Privacy notices

Housing Privacy Notice

Who we are

South Derbyshire District Council is registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner's Office.

Our address is Civic Offices, Civic Way, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 0AH.

The Council is committed to protecting your privacy when you use our services. This privacy notice tells you what to expect when our Housing department collects personal information. It also explains when and why we collect this information, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others, how we keep it secure and what rights you have in relation to the data we hold about you.

The Housing Department at South Derbyshire District Council is responsible for letting, managing and maintaining the Council’s housing stock (including services to Council tenants, leaseholders, sheltered housing and temporary accommodation residents). We undertake day to day repairs, compliance activity and planned maintenance programmes. The service also delivers new accommodation either directly or via partners (including Housing Associations and wholly owned trading companies). We also manage the provision of housing advice and assistance to residents and the statutory homelessness service. We collect and recover income for the Council’s housing stock, including tenants and leaseholders and for households in temporary accommodation.

How do we collect information from you?

We collect information from you when you fill in any forms on our website Home | South Derbyshire District Council or associated customer portals, when you contact us in writing, speak to us on the phone or face to face or communicate with us by email or any other type of electronic communication. 

What types of information do we collect from you?

Generally the information we hold will have been provided by you (on application or enquiry forms or when we communicate with you), but we may also hold information provided by third parties where this is relevant to your housing circumstances (e.g. from social workers and health professionals, doctors and occupational therapists) as well as information based on our interactions with you.

We will only ask for personal information that is appropriate to enable us to deliver our services in accordance with the Housing Act 1985, 1988, 1996, and 2004, the Homelessness Act 2002 and the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. In some cases, you can refuse to provide your details if you deem a request to be inappropriate. However, you should note that this may impact on our ability to provide some services to you.

We are committed to keeping your personal details up to date and we encourage you to inform us about any changes needed to ensure your details are accurate.

Types of information collected from you include:

  • We keep financial records about the amount of money you have paid us, any amounts outstanding and action taken to recover money you owe.
  • We hold names and dates of birth, photographic ID and information about your previous housing circumstances to assess housing applications and help prevent tenancy fraud and illegal subletting.
  • We hold contact details for you so we can communicate with you and to keep you informed about other services we offer which may be useful to you.
  • We record information about your needs and requirements to ensure our services are accessible, to take account of any support needs in our dealings with you and to improve our communications with you.
  • We record information to assist us in delivering housing management services including reports of antisocial behaviour, complaints and changes in circumstances.
  • We may hold recordings of your telephone calls to us, as some calls to our contact centre are recorded for training and monitoring purposes so we can ensure we’re delivering a good service. Any recordings will be held in accordance with our Document Retention Policy before being erased.
  • We may capture your image on our CCTV systems if you visit an estate, office or community facility which is covered by this facility. Any recordings will be held in accordance with our Document Retention Policy before being erased. This data may be shared with the Police in relation to the prevention or detection of crime or fraud.
  • We may carry out market research and customer satisfaction surveys to help us to monitor our performance and to improve our services to our customers.

How is your information used?

The processing of this information is necessary for compliance with legal obligations primarily under the Housing Acts 1985, 1988, 1996, and 2004, the Homelessness Act 2002, the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 and the Housing Health and Safety Rating System Regulations 2005.

We take your privacy seriously and will only use your personal information to administer your Housing account and to provide services you have requested from us or that we need to provide/enforce. We follow the principles of Data Protection legislation, as well as respecting people’s rights to confidentiality and privacy.

Personal data can include information supplied to us such as:

  • Asking people to fill in their names, addresses and health information on an official form, either online, by phone or in paper form.

We share your information with other Council departments and third party/service delivery partners who deliver services on our behalf.

Personal information which you supply to us and information about other household members* may be used in a number of ways, for example:

  • to make housing decisions
  • for fraud prevention
  • for audit and debt collection
  • for statistical analysis
  • to arrange access for repairs and servicing
  • to ensure ourselves and our contractors are aware of any vulnerability
  • to complete regulatory and statutory returns to government departments
  • nomination to another housing organisation
  • to process mandatory grants

*When you provide information about household members we assume that you do so with their full knowledge and consent.

