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Your Data Rights

What we do with your data

Our Privacy Notice describes the categories of personal data we process and for what purposes. We are committed to collecting and using such data fairly and in accordance with the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1.1 We take your privacy seriously and you can find out more here about your privacy rights and how we collect, use, share and secure your personal identifiable information. This includes the personal identifiable information we already hold about you now and the further personal identifiable information we might collect about you, either from you or from a third party. How we use your personal identifiable information will depend on the products and services we provide to you.


1.2 This Privacy Notice is a public document available when Progress Housing Group or its subsidiaries obtain and use your personal identifiable information. It explains how we and appointed third party organisations/people use your personal identifiable information and it details your rights. We obtain your personal identifiable information in order to conduct our normal business operations as a registered social housing provider.


1.3 Our Data Protection Officer (DPO) provides help and guidance to make sure we apply the law to the processing and protection of your personal identifiable information. Our DPO can be reached by email at dataprotection@progressgroup.org.uk, on our main phone number 0333 320 4555 or by post at Sumner House, 21 King Street, Leyland, Lancashire, PR25 2LW if you have any questions about how we use your personal identifiable information.


1.4 See section 3, Your Privacy Rights, for more information about your rights and how our Data Protection Officer can help you.


1.5 This Privacy Notice provides up-to-date information about how we use your personal identifiable information and now updates any previous information we have published/supplied about using your personal identifiable information. If we make any significant changes affecting how we use your personal identifiable information, we will make changes to this Privacy Notice, and we will contact you to inform you of these changes.

2.1 Where we refer to ‘we’ or ‘us’ in this Privacy Notice, we are referring to Progress Housing Group (the Group).


2.2 The Group is the 'data controller' of your personal identifiable information because we determine the use of this information. As a registered social housing provider, we are regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).


2.3 Progress Housing Group are a 'Group' of companies. In this Privacy Notice, when we refer to ‘Group’, we mean other members of our ‘Group’ of companies, including holding and subsidiary companies. View our group of companies and their ICO References here: https://ico.org.uk/esdwebpages/search (external web link)

Progress Housing Group Limited           Z7945816                               
Progress Housing Association Limited Z7611446
Reside Housing Association Z8893471
Key Unlocking Futures Limited ZA076933
Concert Living Limited ZA469256

3.1 The UK GDPR provides eight rights relating to the use and storage of your personal identifiable information. These are:

  • the right to be informed
  • the right of access
  • the right to rectification
  • the right to erasure
  • the right to restrict processing
  • the right to data portability
  • the right to object
  • rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling.

For further information regarding your rights, see here: https://ico.org.uk (external web link)

3.2 In brief, you have the right to be informed about who is obtaining and using your personal identifiable information, how this information will be retained, shared and secured and what lawful grounds will be used to obtain and use your personal identifiable information. You have the right to object to how we use your personal identifiable information in certain circumstances. You also have the right to obtain a copy of the personal identifiable information we hold about you.

3.3 In addition, you can ask the Group to correct inaccuracies, delete or restrict personal identifiable information or ask for some of your personal identifiable information to be provided to someone else. You can make a complaint if you feel the Group is using your personal identifiable information unlawfully and/or holding inaccurate, inadequate or irrelevant personal identifiable information, which, if used, may have a detrimental impact on you and/or has an impact on your rights.

3.4 You can also make a complaint to the data protection supervisory authority. In the UK, this is the Information Commissioner's Office, at https://ico.org.uk (external web link)

3.5 To make enquires for further information about exercising any of your rights in this Privacy Notice, please contact our Data Protection Officer on 0333 320 4555 or via email at dataprotection@progressgroup.org.uk or write to Data Protection Officer, Sumner House, 21 King Street, Leyland, Lancashire, PR25 2LW.

4.1 We use a variety of personal identifiable information depending on the services we deliver to you. For all services, we need to use the following information about you and any occupant of your home:

4.2 Personal information

  • Contact details - name, address, email, home and mobile telephone numbers
  •  Age - date of birth
  • Marital status
  • Identification - information to allow us to check your identity
  • Financial information - information about or for collecting rent and payment for services
  • Online computer identification (IP address) - information recorded when you engage with us by email or use our websites
  • National Insurance numbers - information to carry out functions such as applications for and payments of Universal Credit and/or supporting people contracts
  • Lifestyle and activity information - used in relation to complaints recorded by or about yourself
  • Next of kin, correspondence or emergency contacts
  • References
  • Marketing preferences
  • Photographs of you or your property
  • Marketing materials and photographs taken at/for events
  • Call recordings
  • CCTV footage.

