Privacy notice – private sector housing

North Somerset Council is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office for the purposes of processing personal data. The information you provide will be held and used in accordance with the requirements of UK and European data protection law. The information will form part of your private sector housing account, and will be held for six years following last contact with you.

Unless otherwise agreed with you, we will only collect the minimum personal data required to deliver the service, which includes household details, name, address, telephone number, National Insurance number, financial information. This information may be obtained directly from or you, or, in order to carry out the functions of parts 1-4 of the Housing Act 2004 North Somerset Council, being a local housing authority, are permitted to use any information that has been obtained in connection with the administration, collection and payment of council tax and housing benefit. This permission is granted by section 237 of the aforementioned Act.

The information will be used to carry out private sector housing functions in accordance with Article 6(1)(e); our official authority under the following acts:

  • Housing Acts 1985-2004
  • Housing Act 2004
  • Rent (Agriculture) Act 1976
  • Protection from Eviction Act 1977
  • Rent Act 1977
  • Local Government and Housing Act 1989
  • Housing Grants, Constructions and Regeneration Act 1996
  • Homelessness Act 2002
  • Housing and Planning Act 2016
  • Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976
  • Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982
  • Public Health Act 1936
  • Public Health Act 1961
  • Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960
  • Caravan Sites Act 1968
  • Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
  • Civil Procedure Rules Part 55
  • Building Act 1984
  • Energy Act 2011
  • Energy Act 2013
  • Environmental Protection Act 1990
  • Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949
  • Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (Section 215)
  • Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012
  • Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013
  • Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014
  • any act extending or amending the same or incorporated therewith or any orders or regulations made there under

We will not use your personal information in a way that may cause you unwarranted nuisance. Failure to provide the information could result in us being unable to assist you with your enquiries, applications for licences, assistance and other services provided by private sector housing.

The information provided may be shared with other organisations such as the police, fire brigade, West of England Care and Repair, Wessex Resolutions CIC, NHS staff, registered social landlords, the court service, bailiffs, charitable organisations who offer support/outreach services, who have demonstrated that they have a lawful and legitimate interest in the information, for the purposes of detecting fraud, criminal activity, fire safety, applications of licences, carrying out enforcement of court proceedings, assisting service users. Your data is never shared or processed outside of the UK.

We may lawfully disclose information to public sector agencies to prevent or detect fraud or other crime, or to support the national fraud initiatives and protect public funds under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. Under the conditions of the Digital Economy Act 2017, we may also share personal data provided to us with other public authorities as defined in the act, for the purposes of fraud or crime detection or prevention, to recover monies owed to us, to improve public service delivery, or for statistical research. We do not share the information with other organisations for commercial purposes.

You have the right to see the personal data we process about you, as well as the right of objection, rectification and restriction (to destruction of records only).

If you have any questions or concerns about the way we process your personal data, contact our Data Protection Officer at DPO@n-somerset.gov.uk