Council housing privacy notice

Who the data controller is for the information we collect

This Privacy Notice is provided to meet the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). The purpose of this notice is to tell you about what information we collect about you when you use our service, how we use that information, and who we may share it with. The Notice covers the management and allocation of council housing, council garage sites/plots, and all repairs and investment activity.

Leeds City Council is the data controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 2018 and other regulations, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation, which means it determines what your data is used for and why it is collected. The contact details of the data controller are Leeds City Council, Merrion House, 110 Merrion Way, Leeds, LS2 8BB. Leeds City Council work in partnership with a range of contracted suppliers and contractors to provide housing services and repairs who comply with the Data Protection Legislation.

The data we will collect

To deliver the service, we will process the following data:

  • name
  • address
  • telephone number
  • email address
  • gender
  • nationality
  • date of birth
  • National Insurance Number
  • next of kin details
  • emergency contacts
  • advocate and support worker(s)
  • any legal actions taken in relation to housing related behaviour

Special category data

  • ethnicity
  • sexual orientation
  • religion
  • disability

Criminal Offence Data

  • criminal convictions
  • offending history

Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category and criminal offence data require an Appropriate Policy Document (APD) to be in place, which sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. This document explains this processing and satisfies the requirements of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the DPA 2018 and supplements this privacy notice.

How we collect information about you

We collect information about you from you directly (e.g., by asking you to complete one of our forms, via the telephone through our contact centre or face-to-face). We may also obtain your information from other sources such as:

  • your family members, carers or other persons acting on your behalf
  • internal council departments
  • other public authorities
  • NHS Trusts

Why we process your data

We use your information for the following purposes:

  • assessment of customer housing situation
  • equality monitoring
  • financial transactions
  • housing benefits or Universal Credit
  • prevention and detection of crime, including fraud
  • mutual exchanges
  • processing of grant applications for adaptations
  • property alterations (permissions)
  • regulatory, licensing and enforcement functions
  • research, including consultations
  • service delivery
  • service improvement and planning
  • statutory requirements. For example, reporting to Government
  • providing public services
  • resolving a complaint
  • collecting anonymous statistical information

All the data collected will be treated in strict confidence and in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The data provided by you will only be used for the purpose(s) specified.

Lawful basis for processing

We will process your data in accordance with UK GDPR Article 6(1). The processing shall be lawful only if and to the extent that the following applies:

  • Article 6(1)(b) – processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party. This refers to tenancy agreements
  • Article 6(1)(c) – processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject
  • 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

This is supported by the following legal framework:

  • The Equality Act 2010
  • The Housing Acts 1985, 1988, 1996, 2002, 2004
  • Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996
  • Landlord and Tenant Act 1987
  • Localism Act 2011

The lawful basis for processing your special category data is in accordance with the following:

  • 9(2)(b) processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of employment and social security and social protection law;
  • 9(2)(g) - processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.

Article 10 which covers processing in relation to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures.

The processing of special category data under Article 9 and criminal offence data under Article 10 are further supported by the following conditions in Schedule 1, Parts 1, 2, and 3:

  • 1. Employment, social security and social protection
  • 6. Statutory and government purposes
  • 10. Preventing or detecting unlawful acts
  • 11. Protecting the public

All the listed conditions require an Appropriate Policy Document to be in place, which sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. Our Appropriate Policy Document provides further information about this processing and supplements this privacy notice.

Data retention, storage and destruction

Our data retention policies and procedures are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention. This means that your information will be kept in accordance with the council retention schedule. After this, your information will be deleted or archived. Please contact us if you have any specific queries.

Who we can share your data with

We share your data with agencies shown below as follows:

  • Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation
  • contracted suppliers
  • contractors providing housing services and repairs
  • government departments (for example HM Revenue and Customs and Department for Work and Pensions)
  • mutual exchange (Registered providers or other local authorities)
  • other council departments (for example Welfare and Benefits)
  • property alterations (council services, such as Planning and Highways teams)
  • other local authorities

In addition, we will share your personal data:

  • where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject
  • in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person
  • for the purposes of security and prevention of fraud and other criminal activity
  • where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure

Automated decision making

Your data will not be used for any automated decision making, including profiling.

Your rights

The following rights under data protection law are available under the UK GDPR:

  • the right to access – you can ask for copies of your personal data
  • the right to rectification – you can ask us to rectify inaccurate personal data and to complete incomplete personal data the
  • the right to erasure - where you can ask us to erase your personal data
  • the right to restrict processing – you can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data
  • the right to data portability (where you can ask that we transfer your personal data to another organisation or to you
  • the right to object to processing (where you can object to the processing of your personal data) and
  • the right to complain to a supervisory authority – you can complain about our processing of your personal data the right to
  • withdraw consent (to the extent that the legal basis of our processing of your personal data is consent, you can withdraw that consent)

All data rights apply where we process your information based on your consent.

Where we process your information under legal obligation, certain rights do not apply, such as erasure, data portability, objection to processing, and the right to withdraw consent.

Where we process your data under the public task basis, certain rights do not apply, such as erasure, data portability, and the right to withdraw consent.

Where we process your information under contractual obligation, certain rights do not apply, such as the right to object to processing.

These rights are subject to certain limitations and exceptions. You can learn more about your rights through the ‘Your individual rights and how to exercise them’ and the Information Commissioner's Office.

You may exercise any of the above rights in relation to your personal data by writing to us, using the contact details provided below.

When your data gets sent to other countries

The information you provide will not be transferred to another country outside of the UK.

Contact us

Any queries in relation to this Privacy Notice should be forwarded to:

Email: HousingEnquiries@leeds.gov.uk

Data Protection Officer

Aaron Linden
Head of Information Management and Governance - Data Protection Officer
Leeds City Council
Merrion House
110 Merrion Way
Leeds
LS2 8BB

DPO@leeds.gov.uk

The Council privacy notice is available to view here.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with the way in which your information has been handled, you should speak with the specific service in the first instance.

Any data protection complaints about how the council has processed your personal data will be handled in accordance with the council’s Complaints Policy. You can find out how to submit a complaint by visiting this link.

If we cannot resolve your complaint, you can refer to the Information Commissioner if you consider that there has been an infringement of data protection legislation. Further details can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website.

Changes to this notice

We keep our privacy notice under regular review. We will notify you of significant changes to this notice by email or other means as appropriate. This privacy notice was last updated March 2025.