4.3 Special information

  • Health - to support our housing functions and vulnerable customers
  • Race - optional and solely to support our equality monitoring purposes
  • Ethnic origin - optional and solely to support our equality monitoring purposes
  • Religion - optional and solely to support our equality monitoring purposes
  • Sexual life or sexual orientation - optional and solely to support our equality monitoring purposes
  • Convictions or criminal activity - to prevent and detect crime, fraud, and anti-money laundering, and to aid in the prosecution and rehabilitation of offenders
  • We do not collect genetic or biometric data.

4.4 Sometimes, when we ask for your personal identifiable information to enter into a contract/agreement with you (for example, tenancy agreement, lease, housing application, support and/or care plan agreement) or to meet our legal or regulatory duties (for example to process housing applications, Council Tax benefit, equality monitoring and/or government or housing regulator reports), we will not be able to provide some of our housing, support or products or services without this information.

5.1 We obtain personal identifiable information by various means; this can be face to face, by email, telephone, web chats, correspondence and/or by receiving this information from others, for example, a local elected member who is representing you, police, health or social care agencies, benefit agencies.

We can also receive information about you from other people you know and/or are linked to you, for example, relatives, a person nominated to act on your behalf or your legal representative.

5.2 Some further examples of how we may gather your personal identifiable information are set out below:

  • directly from you, for example, when you fill out an application, transfer or mutual exchange form or as part of your right-to-buy application
  • by observing how you use our housing, support, products and services, or those of other members of the Group, for example, from the transactions and operation of your accounts and online services
  • from other organisations such as former housing and support providers, health and social care agencies, local authorities or councils, law enforcement agencies, debt collectors, energy or utility companies, benefit agencies and/or credit reference and fraud prevention agencies, contractors or suppliers that deal with you on our behalf
  • from other people who know you, including joint account holders and people who are linked to you or live in the same community as you with regard to reports of anti-social behaviour
  • from monitoring or recording calls as part of quality and complaints monitoring. We record these calls for training and to ensure the safety of our employees. We will not record any payment card details as part of our accounts and payment operations
  • from our CCTV systems for the prevention and detection of crime or to detect damage/vandalism to our properties and to ensure the safety and security of our employees and individuals obtaining services from us.

6.1 To provide you with our housing services we have a legal duty to confirm a person(s) has the right to reside in the country. We will need to obtain your name, contact details, date of birth, your current and previous countries of residence/citizenship, and a copy of identification documents (such as passport, home office residence papers and driving licence).

6.2 We might also need health and social care information (such as physical, social or mental health information or medication) to help support our customers who have a vulnerability and/or receive a support or care service from us.

6.3 We sometimes need to gather, use and share your personal identifiable information for particular reasons, which are set out in more detail below:

To operate and administer our housing, support and care products and services, including managing and responding to complaints:

a)

Contact and occupation information to help us deliver our repairs, maintenance, support, care and housing services.  For example, our repair contractors and their appointed sub-contractors.

b)

Contact, lifestyle or circumstantial information and financial details may be shared with local authorities, such as local councils. This is shared in relation to processing applications for housing, Council Tax payment, benefits and Universal Credit, providing specific support and care services, safeguarding vulnerable individuals and other necessary provisions and services.

c)

We share information with national government departments, ministries and regulators to gather statistical information about tenancies and allocation of properties.

d)

Contact, lifestyle and circumstantial information may be shared with support and care providers in relation to services they provide to you, on our behalf or in conjunction with ourselves, to support your tenancy or related services.

e)

Contact, lifestyle and circumstantial information, financial information and other information may be shared with law enforcement agencies, such as the police and probation service, to report and manage reports of criminal activity, anti-social behaviour and other criminal activities.

f)

We will share any information required with legal service providers, courts and judicial bodies in order to establish cases relating to breaches of contracts such as tenancy agreements, leases, etc. or to provide advice on legal matters and proceedings.

g)

We record telephone calls, web chats and other contact for training and monitoring purposes with employees, as well as to answer queries or discrepancies.

h)

We share data between our Group subsidiary companies (Progress Housing Association, Reside Housing Association, Concert Living, and Key Unlocking Futures) and our business areas trading as Reside with Progress, Progress Lifeline and Progress Living, where appropriate, to provide related and linked services.

i)

We engage with IT service providers to sometimes process data and to also support the computer systems that hold and process your information.

