Tracing Owners of Empty Homes Privacy Notice

This privacy notice is designed to help you understand how we use personal information when delivering our service to trace owners of empty homes and bring them back into use. It includes the services covered, the information we will use to deliver the services, who we will share it with, and how long we will keep it.

The services that are covered by this privacy notice:

Tracing owners of empty homes and bringing them back into use.
Where the owner is deceased, tracing and contacting next of kin to advise that the empty home needs to be brought back into use.
Obtaining up-to-date billing information for Council Tax.

What information we collect, use, and why

Whenever you get in touch with us either in person, by phone or online, we need to collect certain information to ensure we can provide the best possible support. This information helps us identify you, understand your needs, and tailor our services accordingly. We categorise the information we collect into three main types: personal data, special category data, and criminal data.

Personal Data

We collect the following personal data to deliver our services:

Name, address, and contact details: To identify and communicate with you.
Date of birth: To verify your identity and eligibility for certain services.
Date of death - To update records accurately, manage legal and administrative processes, and ensure appropriate handling of benefits and services.
Family relationships and next of kin: To identify and communicate with your closest relatives, manage legal and administrative processes, and ensure appropriate handling of benefits and services.

Sources of Information

We primarily collect information directly from you. However, in certain circumstances we also receive information from:

Central Government Agencies
Other Local Authorities
Health and social care providers
Police and probation services
Members of the public (referrers)
Commissioned partners
Family members

What is your personal information used for?

We use your information:

to assess you or a family member’s needs to deliver a service to you or handle your query
to detect and prevent crime or fraud
in order to improve our service delivery, in certain circumstances we use personal information to create statistics which help us to see how our services are being used and how they should be funded
to monitor the quality of the services we provide and check how our services are performing overall, for example by requesting your feedback
to evidence positive outcomes to funding agencies

Who Do We Share Your Information With?

We share your information only when necessary or required by law. This includes sharing with the following organisations for the reasons outlined below:

Government Agencies (e.g., Department of Health, DWP): To comply with legal obligations, access benefits, and ensure you receive the support you are entitled to.
Local Government (e.g., electoral roll purposes): To fulfil statutory duties, such as maintaining the electoral roll, providing local services, and collaborating with other local authorities to trace empty homes and manage related administrative processes.
Police: To assist in the prevention and detection of crime, and to ensure your safety and the safety of others.
Accredited Genealogy firms: To assist in tracing the ownership and history of empty homes, verifying lineage, and managing legal and administrative processes related to property recovery and utilisation.

By sharing your information with these organisations, we aim to provide you with comprehensive and coordinated support, ensuring your needs are met effectively and efficiently.

Data Processors

We use data processors to support our activities and ensure efficient service delivery. These data processors include:

Estates Research Ltd (genealogy firm): To assist in tracing the ownership and history of empty homes, verifying lineage, and managing legal and administrative processes related to property recovery and utilization.
Lexis Nexis – Tracesmart: To provide comprehensive tracing services, helping to locate individuals and verify their identities for the purpose of managing empty homes.
Call Credit – Retriever: To support tracing activities by providing access to extensive databases and credit information, ensuring accurate identification and contact details.
Companies House: To access company records and verify business-related information, aiding in the identification of property owners and related entities.
Equifax: To provide credit reporting and identity verification services, ensuring accurate and reliable information for tracing and managing empty homes.
Experian: To support tracing and verification processes through comprehensive credit and identity data, aiding in the efficient management of empty homes.
Birth Marriage and Death indices: To verify personal details and lineage, supporting the accurate identification of property owners and their heirs.
Census records: To provide historical data and verify family relationships, aiding in the tracing of property ownership and lineage.
1939 Register: To access historical population data, supporting the verification of personal details and family relationships for tracing empty homes.
Obituaries: To verify death records and identify next of kin, aiding in the management of property recovery and utilisation.
Newspaper archives: To access historical records and verify personal details, supporting the tracing of property ownership and lineage.
Grave deeds: To verify burial records and identify next of kin, aiding in the management of property recovery and utilisation.
Wills and probate: To access legal documents and verify inheritance details, supporting the accurate identification of property owners and their heirs.
Passenger lists: To verify travel records and personal details, aiding in the tracing of property ownership and lineage.
Military records: To access service records and verify personal details, supporting the tracing of property ownership and lineage.

By using these data processors, we aim to enhance our service delivery, ensure the security of your information, and provide you with the best possible support.

Data Controller

We are the Data Controller for this processing.

The Lawful Basis for Processing

Most of the personal information we collect is provided by you. Under Article 6 of the UK GDPR, we rely on the following lawful bases for processing your personal data:

Public Task (UK GDPR Article 6(e)): We need to process your data to perform a task in the public interest or as part of our official functions.

The legislation we rely on when using your personal information to meet our legal obligations or public tasks includes but is not limited to:

Housing Act 2004
Local Government Act 2003
Town and Country Planning Act 1990
Housing Act 1985

International Data Transfers

Personal information is not stored outside of the UK.

Retention Period

We will only use your personal information whilst delivering the service to you and to deal with any questions or complaints that we receive about this unless the law requires us to keep it for a longer period. In practice, this means that your personal information will be retained for the relevant period listed below dependant on our involvement with you:

We will retain your data for 12 months following this process
Data relating to the payment of Council Tax will be retained for seven years from the point of collection.

If we need to use your information for research or reports, your information will be anonymised and any information taken from notes (hand written or typed) during any consultation sessions will be securely destroyed. The information will continue to be used in a summarised and anonymised form in any research reports or papers that are published. The anonymised information in the papers that will be of historic interest and will be held in public archives indefinitely

Your Rights

The UK GDPR provides you with a several rights to control what personal information is used by us and how it is used by us.

Further guidance about these rights can be accessed from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website

If you are not happy about the way your personal data is being used, or you require further information about how we process your personal data, you can contact Council’s Data Protection Team:-

Online: Contact the DPO
By post: Data Protection Officer, The Portal, Wellington Road, Ellesmere Port, CH65 0BA

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office using the following details:

Online: Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
Instant Message: Live Chat
By post: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Phone: 0303 123 1113