When you contact us about your housing options, homelessness, threatened homelessness or the Housing Register, we will ask you for your personal details and the personal details for your household.
Why we process your data (legal basis for processing)
We have statutory duties (legal obligation) on homelessness and the allocation of housing which are set out in the:
- Housing Act 1996 Parts 6 & 7 (as amended)
- Homelessness Act 2002 and
- Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.
What we use your personal data for
If you contact us about your housing options, homelessness or threatened homelessness or the Housing Register, we will use the personal data you provide to:
- assess your situation
- contact you about your situation and the information you have provided
- ask you to provide documents to prove your homelessness, threatened homelessness or housing circumstances
- contact third parties with your personal information to request further personal information about you
- refer you to third parties and / or other agencies that may be able to help you.
Who we may share your data with
The third parties and / or other agencies that we may refer you to will depend on your personal situation, but may include:
- Social services and related agencies
- NHS medical professionals
- Your doctor or associated doctor's surgery staff
- Housing Associations
- Other departments within Waverley Borough Council
- Citizens' Advice Waverley.
This list is not exhaustive, and we may need to use your data to refer you to other third parties and / or other agencies.
Consent and complying with the law
We will always ask your consent to share your personal information unless we have a legal duty or are permitted to share it without your consent, for example as part of the National Fraud Initiative.
Sometimes third parties may request information on your behalf about your housing application and they must provide your consent to enable us to provide this data.
If you have criminal convictions or offences, we can process relevant personal information for the purposes of complying with the law on housing and homelessness.
The source of the personal data
You are the applicant and are the source of the personal data about you and the members of your household.
We may also gather personal information about you and your household from other sources. Examples include:
- private sector landlords, housing associations, lettings agents
- mortgage lenders
- health services
- children, family and adult services
- education services
- Department of Work and Pensions, Housing Benefit and Council Tax services
- the Police, prisons, probation and youth offending services
- Citizens Advice and voluntary sector organisations.
Who processes your data and who we share it with
Waverley staff involved in the administration and management of the Housing Register, homelessness and housing advice and options will receive and process your data.
We may share information about you relating to your housing options, homelessness or threatened homelessness, housing application, may be shared with third parties. These include:
- private sector landlords
- housing associations
- lettings agents
- health services
- children, family and adult services
- education services
- Department of Work and Pensions, Housing Benefit and Council Tax services
- the Police, prisons, probation and youth offending services
- Citizens Advice and voluntary sector organisations.
Homelessness data for research
We will share data with the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government to evaluate and research homelessness on a national scale. See the Privacy notice for homelessness information for full details.
Transferring your data outside the UK or European Union
We will not transfer the personal data you have provided outside of the UK or European Union, unless this is permitted in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.
How long we keep personal data
We will keep the personal data you have supplied for six years after your housing situation has been resolved and you have not contacted us again in relation to housing or homelessness.
If you apply to join the housing register and you do not renew your application, or contact us about it, we will keep your personal data for six years after the renewal date was due.
If you are a Waverley Borough Council tenant, we will keep your personal information while you are a tenant and destroy it six years after your tenancy ends.
Automated decision making
We will not use the personal data you provide to make any automated decisions.
More information
Right to complain
If you have any worries or questions about how we manage your personal information, please email our Data Protection Officer at dpo@waverley.gov.uk.
For more information about your rights please see refer to our main Privacy notice and data protection
If you are dissatisfied with how we process your personal data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner. Contact the ICO
The address is Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, and Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF.
ICO website
Privacy notice for homelessness information (from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government )