We use your personal identifiable information in this way because it is necessary to meet the conditions set out in the contract/agreement with you and/or to meet our legal or regulatory obligations. 

To administer payments to and from your accounts or other agencies (e.g. benefits agency):

a)

Contact and occupation information with benefit agencies and financial advisors who help us to process payments to your account(s).

b)

To supply our appointed financial advisors with information to carry out home ownership affordability tests to advise on the suitability of a mortgage.

c)

To prevent financial crime, including money laundering, benefit fraud or illegal subletting.

d)

To support us in the collection of debts and payments.

e)

To provide online or telephone payment services.

f)

To manage Direct Debit payments.

We use your personal identifiable information in this way because it is necessary to meet the conditions set out in the contract/agreement with you and/or to meet our legal and regulatory obligations.

To carry out our duties under health and safety and to support our vulnerable people:

a)

Vulnerability indicators with contractors and sub-contractors to ensure services are tailored to meet your needs.

b)

Caution indicators with contractors and sub-contractors to ensure health and safety measures are in place. We will inform you of this indicator when it will be applied and for how long; for example, a warning marker will be applied when an incident has occurred that results in a threat being made by you to an employee or contractor team.

c)

In handling accident and insurance claims.

d)

In handling legal proceedings arising from claims.

e)

In handling reports to government bodies and regulators.

We use your personal and special identifiable information in this way because it is necessary to meet the conditions set out to meet our legal and regulatory obligations in relation to health and safety.

To report or share information with agencies where it is believed you or another person’s vital interests are at risk:

a)

Where you or another person is at risk of physical, mental or sexual harm or damage.

b)

Where you or another person is in need of being protected as a vulnerable person from significant harm or serious exploitation.

We use your personal and special identifiable information in this way because it is necessary to meet our legal and regulatory obligations and to protect your and others’ vital interests.

To carry out our lettings and home ownership affordability assessments and former tenancy debt decisions about you:

a)

Information you give to us about your former addresses will be used to carry out reference checks on your rental history.

b)

Information about those you are linked with in the proposed agreement or contract with us, for example, a joint tenant or owner.  

c)

Information about how you or the person linked to you has former debts owing to us or other landlords.  

For these purposes, we share and receive information with and from banks, building societies, credit reference and fraud prevention agencies. The credit or fraud prevention agency might add details of our search to the records they hold about you, whether or not your engagement with us proceeds. The use of your information is based on our legal obligations.

To carry out research and analysis to develop and improve our housing, support, care products and services:

a)

We may share contact details and demographic information with research providers, who may contact you to gather feedback and information on our behalf. This is for our use to assess the services we provide and measure customer satisfaction. The research data we receive is anonymised.

b)

We might use your story, photo or video to share positive stories and raise awareness about what it is like to live in our homes and communities and use housing and related services.

 

7.1 We may use automated processes to create a profile of you. We do this to help ensure decisions are made accurately, fairly and efficiently and to offer you services tailored to you.

7.2 Profiling is used primarily to establish related groups of customers and services, used in relation to specific service provision, research and statistical purposes.

8.1 We only use your personal identifiable information where that is permitted by the laws that protect your privacy rights. This will be where:

  • we need to use the information to comply with our legal obligations
  • we need to use the information to perform a contract with you and/or
  • it is fair to use the personal identifiable information either in our interests or someone else's interests, where there is no disadvantage to you - this can include where it is in our interests to contact you about products or services, market to you, or collaborate with others to improve our services
  • where we need to seek your consent (if consent is needed).

8.2 Where we have your consent, you have the right to withdraw it. We will let you know how to do that at the time we gather your consent. See section 12, Keeping You Up to Date, clause 12.2 below, for details about how to withdraw your consent to marketing.

