Housing

Housing Services Privacy Notice

City of York Council (CYC) current data protection notification is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) - reference Z5809563. We regularly review this privacy notice, and it was last updated in December 2025.

CYC is committed to ensuring that personal data is handled in accordance with the principles set out in data protection legislation and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

This privacy notice tells you what to expect when Housing Services process your information. However, the information we will process about you will vary depending on our relationship with you and the housing services you use.

CYC is the controller for this information unless we specifically state otherwise in this privacy notice.

You can contact the council’s Data Protection Officer at:

West Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904 555719.

Email: information.governance@york.gov.uk.

This privacy notice should be read in conjunction with other CYC privacy notices that are available in our Privacy Notice and/or CYC policies and procedures.

When appropriate we will provide a ‘just in time’ notice to cover any additional processing activities not mentioned in this document.

How we collect your information

We get information about you from the following sources:

  • directly from you
  • from third parties acting on your behalf such as family member(s), advocates, councillors, MPs, etc
  • from other organisations such as NHS and the Police
  • from our commissioned partners or contractors who undertake work on our behalf

Top of page

What personal data we process and why

We will only process the information that is necessary such as:

  • Contact details e.g. address, email, phone
  • Identity details e.g. name, NI number
  • Financial and employment information
  • Household composition and eligibility criteria
  • CCTV footage and recordings
  • Health, vulnerability, and support needs
  • Ethnicity or religion
  • Sexual orientation
  • Criminal offence and conviction data

Where we ask for your consent:

You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us at housing.serviceimprovements@york.gov.uk.

We use your information to provide our housing services and to enable us to deliver efficient and effective services to you. You can find more about Housing Services online. These include:

  • assessing housing needs and eligibility
  • managing tenancies, leases, and shared ownership
  • homelessness assessments
  • financial transactions (e.g. rent, reimbursements)
  • administering housing schemes (e.g. Right to Buy)
  • service improvement through surveys and consultations
  • providing welfare and support services
  • ensuring suitable accommodation, including adaptations

Where environmental sensors are installed in your property, we will use the data collected from them to provide an insightful overview of the property’s health and condition, to facilitate early identification and proactive resolution of issues that could impact upon your health, safety and well-being. You can also choose to access this information through an “app”. To find out more about this please contact housing.serviceimprovements@york.gov.uk.

Find out more information about how the council uses CCTV in the CCTV Privacy Notice.

When you complete an online form on the council’s website and you have provided your email address, we will send you a copy of your completed online form.

When you make an online payment on the council’s website, you can find details at our Online Payments Privacy Notice.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to support or enhance council services. Where AI is involved in a process that directly affects your interaction with us, we will inform you before your user journey begins. This ensures transparency and helps maintain trust in how we use AI.

Our use of AI complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), including the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, accountability, and accuracy. We conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) where AI systems are likely to result in high risks to individuals’ rights and freedoms, such as automated decision-making or profiling.

If generative AI tools are used, we do not use personal or end-user data to train AI models. This helps ensure compliance with the purpose limitation and data minimisation principles under UK GDPR.

AI for Staff Productivity and Accessibility

Where AI tools are used solely by staff to assist with drafting, research, or accessibility - for example, to improve writing efficiency or summarise information - these uses do not form part of a business process that affects service delivery or decision-making. As such, no specific notification will be provided for these internal productivity uses.

These uses are considered low-risk and do not involve automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects. They are also subject to internal governance and safeguards to ensure responsible use.

Examples include:

  • Drafting internal reports or meeting notes
  • Summarising lengthy documents for quicker review
  • Assisting with spelling, grammar, or formatting tasks

We may use your information to create reports and statistics that are anonymous and cannot be linked back to you, your family or individuals such as:

  • statistical analysis
  • statutory returns
  • audit framework
  • see how the council and its partners are supporting individuals
  • help design better services
  • inform funding decisions

Top of page

Automated decision-making

We do not carry out any automated decision-making without any human intervention such as generating low level arrears letters in Housing Services.

