English Private Landlord survey: Privacy notice

In line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), there are certain things that we need to let you, a research participant of the English Private Landlords Survey, know about how your information will be processed. In this privacy notice, we explain the legal basis for data processing, who will have access to your personal data, ¹  how your data will be used, stored and deleted and who you can contact with a query or a complaint.

What is the legal basis for processing my data?

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is the data controller for this project. This means that they are responsible for deciding the purpose and legal basis for processing data. For this project, the legal basis for processing data under the Data Protection Act (2018) and GDPR is the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.

You can contact DLUHC with any questions about the research. Please contact: EPLS@communities.gov.uk

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) is the data processor for this project.

Who will have access to my personal data?

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) are carrying out this study and will have access to the sample files that contain contact details for the selected participants. Contact details have been obtained from three Tenancy Deposit Protection agencies – Deposit Protection Service (DPS), Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) and mydeposits. NatCen will also have access to your answers to the survey.

We will share your name and address with one of our approved print suppliers in order to send letters inviting you to take part. Approved suppliers are compliant with all of NatCen’s information security policies and data protection legislation.

DLUHC will have access to your personal details as the commissioners of this study.

How will my survey answers be treated?

The results collected are used for research purposes only and no-one looking at the findings will be able to identify you in any way. Your information will be used by DLUHC for the production of statistics only.

Your name and address will be stored separately from your survey answers and we will never pass on your name or address to anyone else outside the organisations named above. Your personal data will be stored securely by the organisations named above, and will be securely deleted when no longer required for the purposes of this project. This is expected to be within 18 months from the time of your interview.

Who can I contact with a query or a complaint?

If you have any questions about how your data will be used, please contact the DLUHC Data Protection Officer:

dataprotection@levellingup.gov.uk or write to: Data Protection Team, Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF.

Under GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ico.org.uk or phone 0303 123 1113 for more information.

Up to the point when we finish data collection in May 2024 you also have to right to have your survey answers deleted. If you have taken part in the survey but would like to withdraw your data, please contact landlordsurvey@natcen.ac.uk with your unique reference number, which can be found at the top of any letter you have received about the survey.