Houses in Multiple Occupation Licensing privacy notice

HMO licensing privacy notice

Cherwell District Council Complies with the Data Protection Act and the GDPR and is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as a Data Controller. 

This Privacy Notice explains how personal information is going to be used, what for, who it will be shared with and why.

Why we collect Personal Data about you

We collect and hold personal information about you because the Law, Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004, says we must.

We use this information to:

  • Determine whether the property being applied for is suitable to be licensed under the Act
  • Determine whether the proposed licence holder is a Fit & Proper Person to operate a licensable HMO, as defined by the Act
  • Process the licence
  • Maintain a public register of licensed HMOs as required by the Act and its related Statutory Instrument.

What personal information we collect about you

  • Your contact details
  • Your date of birth

Who we share your data with

We may send a copy of your application form and the plans of your property to Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service as we have a legal duty to consult with them before issuing a licence.

We may also send your name, address to Thames Valley Police to assist them in their legal functions to prevent crime. We may share data with other Councils to help us or them to determine if you are a fit and proper person to be included in the licence. We will share data with other departments within Cherwell District Council to assist us with our legal duties and to detect and prevent crime, these include:

  • Building Control
  • Planning
  • Council Tax
  • Electoral Services
  • Environmental Health
  • Environmental Services
  • Land and Property Gazetteer CDC Version 1 July 2018

We will provide a copy of the information prescribed by law in the form of a public register upon request. We may enter your details on the database of rogue landlords and property agents if you have a banning order issued against you; you have been convicted of a banning order offence; or at least twice within a period of 12 month have received a financial penalty in respect of a banning order offence.

Sometimes we have a legal duty to provide your personal information to other organisations, for example HM Courts Service or HMRC.

How long we keep your data We will only keep your information for as long as we need to so we can give you the service you need, unless we are required to keep the data for legal reasons.

We will retain the information you have provided for the duration of the licence and for five years after licence expiry to help us to comply with our enforcement responsibilities.

Summary of your rights

You have a number of statutory rights to the information we hold on you, which include access. These are explained in the Summary of the data subject’s rights section of our website.  This page also includes the council’s privacy policy.

Alternatively you can request this information by email: informationgovernance@cherwell-dc.gov.uk or by post: The Information Governance Team Cherwell District Council Bodicote House Bodicote Banbury Oxfordshire OX15 4AA