Top of page

Collecting information automatically

Please see our Cookies Policy for further information about the information we collect automatically when you use our website.

Top of page

Children’s information

Where we provide services directly to children or young people, the information in the relevant parts of this notice applies to children and young people, as well as adults.

Top of page

Lawful basis for processing your personal data

Any personal data including special category data and criminal offence data that we process about individuals is done so in accordance with one or more of the following Article 6, 9 and 10 of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

  • Article 6(1)
    • (a) Consent: the individual has given clear consent for the council to process their personal data for a specific purpose
    • (b) Contract: the processing is necessary for a contract the council has with the individual, or because they have asked the council to take specific steps before entering into a contract
    • (c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for the council to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations)
    • (e) Public task: the processing is necessary for the council to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law
    • (f) Legitimate interests: the processing is necessary for the council’s legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party, unless there is a good reason to protect the individual’s personal data which overrides those legitimate interests (this cannot apply if you are a public authority processing data to perform your official tasks)
  • Article 9(2)
    • (a) Explicit consent
    • (b) Employment, social security, and social protection (if authorised by law)
    • (g) Reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law)

This is supported by Schedule1, Part 2 (6) of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the following legal framework:

  • The Equality Act 2010
  • The Housing Acts 1985, 1988, 1996, 2002, 2004
  • Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996
  • Landlord and Tenant Act 1987
  • Localism Act 2011
  • Homelessness Reduction Act
  • Social Housing Act 2023

Where we process personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences, this is also under Article 10 UK GDPR that covers processing in relation to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures. In addition, section 11(2) of the DPA 2018 specifically confirms that this includes personal data relating to the alleged commission of offences, or proceedings for an offence committed or alleged to have been committed, including sentencing.

Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category and criminal offence data require an Appropriate Policy Document (APD) to be in place, which sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. This document explains this processing and satisfies the requirements of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the DPA 2018 and supplements this privacy notice.

Our Appropriate Policy Document provides further information about this processing.

Top of page

How long we keep your personal data

We will only keep your information for as long as it is needed then it will be securely and confidentially deleted or disposed of.

You can find details on how long the council keeps records in the Council Retention Schedule.

Top of page

Data sharing

We will only share your information where it is appropriate to, with:

  • other CYC services
  • other councils, government departments and agencies such as Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for (CORE)
  • other organisations such as NHS and the Police
  • third parties including our data processors, partners or contractors, who undertake work on our behalf
  • internal and external auditors

In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share information.

We will always satisfy ourselves that we have a lawful basis on which to share the information and document our decision-making.

Additionally, we are required under the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended) to transfer records to the City or National Archives (TNA) for permanent preservation. Full consideration will be given to Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation when making decisions about whether such records should be open to the public.

Top of page

Data processors and/or third parties

When we have third parties providing parts or all of our services, systems, software, platforms, applications (apps), and so on for us, we have contracts or agreements in place with them. These include:

Top of page

Transfers of personal data

We do not routinely transfer personal data, special categories of personal data or criminal offence data outside of the UK but when this is necessary, we ensure that we have appropriate safeguards in place and that is done in accordance with the UK data protection and privacy legislation.

Top of page

How we protect your information

We are committed to keeping your information safe and secure. There are several ways we do this, such as:

  • IT security safeguards such as firewalls, encryption, and anti-virus software
  • on-site security safeguards to protect physical files and electronic equipment
  • training for all staff and elected councillors
  • policies and procedures

Top of page

Your rights in relation to this processing

To find out about your rights under Data Protection law, you can go to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

You can also find information about your rights in our Privacy Notice.

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, want to exercise your rights, or if you have a complaint about how your information has been used, please contact us on email: information.governance@york.gov.uk, or on telephone: 01904 555719, or write to:

Data Protection Officer
City of York Council
West Offices
Station Rise
York YO1 6GA

Top of page

Also see

Data Protection Officer

West Offices, Station Rise, York, YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904 555719

Comment on this page