We may share your information with, and obtain information about you from, central Government agencies, credit reference agencies or fraud prevention agencies. Information provided by you may be put onto a housing register and shared with other organisations to prevent fraudulent claims. We routinely share information with other local authorities, in safeguarding cases and as part of multi-agency meetings. We will not disclose any other information, unless required to do so by law.

We will not sell or rent your information to third parties. We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes

Who has access to your information?

Sharing information with third parties could help us to deal with your claim more quickly. When sharing information, we will comply with all aspects of the Data Protection Act. Where necessary or required, we may share your personal information as follows:

  • With our contractors, in order to undertake repairs, maintenance, compliance or improvement works
  • With third party service providers, in connection with services performed on our behalf. For example, if we use a research company such as BMG Research to carry out a resident satisfaction survey
  • Our relationships with such providers are governed by our contracts with them which include strict data sharing and confidentiality protocols.
  • With landlords, housing associations and trusts, in connection with tenancy references and other enquiries.
  • With community partners in connection with the delivery of co-ordinated local services.
  • With utility companies (and their representatives) and Council Tax Offices, to ensure billing details are correct and to collect payment.
  • With credit reference agencies and debt collection agencies, in connection with some housing applications and in relation to any outstanding charges.
  • With local authorities and Government departments, as necessary for administering justice, or for exercising statutory, governmental, or other public functions.
  • With police and other relevant authorities (e.g. Probation Service, Department of Work and Pensions, HM Revenues and Customs) in relation to the prevention or detection of crime and fraud; the apprehension or prosecution of offenders and the assessment or collection of tax or duty.
  • With other statutory organisations, e.g. Social Services and health authorities, as necessary for exercising statutory functions.
  • With external agencies who provide services in connection with your housing application e.g. Housing partners.

This list is not exhaustive as there are other circumstances where we may also be required to share information e.g. in order to meet our legal obligations. We will use all information held by us for the purposes of law enforcement, regulation and licensing, criminal prosecutions and court proceedings.

Research and Statistics

Anonymised and pseudonymised data may be used for research and statistical purposes. Any data collected may be used for research and statistical purposes relevant and compatible with the purpose that the data was collected for.

What are your rights in relation to personal data we process?

Access: You can request copies of any of your personal information held by the Council.  

Rectification: You can ask us to correct any incorrect information.

Deletion: You can ask us to delete your personal information. The Council can refuse to delete information if we have a lawful reason to keep this.

Portability: You can ask us to transfer your personal data to different services or to you.

Right to object or restrict processing: You have the right to object to how your data is being used and how it is going to be used in the future. 

For further information, please visit the *Data Protection Act 2018* section of our website.

How long will we keep your information for?

We keep and dispose of all records in line with our record retention schedule. Information about this can be found at https://link/retention-schedule/ and will comply with the Data Protection 2018.

What precautions are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of your information?

Your personal data will be stored electronically or in hard copy files as appropriate. The Council uses a variety of different systems to process and store personal data. We are strongly committed to data security and will take reasonable and appropriate steps to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or corruption. We have put in place physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard the information you provide to us. However, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us. We recommend that you take every precaution to protect your personal information.

Keeping your information up to date

We want to ensure any information we hold is accurate. You can help us by promptly informing us of any changes to the information we hold about you.

Under 13s

If you are aged 13 or under, please get your parent/guardian's permission whenever you provide us with personal information.

Where can I get advice and more information?

We want to ensure any information we hold is accurate. You can help us by promptly informing us of any changes to information we hold about you. If you have any worries or questions about how your personal information is handled, please contact our Data Protection Officer by emailing dataprotection@southderbyshire.gov.uk or by telephoning 01283 595795.

For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at:

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

Telephone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 (national rate number).

Email: casework@ico.org.uk.

Further guidance on the use of personal information can be found at www.ico.org.uk.