Before submitting your application you will be asked to sign a declaration to say that you have read and understood this statement.
This statement explains why we collect personal information, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it and how we keep it secure.
Who are we?
South Tyneside Council is a Local Authority and owns the property of which you are a tenant and is your landlord. South Tyneside is the 'data controller' for your personal information.
South Tyneside Homes is the Arms' Length Management Organisation set up to manage homes on behalf of South Tyneside Council. South Tyneside Homes is the 'data processor' of your personal information on behalf of South Tyneside Council.
South Tyneside Homes is a not-for-profit company that provides housing services on behalf of South Tyneside Council.
South Tyneside Homes also delivers some wider services on behalf of South Tyneside Council, such as area management, street cleansing, welfare services, anti-social behaviour services, and complaints management.
How do we collect information from you as Customer of South Tyneside Council and South Tyneside Homes?
We may obtain information from you via a variety of sources including:
- When you apply for a property with us
- When you ask us to provide you with housing advice
- When you sign-up to become the tenant of a property
- Through on-going contact with you during your tenancy
We will contact you for further information to support your application if required. If we request further information from you, you will be informed why this information is required and how it will be used.
How we will use your information?
We will collect personal information about you and members of your household.
We will ask for your address history, your immigration status, financial circumstances and employment history. We will also obtain landlord references to confirm if you have a local connection to South Tyneside.
By law you must tell us about certain criminal convictions.
We will ask you to provide details about health conditions and disabilities to assess if you are eligible for certain types of accommodation.
We may need to contact third party organisations e.g. Police or health professionals in order to support your application and before an offer is made.
We will anonymise your data to monitor the performance of the South Tyneside Homes Re-housing Service for equality and monitoring purposes and to provide anonymised data to Central Government and collect statistics on homelessness in the UK.
Your rights
Under data protection legislation, you have the right to request access to the information that we hold about you. In certain circumstances you also have the right to:
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object to processing of personal data that is likely to cause, or is causing, damage or distress
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prevent processing for the purpose of direct marketing
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object to decisions being taken by automated means
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have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed.
Retention and disposal of your information
We keep information in line with our retention policy, which is in line with national guidelines for organisations such as South Tyneside Council and South Tyneside Homes. Our retention guidelines can be found on our website.
In some cases the law sets the length of time that information has to be kept.
Your information will only be held for as long as necessary and will be disposed of in a secure manner when it is no longer needed, unless there are exceptional circumstances which require us to retain it for a longer period of time. Information relating to a tenancy or leasehold agreement will be kept for as long as the agreement is active or where money is owed on the account.
The basic history of who has held a tenancy, at which property and when, will be held permanently.
Who has access to your information?
All partner organisations have access to your information. This is done in accordance with legislation and the relevant lettings policy.
Administration of the Choice Based Lettings System is carried out by Civica Services Ltd who is a registered Data Processor with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).
We will ask you in the Declaration if you want someone else to act on your behalf. If you choose to do this we may contact them to obtain further information. It is your responsibility to inform the person that you have given the Authority permission to contact them to discuss your application. We will hold their name and contact details. You can withdraw or change this permission at any time by notifying us in writing.
If new housing organisations join South Tyneside Homes Scheme, we will update our list of partner organisations.
If you are homeless, your information may be used to make a homelessness decision.
We may share your information for the purpose of fraud or crime prevention with third party organisations. We do not require your permission to do this.
How you can access and update your information
It is important that your information is accurate. Please make any changes by updating your online application form. You can access your account by using your application number or National Insurance number.
Please contact the Housing Solutions Team on 0300 1236633, if you are unable to update your information in this way.
If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, we ask that you raise your concern with us in the first instance, by contacting the Data Protection Officer in writing at:
- South Tyneside Council, Town Hall and Civic Offices, Westoe Road, South Shields, Tyne and Wear, NE33 2RL, or
- By e-mail at dataprotection@southtyneside.gov.uk.
Alternatively you can contact the Infromation Commissioner's Office at https://ico.org.uk/
Further information
You can withdraw / refuse consent and update your permissions by contacting our Contact Centre on 0300 1236633, or you can do this in writing or via e-mail.
If you would like to know more about how we use your information or to make a complaint, please contact your relevant housing Authority Data Protection Officer.