Private Sector Housing Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice is regularly reviewed and may be updated or revised at any time. It was last updated in November 2025. It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes.  

  1. Introduction
  2. What personal data do we collect?
  3. How we use personal data
  4. Legal Basis for processing
  5. Who do we share personal data with?
  6. How long do we keep personal data?
  7. Automated decisions
  8. Your rights
  9. Data Protection Officer.

Introduction

Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in the  Wigan Council Primary Privacy Notice.

This notice provides additional privacy information for Private Sector Housing.

What personal data do we collect?

To carry out activities and obligations as a private sector hosing service we process the following personal data:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Telephone number
  • Email address
  • Date of birth
  • Marital status
  • Civil partnerships
  • How many, and the types of, properties held by a landlord in the borough
  • Tenancy details in respect of privately rented properties, such as occupier name/s, household composition, type and length of tenancy agreement and rent charged
  • Copies of formal notices served in relation to privately rented tenancies
  • Membership held for professional bodies, such as landlord associations
  • Employment details
  • Bank account details
  • Payroll and tax/national insurance status information
  • Income, savings and details of allowable expenses
  • Benefit entitlements
  • Credit history
  • Tenancy rent account history and payment transactions
  • Property ownership details, proof of title and any charges on property
  • Company information such as directors’ information and company registration numbers
  • Photos
  • Audio and video recordings, including body worn camera footage
  • Electronic messages such as texts and emails
  • Case files, incident reports, timeline of events, crime reference numbers.

We also process the following Criminal Offence Data Offences (including alleged offences), criminal proceedings, outcomes and sentences.

How we use personal data

The main purposes for processing your personal data are:

  • To enable the Council to effectively administer and manage financial assistance provided through any of the available (private sector) housing- related grant, loan, or other incentive or assistance schemes. This may include:
    • Assessing your eligibility
    • Notifying you of your entitlement(s), the grant, loan, or other assistance conditions, and the associated responsibilities and obligations of parties involved
    • Processing the grant, loan, or other assistance payments or repayments
    • Liaison and invoicing of contractors
    • Registering a grant or loan against the Local Land Register or HM Land Registry
    • Enforcement related to breach of a grant, loan, or other assistance conditions.
  • To manage and administer matters relating to Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs).  This includes processing personal data to:
    • Assess and determine applications for Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licences under the Housing Act 2004
    • Monitor compliance with licence conditions and housing standards
    • Investigate complaints and take enforcement action where necessary
    • Maintain the statutory public register of licensed HMOs.
  • To enable the Council to effectively administer and manage its enforcement duties with respect to private tenancy-related issues, such as illegal eviction or harassment, empty or hazardous/unsafe properties, or other circumstances where formal enforcement action may be required. This includes processing data to:
    • Provide accurate and appropriate advice to residents concerning private-tenancy related issues, including signposting to relevant external services
    • Help to ensure private landlords or their agents comply with legal obligations and requirements, including licensing of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs)
    • Build and inform any case pertaining to warranted formal enforcement and regulatory actions, or legal proceedings, taken against a landlord or agent, including civil penalties
    • Comply with our statutory or otherwise legal obligations and operate in the public interest.
  • To enable the Council to provide general advice and support, and ad hoc initiatives, to private sector residential landlords and tenants, and to enable research into the private housing sector to support this. This could include:
    • To provide you with updates potentially affecting you as a private landlord or tenant
    • To invite you to events, such as the Landlord Forum or a workshop
    • To help private landlord and tenants understand the support available to them from external sources or organisations, such as from membership of professional landlord associations, governmental bodies, charities,  legal aid and the Private Rented Sector (PRS) Database (with effect from 2026/27)
    • To build up a better understanding of the private rented sector in the borough through collation of data and information for monitoring, business intelligence, market, demographic and statistical research, and service improvement purposes.

Legal Basis for processing

The lawful bases we rely on for processing your personal data are:

  • Where processing is necessary for us to perform a task in the public interest or in the exercise of our official authority
  • Where processing is necessary for us to comply with legal obligation
  • Where processing is necessary for a contract we have with you or because you have asked us to take specific steps before entering into a contract (in relation to the Ethical Lettings Agency)
  • Where you have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose.

For tasks in the public interest or in exercise of official authority or for complying with a legal obligation, the legal gateways include, but are not limited to:

  • Housing Act 1985
  • Housing Act 1988
  • Housing Act 1996
  • Housing Act 2004
  • Housing and Planning Act 2016
  • The Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation and Other Houses (Miscellaneous Provisions) (England) Regulations 2006
  • Renters’ Rights Act 2025
  • Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020
  • Protection from Eviction Act 1977
  • Tenant Fees Act 2019.

The condition we rely on for processing your criminal data is:

Reasons with substantial public interest: Statutory etc and government purposes; preventing or detecting unlawful acts; protecting the public against dishonesty or malpractice; safeguarding individuals at risk.

Who do we share personal data with?

In addition to the general reasons for data sharing described in the Council’s Primary Privacy Notice, we share data with and receive data from the following when required:

  • Other teams within Wigan Council including, but not limited to, Legal Services,  Community Resilience, Housing, Environmental Enforcement, Finance, Adults’ and Children’s Social Care, Council Tax
  • Government departments and agencies including, but not limited to, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, HM Land Registry, the Home Office, HMRC
  • The Police
  • The Judiciary
  • Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
  • Voluntary sector organisations, including, but not limited to, Citizens Advice or Shelter
  • The local provider of the Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme
  • The local organisation awarded with the Legal Aid Agency contract for housing matters
  • Greater Manchester and National Rogue Landlord Databases
  • Private companies, including, but not limited to, contractors
  • Appointed solicitors or legal representatives
  • In relation to HMOs, the world at large through publication of the statutory register
  • Other individuals involved in or with knowledge pertaining to any dispute or case under question.

This is not an exhaustive list.

How long do we keep personal data?

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any future legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

We must continue to retain necessary data in accordance with our corporate records policy to fulfil legal, statutory and regulatory requirements.

Automated decisions

All the decisions we make about you involve human intervention.

Your Rights

More information on how to seek advice to exercise your rights, raise a concern or complain about the handling of your personal data by the council can be found in at Wigan Council Primary Privacy Notice.

Data Protection Officer

If you wish to raise a concern or seek clarification about any aspect of this notice, please contact our Data Protection Officer. Please provide documents to prove your identity along with a description of your concern.

We will respond to all requests within one month.

If you are unhappy with the way that we handle your concern you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (external link).

Document information

Owner: Kathryn Perry, Assistant Director Housing Services

Author: Neil Tonge, Housing Standards Manager

Version and date: V4.0 November 2025