Who we are
Spelthorne Borough Council collects, uses and is responsible for certain personal information about you. Your privacy is important to us. We aim for full transparency on how we gather, use, and share your personal information in accordance with the Data Protection legislation.
The Government is providing local councils with a range of new investigatory powers which will allow the new reforms under the Renters Rights’ Act to be enforced.
The Council is required to enforce the Renters Rights’ Act. We rely on legal obligation as the lawful basis on which we collect and use the personal data.
The clear basis in law for processing is under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, the Housing Act 2004, and the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 & The Licensing and Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation and Other Houses (Miscellaneous Provisions) (England) Regulations 2006.
Personal data will be collected from landlords, tenants and other stakeholders as part of investigations, enforcement, penalty processes, and statutory data returns.
What we need
In the course of this work the council will collect the personal data of tenants and prospective tenants via a specific form.
We may also obtain personal information from other sources such as from within Spelthorne Borough Council, the Government’s Landlords database.
Why we need it
We will process your personal information in order to comply with the obligations on the council imposed by the legislation.
What we do with it
Your personal information will be treated as confidential, but it may be shared with other Council services in order to ensure our records are accurate and up-to-date, and to carry out our functions. We may share certain personal information with others including relevant teams (eg Housing Options) within Spelthorne Borough Council and national government agencies.
In performing this service, the Council may share your information with other organisations or departments, but only when it is satisfied that it is necessary to perform a public task, or to exercise its statutory duties to do so.
This data sharing enables us to ensure the best service is delivered.
On occasion we may be required to share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law but will not share will not share your personal information, or use it for any other purpose, unless provided for by law.
We will not disclose your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.
Whether information has to be provided by you, and if so why
The provision of the personal data (as set out above) is required from you for us to undertake our obligations under the Renters Rights Act 2025. We will inform you at the point of collecting information from you, whether you are required to provide the information to us.
If you do not provide this information to us, we may not be able to provide a service to you.
How long your personal information will be kept
Your personal information is required to be kept for 6 years following conclusion of any investigation.
You have the following rights:
- you have the right to be informed via Privacy Notices such as this
- you have the right to request access to and to receive a copy of any information we hold about you (including in an electronic format) - to request a copy of this information you must make a subject access request in writing
- if you find that the information Spelthorne Borough Council holds about you is no longer accurate, you have the right to ask to have this corrected
- you have the right - under certain conditions - to ask us to erase your personal data
- you may request that Spelthorne Borough Council stops processing your personal data in relation to any council service (this may delay or prevent us delivering a service to you, we will seek to comply with your request but may be required to hold or process information to comply with our legal duties)
If you require further information about the use of your data or would like to exercise any of the above rights, please contact the data protection officer, whose contact details are below.
If you have any concerns about how this Department or the Council is handling your personal data, these can be raised with the Council's Data Protection Officer:
Spelthorne Borough Council, Council Offices, Knowle Green, Staines upon Thames, TW18 1XB
Email: data.protection@spelthorne.gov.uk
You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). This is an independent body responsible for making sure that organisations comply with Data Protection legislation.
The ICO will always expect you to have raised your concerns with us before submitting a complaint.