Newly Built Homes - Privacy Notice

About this notice

This privacy notice explains how we collect, use and protect your personal data; and also the rights you have with regards to that data.

The post-occupancy research survey does not collect any personal information about you. This notice only applies to the processing of your personal data for providing you with a voucher as a reward for participating in the post occupancy research conducted through an online survey only. Please refer to Homes England’s main privacy notice for further information on how we process personal data for other purposes.

What is the legal basis for processing my data?

Homes England are the data controller for this project. This means that they are responsible for deciding the purpose and legal basis for processing data. Homes England’s legal basis for processing person data is where “processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller.”

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) is the data processor for this project. They are designing the study and interpreting the data.

Further information, including your legal rights and how your information may be used can be found in the Homes England privacy notice.

Who are Homes England?

Homes England is the trading name adopted by the Homes and Communities Agency, our legal entity.

We are the data controller of the personal data processed. This means that we are responsible for deciding how we collect, use and store your personal data.

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) are our data processor – commissioned on behalf of Homes England to conduct the online survey and send out the vouchers.  

Information we collect

NatCen, on behalf of Homes England collects personal data about you through the online survey.

We collect, store and use the following categories of personal data:

• Email address

How we process your information

We use the personal data stated above for the following purposes:

• To send you the gift voucher on successful completion of the survey

What lawful basis do we have to process your personal data?

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. This is called the lawful basis. Regarding the above purposes, we rely on the following lawful basis:

Consent – You have given us your consent to process your personal data for the specific purpose we have explained to you. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. To do so please contact the Data Protection Officer via the details provided below.

How will the information provided be used?

Data collected will be used for research purposes only. NatCen will not attribute responses to any individual taking part but will report on the overall responses of all the participants. NatCen will also not share any names or personal details in the report. The findings of the research may be published externally. Your data will be held securely and treated confidentially. It will not be disclosed to any external parties. All personal information will be securely deleted 12 months after the end of the project.

You will not receive any junk mail or marketing as a result of doing the survey.

Who is the information shared with?

We use service providers to provide this public consultation. When we use these service providers, it is necessary for us to share your personal data with them.

The main service providers and why they need your personal data are listed below:

Sometimes, we may be legally obliged to provide copies of personal information to other organisations. For example, to provide information to the police, or to a public inquiry. We might not be always able to tell you that we have shared your information in this way, however we will ensure this is only shared in accordance with the law.

Where is your personal data stored and processed?

All personal data is stored and processed by Homes England and NatCen within offices in the UK and using systems that utilise data centres in the UK.

How long do we keep your personal data?

For the purposes of this post occupancy research, Homes England will only retain your personal data for 12 months after the end of the survey (March 2027 estimated).

Your rights

Participation in this research is voluntary. You can withdraw from the survey at any time and do not have to answer any question you do not wish to. When we ask for information we keep to the law, including the 2018 Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation.

Up to the point when we finish data collection (5th January 2026) you also have to right to have your survey answers deleted or rectified. If you have taken part in the study but would like to withdraw or amend your data, please contact newbuilds@natcen.ac.uk with your unique reference number, which can be found at the top of any letter or email you have received about the study.

Under data protection legislation, in certain circumstances you have the following rights over the processing of your personal data as described in this notice:

• Right to withdraw consent
• Right of access to personal data
• Right to correction or rectification
• Right to request deletion; and
• Right to data portability.

Homes England must respond to a request to exercise these rights within one month. If you would like to submit a request, please contact the Data Protection Officer.

Data Protection Officer

The contact details for our Data Protection Officer are as follows:

By post: For the attention of the Data Protection Officer, Homes England, 2nd Floor, The Lumen, St James Boulevard, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5BZ
By email: DPO@homesengland.gov.uk  
By phone: 0300 1234 500

Complaints

If you are unhappy with any aspect of this privacy notice, or how your personal data is being processed, please contact our Data Protection Officer. If you are still not happy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

By Post: Information Commissioner’s Office 
Wycliffe House 
Water Lane 
Wilmslow 
Cheshire 
SK9 5AF 
By email: icocasework@ico.org.uk 
By phone: 0303 123 1113