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Home Improvement Loans

How we use your personal information for Property Loans purposes

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 property loans purposes. This information should be read in conjunction with the Council’s corporate privacy notice.

1.    Who we are, what we do.

This privacy notice explains what personal data is collected by RCT Housing Strategy and Investment Division and how and why we use this data.

We help RCT residents and landlords/property owners to access Welsh Government loans to assist in improving the conditions of their properties. Loans are available to owner occupiers to undertake home improvements to make their properties warm, safe and secure. Loans are also available to potential investors to bring empty properties back into use for sale or rent.

2.    What and whose personal information we hold?

 We hold information about you, whether you contact us online, over the phone or face-to-face when applying for a property loan. We will collect personal data about you and other people connected to you if necessary.

The types of information we hold and process will typically include:

  • Name and address
  • Job title and Company Name
  • Contact information including mobile or landline telephone number and email address
  • Date of birth
  • National Insurance Number
  • Proof of identity
  • Bank Account details and Bank Statements
  • Utility bills, local electoral registration
  • Evidence of ownership of property (including Land Registry Title documents), Tenancy Agreements, Business accounts and Self-Assessment details
  • Details of any disability / medical condition
  • Benefit/Financial information including council tax reduction, rent arrears, debts, income and savings, National Non Domestic Rates (NNDR)
  • Details of your property lease
  • Development appraisals to assess financial viability

3.    Where does the service get my information from?

The Service will get this information from the property loan applicant via application forms and other forms relevant to processing a loan or when you make an enquiry with the team

The Service may also receive information from our Partners, such as Robert Owen Community Banking, referrals from other Council departments and also referrals from other Government departments.

The service may also obtain information from sources outlined below (but not limited to):

  • Companies House Search
  • Land Registry Search
  • Information provided by other public sector organisations e.g. referrals by Health, DWP
  • Information provided by private sector organisations e.g. data subject’s solicitors, mortgage provider, agents or employers; private or social landlords
  • Information provided by third sector e.g. Care and Repair Agency
  • Other service areas within the Council eg Council Tax, Housing Benefits, NNDR
  • From surveys that you might complete

4.    What will we do with your personal information?

The personal information provided will be used:

  • To provide pre-application advice
  • As part of our provision of our Pre-purchase and Completion Certificates services
  • To process and administer Building Control statutory function
  • To check with other Council departments such as NNDR, Council Tax, Licensing, Enforcement to assess eligibility
  • To facilitate the assessment and potential approval of your loan application
  • To enable assessment of a loan application made by members of your household/family
  • To make payments to 3rd parties in respect of your loan approval
  • To make payments to you in respect of services provided
  • As part of your appointment for procured services to the Housing Grants team
  • As part of the process of registering of a Legal Charge in respect of your grant award
  • To gather customer feedback information in respect of a loan application, a
  • To contact you in the future for research purposes to enable us to improve the services we offer
  • To provide monitoring data to Welsh Government, which will be anonymised

5.    What is the legal basis for the use of this information?

Data Protection law says that we can use and share personal information only where we have a proper and lawful reason for doing so.

Our lawful basis for processing personal information to meet the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is as follows:

Personal Information:

Article 6 1.(c),(e)  and Article 9 2.(g) - to fulfil our legal and statutory obligations under the following pieces of legislation:

  • Housing Wales (2014) Act
  • Building Act 1984
  • Building Regulations 2010
  • Housing Grants, Construction & Regeneration Act 1996
  • Housing Renewal Grants Regulations
  • Regulatory Reform Order, Private Sector Housing Renewal 2002
  • Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council Private Sector Housing Policy 2014
  • The Electricity and Gas (Energy Company Obligation) Order 2014
  • Energy Act 2016
  • Climate Change & Sustainable Energy Act 2016
  • The Home Energy Efficiency Schemes (Wales)(Amendment) Regulations 2018
  • Planning & Energy Act 2008
  • Well Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015
  • Warm Homes & Energy Conservation Act 2000
  • The Clean Growth Strategy 2018 (BEIS)
  • Fuel Poverty Strategy 2010 (WG)
  • Vulnerable Consumer Strategy 2013
  • Contractual obligations where individuals are required to enter into or performance of a contact

6.    Does the service share my personal information with any other organisation?

The Service may require additional information about you to ensure we are providing you with the correct service and advice for the relevant loan. If, depending on your needs, the Service or Council is unable to assist you, we may refer you to one of our external partners who will be able to provide you with the support you need.

For the Service to undertake its duties in relation to a Property Loan, we are required to share information with the following:

Other Council departments:

  • Council Tax
  • Housing Benefits
  • Licensing
  • Enforcement
  • Legal Services
  • Finance
  • Environmental Health - Public Health and Protection
  • Trading Standards
  • Social Services
  • Planning
  • Community Housing
  • Building Control

Other organisations:

  • Department of Work and Pensions
  • Welsh Government
  • Care and Repair Agency
  • Citizens Advice Agency
  • Robert Owen Community Banking
  • Other Local Authorities
  • Land Registry
  • Health
  • Companies House
  • Mortgage Providers

Other individuals:

  • Local Members, AM’s, MP’s who may be acting on your behalf
  • Anyone representing you such as an agent or legal representative

7.    How long will my information be kept?

We will only keep your personal information for as long as we need it, to provide monitoring data to Welsh Government, and to deal with any questions or complaints that we may receive, this will be for a period of 10 years.

For a Property Appreciation Loan we may need to hold your information for up to 30 years or until your property is disposed of.

8.    Your information, your rights

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) gives you important rights, including the right to access the personal information the services hold about you.

Click here for further information 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: housingstrategy@rctcbc.gov.uk

By telephone: 01443 281136

In writing:               

Prosperity and Development, Housing Strategy and Investment, Sardis House, Sardis Road, Pontypridd, CF37 1DU