Privacy notice for tenants and buyers of new social housing

How do we use your information?

If your household enters a new social housing tenancy or purchases a social housing property, social housing providers will share your personal information with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for research and statistical purposes only.

How do we get this information?

The information is provided via ‘Submit social housing lettings and sales data (CORE)’, a service funded and managed by MHCLG. It collects information on the tenants or residents, tenancy or sale, and the dwelling itself. Some of this data is personal and sensitive, so MHCLG is responsible for ensuring it’s processed in line with data protection legislation.

Information collected via CORE is shared with other government departments and agencies. It’s shared with the Greater London Authority and the Regulator of Social Housing. Data providers can also access data for their organisations via CORE. Data is only shared for research and statistical purposes.

How does this affect you?

Information sharing will not affect your benefits, services or any treatments you receive. It’s anonymous and handled in accordance with the law. We collect and share your information to help us better understand the social housing market and inform social housing policy.

To find out more…

Social housing lettings and sales data is collected on MHCLG’s behalf. Data providers do not require the tenant or buyer’s consent to provide this information, but tenants and buyers have the right to know how and for what purpose data is being collected, held and used.

Data processing must have a lawful basis. In this case it’s necessary for a task carried out in the public interest meeting a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown, or government department.

You have the right to object, and obtain confirmation that your data is being processed, as well as access your personal data, and have any incorrect personal data corrected.

Information collected via CORE relates to your tenancy, the dwelling you are living in or buying, and your household. Some information may have been provided by you (as a tenant or buyer) when signing the new tenancy or buying your property. Other information has been gathered from the housing management systems of social housing providers.

Collected data will be held for as long as necessary for research and statistical purposes. When no longer needed, data will be deleted in a safe manner. We’re aware some collected data is particularly sensitive. For example:

ethnic group
if previous tenure is a hospital, prison or approved probation hostel support
if household left last settled home because discharged from prison, a long stay hospital or other institution
if referral source is probation or prison, youth offending or community mental health team, or health service

MHCLG publishes data annually, in aggregate form, as part of a report and complementary tables.

For annual lettings data, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/rents-lettings-and-tenancies
For annual sales data, visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/social-housing-sales-including-right-to-buy-and-transfers

Detail-level data is anonymised and protected, minimising identification risk. It's held with the UK Data Archive.

Complaints

If you’re unhappy with any privacy notice aspect, or how we process your information, contact the Department Data Protection Officer: dataprotection@communities.gsi.gov.uk

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/