How we use your personal information for the services provided by the Homefinder Team.
The Council provides services for local communities and the people who live in them. Undertaking this work means that we must collect and use information about the people we provide services to and keep a record of those services. Because we collect and use personal information about individuals we must make sure that they know what we intend to do with their information and who it may be shared with.
We have summarised in this privacy notice some of the key ways in which we use your personal information for the Homefinder Team. This information should be read in conjunction with the Council’s corporate privacy notice
1.Who we are, what we do.
HomefinderRCT administers the Common Housing Register in accordance with the Rhondda Cynon Taf Housing Allocation Scheme 2018.
Applicants seeking to be rehoused in Rhondda Cynon Taf apply to Homefinder RCT and receive an assessment of their housing need based on their circumstances.
Applications are made online, over the telephone or face to face at The Housing Advice Centre, Sardis House, Pontypridd. The HomefinderRCT team will verify each applicant’s details as recorded on their application to ensure that the information provided is correct. HomefinderRCT will confirm the applicants’ priority band following the verification. *
(*There are 4 priority bands A, B, C & D. Band A applicants have been assessed as having an urgent housing need, Band B applicants have been assessed as having high housing need, Band C applicants have been assessed as having in low housing need and Band D applicants have no housing need )
Appropriate priority banding is awarded specific to individual applicant’s circumstances and as part of that process the HomefinderRCT team will gather any evidence required to validate the application and the banding awarded.
2. What and whose personal information do we hold?
We hold information about applicants seeking to be rehoused via HomefinderRCT.
The type of information we collect and use as part of the online application will typically include:
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Contact details, including name, date of birth, NI Numbers, address, telephone numbers and email address.
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Information in respect of the family make up , including all the personel details of the household that will make up the application
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Financial income details
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Any tenancy related debt
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Any medical diagnosis
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Any criminal convictions
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Type and size of accommodation needed (number of beds , any adaptations required etc)
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Clients preferred areas of Housing choice
3. Where does the service get my information from?
Personal information is obtained directly from the person making the application to join HomefinderRCT.
To verify applications information is also gathered from other Council Departments such as Council Tax, the Occupational Therapy Team, Social Services, the Housing Advice Team, Housing Benefit etc.
Information is also gathered and verified with external sources such as Health, Police and Probation services and Support Workers where required.
4. What we will do with your personal information?
The HomefinderRCT Team uses personal information to ensure HomefinderRCT applications are accurate and are processed in accordance with our legal obligations and the Council’s published Housing Allocation Scheme.
5. What is the legal basis for the use of this information?
Data Protection law says that we are allowed to use and share personal information only where we have a proper and lawful reason for doing so.
Our lawful basis for processing this information in order to correctly administer the Common Housing Register in line with the Councils Housing Allocation Scheme Policy is:
To undertake our official Council duties and to satisfy our legal obligations under the following legislation:
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Housing Act 1996
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Homelessness Act 2002
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Housing (Wales) Act 2014
6. Does the service share my personal information with any other organisation?
HomefinderRCT only shares personal information with internal Council Departments and trusted partner organisations that have a mutual interest in complying with a statutory duty or allocating housing as part of the HomefinderRCT process.
The other organisations will be responsible directly for their use of personal information that we share. We would only share personal information if deemed necessary and is reasonably required for the purpose of complying with statutory duties or processing HomefinderRCT application.
Examples of partners we share information with:
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Police
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Health
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Probation Services
Internal council Services:
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Council Tax
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Housing Benefit
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Social Services
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Support worker
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Housing Advice Service
7. How long will my information be kept?
Seven years from initial application date .
8. Your information, your rights
TheGeneral Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) gives you important rights, including the right to access the personal information the services hold about you.
View further details on your information rights and how to exercise them
9. Contact us
If you have any concerns or would like to know more about how the service using your personal information please contact us in one of the following ways:
By email : homefinder@rctcbc.gov.uk
By telephone : 01443 425678
In writing : Homefinder RCT , Public Health, Protection and Community Services, Ty Elai, Dinas Isaf East, Williamstown, Rhondda Cynon Taf CF40 1NY