business with us, this will result in us collecting personal information about you. We will collect, use, and retain the following types of personal information about you:

  • Contact details such as name, address (including former addresses), email, and telephone numbers
  • Gender
  • National Insurance Number
  • Details of any dependents
  • Employment status and details
  • Financial circumstances including any current or former rent arrears and your eligibility to certain benefits
  • Technical information such as IP address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website
  • Information about how you use our website and services

We will also collect the following “special category” data about you and take extra care (to ensure your privacy rights are protected):

  • Nationality
  • Religion
  • Sexual orientation
  • Whether or not you are subject to immigration control
  • Information about your health including disability information, pregnancy information, and any physical or mental health conditions
  • Criminal offences data including anti-social behaviour and criminal convictions

 

Why do we need this information?

We will only use your personal information in line with data protection regulations. Most commonly, we will use your personal information in the following circumstances:

  • Where we need to perform the contract we have entered into with you
  • Where we need to comply with a legal obligation
  • Where it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest
  • Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests

Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal information other than in relation to sending direct marketing communications to you via email or text message. You have the right to withdraw consent to such marketing at any time.

 

If you fail to provide personal information

If you fail to provide certain information when requested either by law, or under the terms of a contract we have entered into with you, or if you fail to provide that information when requested, this may result in your application for housing being refused.

 

Data sharing

Your information will be shared with the Partners of the B-with-us Scheme that are outlined above and this information sharing is governed by an Information Sharing Agreement in line with data protection regulations, including the UK GDPR.  Your information may also be used for housing management and statistical purposes although individuals will be anonymised, and this information will not directly identify you.  

Where it is legally required or necessary in accordance with data protection law, we may share information with:

  • Our regulator
  • Financial organisations
  • Auditors
  • Our suppliers
  • Survey and research organisations
  • Professional advisers and consultants
  • Police forces, courts, tribunals
  • Professional bodies
  • Central and local government
  • Health and welfare authorities
  • Other Housing Associations, Trusts or Local Authorities

All our third-party service providers and suppliers are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal information for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal information for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

 

Data security

We have appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, used, altered, or accessed in an unauthorised way.

We limit access to your personal information to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties on a need to know basis.  They will only process your personal information upon our strict instruction and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security incidents or breaches and we will notify you and the Information Commissioner’s Office of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.

 

Data retention

We will only retain your personal information for as long as is necessary and to fulfil the purposes we originally collected it for. This includes the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Details of retention periods for different aspects of your personal information are listed below. After this period, we will securely destroy your personal information.

  • Household data will be kept for 7 years after the last activity
  • Housing Register Application will be kept for 2 years after the last activity
  • Messages will be kept for 2 years
  • Attachments (excluding proof of pregnancy) will be kept for 2 years
  • Proof of pregnancy will be kept for 1 year
  • Letters will be kept for 13 months

 

What are your rights?

As the data subject, you have specific rights to the processing of your data. Under the UK GDPR, you have the right to request any personal information that we hold about you by making a “Subject Access Request”.

To make a request for your personal information, please contact 0300 123 2200 or email Together Housing’s Data Protection Team on dataprotection@togetherhousing.co.uk

Individuals also have certain rights regarding how their data is used and kept safe including the right to:

  • Object to processing of personal data that is likely to cause, or is causing, damage or distress;
  • Prevent processing for the purpose of direct marketing;
  • Object to decisions being taken by automated means;
  • In certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed;
  • The right for your personal information to be transmitted electronically to another organisation in certain circumstances;
  • Where the processing of your data is based on your explicit consent, you have the right to withdraw this consent at any time. This will not affect any personal data that has been processed prior to withdrawing consent
  • Claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of the Data Protection regulations

 

Complaints

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, we would ask that you raise your concern with us in the first instance by contacting 0300 123 2200.

Alternatively, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ or write to;

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

 

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We reserve the right to update this privacy notice at any time, and we will inform you of when the updated version is available to view online.