8.3 Special protection is given to certain kinds of personal information that is particularly sensitive. This is information about your health status, racial or ethnic origin, political views, religious or similar beliefs, sex life or sexual orientation, genetic or biometric identifiers, trade union membership or criminal convictions or allegations. We will only use this kind of personal information where:

  • we have a legal obligation to do so (for example, to protect vulnerable people)
  • it is necessary for us to do so to protect your vital interests (for example, if you have a severe and immediate medical need whilst on our premises)
  • it is in the substantial public interest
  • it is necessary for the prevention or detection of crime
  • it is necessary for insurance purposes, or
  • you have specifically given us ‘affirmative’ consent to use the information.

9.1 We will share personal identifiable information within the Group and with others outside Progress Housing Group where we need to do that to make products and services available to you, market products and services to you, meet or enforce a legal obligation or where it is fair and reasonable for us to do so. See section 6, How we use your personal identifiable information for more information.

9.2 Who we share your personal identifiable information with depends on the products and services we provide to you and the purposes for which we use your personal identifiable information. For most products and services we will share your personal identifiable information with our own service providers such as IT, contractors and suppliers, local authorities, community partners, housing related organisations, and crime prevention agencies. See section 6, How we use your personal information for more information on who we share your personal identifiable information with and why.

9.3 Most of the time the personal identifiable information we have about you is information you have given to us, or gathered by us in the course of providing products and services to you. We also sometimes gather personal information from and send personal information to third parties where necessary for fraud prevention or marketing purposes for example, so you can receive the best offers from us and our partners. See section 6, How we use your personal information for more information on who we get your personal information from and why.

10.1 We may need to transfer your information outside the UK to companies, service providers, agents, subcontractors and regulatory authorities outside the UK. We will usually restrict data to those countries where data protection laws provide the same level of protection as those in the UK, but this will not always be practical or possible. There may be times when we need to transfer your data to countries such as the USA where the laws do not provide equivalent protection. Where this is the case, we ensure safeguards are put in place to protect your information and will inform you specifically when collecting that data or before processing the data in that country.

You can find out more information about standard contractual clauses as detailed by the ICO. Visit their website at ico.org.uk (external web link) and search for ‘International transfers’.

11.1 How long we keep your personal information for depends on the services we deliver to you. We will never retain your personal identifiable information for any longer than is necessary for the purposes for which we need to use it or while it can be used to raise a complaint or legal claim in relation to the products or services provided. We have a document retention schedule which sets out how long we keep different types of information for.

12.1 We will communicate with you about products and services we are delivering using any contact details you have given us - for example, by post, email, text message, social media, and notifications on our website.

12.2 Where you have given us consent to receive marketing, you can withdraw consent and update your marketing preferences by contacting us directly.

For contact details, please click here.

13.1 We use cookies to track your use of our websites progressgroup.org.uk. We may use cookies to provide tailored marketing messages when you are logged into our website, if you have given us consent. Read our Privacy and Cookie Policy.

13.2 We also use website analytics to capture data about how our website is used. This data is anonymised, so we cannot identify you individually from your activity.

Subject Access Request

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, you are entitled to know whether we hold information about you, what this is, what it is used for and who it may be disclosed to. If you wish, you can ask for a copy of this data. This is known as a Subject Access Request or SAR.

Progress Housing Group must respond to your request within one month. The period starts when Progress Housing Group is satisfied with your identity and has enough details to locate the information you seek.

For multiple and complex requests, Progress Housing Group can extend the response time by two months. 

Please be aware that you will breach data protection legislation if you are not the data subject or acting on their behalf with written consent and are attempting to gain information that you are not entitled to. Any attempt to obtain personal data unlawfully may lead to prosecution.

ADVISORY NOTE:  Please be advised that a secure link will be sent via email upon submission of the request, whereby the required documents can be uploaded for proof of identification. 

Social Tenants Access to Information Scheme

The Government has introduced a new Social Tenants Access to Information scheme (STAIR). The scheme will set out the information we must publish on our website about how we manage our homes and communities. It also gives you the right to request access information about your home.

The Government is finalising the scheme, and we will provide more details when they become available.

In the meantime, there is lots of information about performancehow we manage complaints, and how we keep your home safe, affordable and in good repair on our website and in your Tenant Annual Review. We can also provide information in accessible formats on request.