Privacy Notice

West Lancashire Borough Council

Housing & Inclusion – Housing Register & Lettings – Allocation of Social Housing

Privacy Notice

 

  1. Who We Are

    Housing Options & Lettings, which is part of Housing & Inclusion Service at West Lancashire Borough Council, takes your privacy very seriously and will keep your personal data secure at all times.

     

  2. Your Data

    We will use the personal data you have provided as part of the Homefinder application to:

  • Establish whether you are eligible for housing
  • Ensure that your application is assessed appropriately and that your application is banded based on your personal circumstances.
  • Ensure that you are provided with accommodation which meets your needs and is affordable to you.
  • Help with crime prevention and detection of fraud
  • Provide you with advice and support services
  • Carry out research and improve our services

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

If you do not provide the required information we are unable to process your application.

 

3.  Retention of Information

We will retain the personal data which we hold about you for 7 years from the closure of your application after which time it will be deleted from our systems and any hard copies will be securely shredded. If your application results in a Council Tenancy some of the information from your application will be retained on your tenancy file.

 

4.  Third Parties

We may share your personal data with other Services of the Council, the Police as well as other enforcement agencies as required to promote safeguarding, prevent fraud and identify/deter other criminal activity.

We may also verify the personal data you provide by checking information with Experian, the police, social and welfare services, health professionals, probation services, other council departments, and previous landlords.

If you express an interest in a Private Registered Provider vacancy advertised via HomeFinder, we will share your personal data with the landlord to enable them to consider your application and make tenancy offers.

We provide data on all lettings to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government's Continuous Recording (CORE) system. We will provide a copy of their Privacy Notice when you sign up for a tenancy.

 

5.  Transfer of Data

We will not transfer your personal data to a country outside of the EU.

 

6.  Automated Decision Making

We do not engage in automated decision making using your personal data.