Housing options and homelessness privacy notice

1 Council Contact Details

1.1 North Northants Council
Registered Office:
Sheerness House
41 Meadow Road
Kettering
NN16 8TL

Website:www.northnorthants.gov.uk

2 Information that we hold

2.1 Customers with a housing issue including those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness can access the Housing Options and Homelessness services to obtain advice and assistance in obtaining accommodation. In order to assist customers to resolve their housing circumstances, the Council obtains and records information. This notice explains what we do with the information that either you provide us with when using this service, or which is collected from other organisations as part of the housing options advice and homelessness process.

2.2 The categories of data we collect and process to perform the Housing Options and Homelessness function are:

Names and addresses
Contact details such as telephone numbers and email addresses
Records of correspondence and contact
Relevant information to enable us to establish your housing situation and support you resolve your housing need, including any of the following categories of data, some of which may be special category data:

criminal convictions or proceedings
medical history or health data
gender / race / ethnic origin
current situation, lifestyle and circumstance
financial information including economic status, income and expenditure details (for example the benefits received)
identification documents
visual images, appearance and behaviour
sex life or sexual orientation
religious or other beliefs
family details
employment and/or education details
Identifiers, such as account numbers, NHS number

The Council undertakes an official Rough Sleeper Count on an annual basis as required by Government to assess the number of Rough Sleepers across North Northamptonshire. During the Rough Sleeper Count we will ask for the following categories of data, although individuals are not obliged to provide them and are given on a voluntary basis:

Name
Date of Birth

Any personal data, including special category data provided will be used to understand and assess the needs of rough sleepers, and help referral to support services.

Anonymous data collected will be part of the official rough sleeping count and will provide a snapshot figure of rough sleepers in North Northamptonshire. No personal or special category data that can result in the identification of an individual shall be reported externally.

Your information may also be used for the prevention and detection of crime, including fraud if necessary and only within the realms of data protection legislation.

3 How the information is obtained

3.1 Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you.

3.2 What is the basis for us to process your data?

The Council is authorised to carry out its duties in relation to homelessness and/or the Rough Sleeper Count in the public interest and under the following legislation:

Housing Acts 1985; 1996; 2004 & 2006
Housing Grants, Construction & Regeneration Act 1996
Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977
Homelessness Act 2002
Homelessness Reduction Act 2017
Localism Act 2011

Any special category data is processed for reasons of substantial public interest or on the basis that the data subject has provided consent.

We may also process your information under the following:

The prevention / detection of crime, including false representation in accordance with the Fraud Act.
UK GDPR Article 6 1 (e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.
In respect of Special Categories of Personal Data, UK GDPR Article 9 grounds 2 (h) processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services.
In respect of Special Categories of Personal Data, Data Protection Act 2018 Schedule 1 Part 1, 2 Health or social care purposes and Schedule 1 Part 2 19 processing is necessary for health or social care purposes and safeguarding of economic well-being of certain individuals.

In some circumstances we will need your consent to obtain further information about you, or to share your information with partner agencies. This will enable us to provide you with the most appropriate advice and assistance, or to refer you to another organisation to provide you with further support.

If you choose not to provide us with your personal data, we will not be able to process or assess your homelessness circumstances or provide you with advice and assistance in relation to your housing options.

4 What we do with the information

4.1 We will assess the information you provide, together with additional information we gather to help prevent or relieve your homelessness situation.

Why we collect information about you?

We collect information about you to determine whether you are homeless or faced with homelessness, and to establish what statutory housing duties we owe to you. We also collect information to enable us to provide you with tailored and appropriate advice on your housing options

If appropriate we may also collect information about you to consider and administer your application for both temporary and permanent accommodation.

Other ways we may use your details:

We may also use your information to contact third parties to verify information you have provided or gather further information to complete the assessment of your application.

4.2 Who we will share your information with

We will only share information with other organisations where it is necessary, either to comply with a legal obligation, or where permitted under Data Protection legislation, for example where sharing is necessary for us administer your application for both temporary and permanent accommodation and assess your housing (including homelessness) situation. We may also share your information if there is a public interest or legal obligation to do so, such as the prevention and / or detection of crime, including fraud.

In line with the stated purpose detailed above, we may share information that is given to us with other individuals or organisations such as:

The Police
Community Safety Partnership
Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference
Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements
Housing Providers, Private Landlords, B&Bs, Hotels
Other Local Authorities
Other external or partner agencies e.g. Sunflower Centre, Women’s Aid, Citizens Advice Bureau, Social Services, Probation Service, Department for Work and Pensions, Daylight Centre, NHFT, S2S
Family Members

The Council also provides data on homelessness and rough sleeping to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

We take part in the Continuous Recording of Lettings and Sales in Social Housing in England, otherwise known as CORE, for all new tenancies and have done so since 2004.

CORE provides the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) with details of all new lettings, including personal information for research and statistical purposes.

DLUHC’s Privacy Notice in relation to CORE can be found as part of the letting logs form and copies are available to download.

Any concerns about the use of your personal data in CORE should be emailed to [email protected].

We may share your information internally with our Adult Social Care, Quality Assurance and Safeguarding Service Team, who work collaboratively to support and safeguard the health and wellbeing of our residents. For example, if a safeguarding or wellbeing concern is raised or becomes apparent during the housing options or homelessness process, we may share this information with our Adult Social Care, Quality Assurance and Safeguarding Service team, to see what further support is available to you.

5 How long we keep your information for and how we securely dispose of it after use

5.1 We will only keep your information for the minimum period necessary and in line with our Information Retention Schedule.

The information outlined in this privacy statement will be kept for 7 years after the closure of your application. Unsuccessful applications will also be retained for 7 years.

All information will be held securely and will be securely destroyed when it is no longer required.

5.2 We will securely dispose of your information in line with retention periods.

6 How we store your information

6.1 Your information is securely stored on the council’s systems. Any hard copy files maintained are retained securely within secure filing systems and are only accessible to relevant staff.

7 Your data protection rights

7.1 The law gives you a number of rights to control what personal information is used by us and how we can use it. Please see section 15 of the council’s Corporate Privacy Notice for further information.

7.2 Please be aware that your rights may differ depending on the lawful basis for processing your personal data.

7.3 The right to withdraw consent (if applicable). You can ask that we no longer use your details for this [processing/groups of processing]. If you wish to exercise this right, please contact the Data Protection Officer detailed in section 8.1 below.

8 Who to contact

8.1 If you would like further information about how we use your personal information, or you wish to exercise one of your data rights please visit our website: Requesting personal data | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)

If you wish to complain about the use of your personal information please contact the Data Protection Officer.

8.2 If you are still dissatisfied once you have contacted the Data Protection Officer, you have the right to complain to the ICO.

The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

9 Completion and review dates

9.1 Privacy notices are live documents, which will be updated or revised in line with legislation. This Privacy Notice was last reviewed and updated on 8 June 2022.

Last updated 29 January 2024