Privacy policy

Our contact details

Name: Chichester District Council

Address: 1 East Pallant, East Pallant House, Chichester PO19 1TY

Phone number: 01243 785166

Email address: housingadvice@chichester.gov.uk

This privacy notice was last updated 1st May 2025

The type of personal information we collect

We currently collect and process the following information:

personal details including your current and any past names, nationality, date of birth, gender and national insurance number
employment details including your current, and previous, employer’s name, contract type, hours of work, pay and deductions
address history including your current and previous addresses, how long you’ve lived there and why you’re leaving, including any other times you’ve lived in temporary housing, slept rough or been homeless
information about certain criminal convictions or prison sentences including information about the offence and the date you were convicted, the length of your sentence (if you've been to prison) and any current bail or licence conditions
personal connections including the names and addresses of any relatives you have living in Arun or elsewhere

Other information that is not essential but optional includes:

physical or mental health information including your doctor or hospital consultant’s details
financial information including your income, benefits received, expenditure, details of any debts, bank and building society details, account balances, savings, any money from inheritance and properties and business you own
support needs including details of any support you are getting or have previously had from support agencies like Citizens Advice Bureau, MIND, SSAFA (the armed forces charity), Christians Against Poverty or other organisations
safety information, for example if you are fleeing domestic violence or if you are worried about any other threats/risks to your safety
ethnicity
sexual orientation
other relevant information, for example if you have any pets that need to be considered or which schools your children attend
preferred contact details, which could be a phone number and/or email address

How we get the personal information and why we have it

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you, for one of the following reasons:

personal details, to identify you
health information, to understand your needs
financial information, to work out how much rent you can afford, whether you have enough money for a deposit and whether you can afford any moving costs
your support requirements, so we can assess your needs
employment details, to see if you have a connection to the area
address history, which helps us to understand how you have come to your current situation, whether there are any issues with rent arrears or if there has been any unacceptable behaviour in your previous addresses
criminal information, to assess your needs and to make sure we protect other people around you if needed
personal connections, to helps us understand what support you have from family or friends in Arun or elsewhere
safety factors, to assess your needs and check any home we offer is safe for you and your family
ethnicity information, for statistical purposes
sexual orientation information, for statistical purposes
other relevant information, to assess your needs
preferred contact so we can contact you, if we have any questions

We may share this information with:

Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), as personal information may be shared for statistical monitoring purposes, which we are allowed to do under the Digital Economy Act 2017
Adult or Children's Social Care for the prevention and detection of crime, or if we feel there is a risk to a child or vulnerable person, under our duty according to the Anti-Social, Crime & Policing Act 2014, Children’s Act 2004, as amended by the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and/or the Care Act 2014
police for the prevention and detection of crime, or if we feel there is a risk to a child, under our duty according to the Anti-Social, Crime & Policing Act 2014, the Crime & Disorder Act 1998 and the Children’s Act 2004, as amended by the Children and Social Work Act 2017.
probation services for the prevention and detection of crime as we have a duty to do this under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998

With your consent we may also share details with the following:

your doctor and other medical professionals
the local health authority
prisons
support agencies
relevant charities
your current landlord
your previous landlord
housing associations or private rental landlords offering a potential home
schools and other education establishments
The Department for Work and Pensions
current or past employers
HM Revenues and Customs
banks/building societies
immigration services and the Border Agency
family members/friends who are supporting you

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information is to execute our public duty.

The use of your personal data is compliant with the following conditions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA2018):

Article 6(1)(c) of the GDPR – It is necessary for us to process your information so we can comply with our legal obligations
Article 6(1)(e) of the GDPR – It is necessary for us to process your information so we can carry out our official functions or public tasks
Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR - It is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests

These articles under the GDPR and the DPA2018 are supported by the following specific legislation:

Housing Act 1985

Housing Act 1996

Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013

Homeless Act 2002

Housing and Regeneration Act 2008

Localism Act 2011

Care Act 2014

Children Act 1989

Housing and Planning Act 2016

Homeless Reduction Act 2017

Under this lawful basis we do not require your consent to process this information but we are required, through this privacy notice, to ensure that you are fully informed of why we are collecting this information and what we will do with it.

How we store your personal information

Your information is securely stored digitally, on the Huume Housing System and backed up on the Council’s local drive.

We keep personal information for 6 years. We will then dispose your information securely as per the Council’s data retention scheme.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.

Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.

Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.

Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.

Your right to object to processing - You have the the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.

Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

Please contact us at gdpr@chichester.gov.uk if you wish to make a request.

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us at gdpr@chichester.gov.uk

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

The ICO’s address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk