Self-Build - Privacy Notice

Who we are and what we do

Forest of Dean District Council is the data controller and collects your personal data in order to assess who has registered an interest in self-build. Where requested, to enable the Council to correspond with you regarding relevant Self-build updates.

This notice explains why we ask for your personal information, how that information will be used and how you can access your records.

Any questions regarding our privacy practices should be sent to:

Data Protection Officer (DPO)
Forest of Dean District Council
High Street, Coleford, GL16 8HG
Email: data.protection@fdean.gov.uk
Tel: 01993 861194

Why we need your information and how we use it

The Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act (2015) requires all local authorities in England to maintain a register of individuals and groups interested in acquiring serviced plots of land to bring forward self-build and custom housebuilding projects. The act also requires that local authorities have regard to the register when carrying out planning and other functions.

We need your information to enable the Council to meet the requirements of the Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Act (2015) to hold a register of interested parties and establish demand for self-build plots in the area.

We also need to collect it so that we are able to contact people who are interested in self-build projects/ single building plots.

You can opt out of the sharing or use of this information at any time by contacting Strategic Housing either in writing Forest of Dean District Council, High Street, Coleford, GL16 8HG or council@fdean.gov.uk.

The lawful basis for processing

The Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act (2015) makes it a legal requirement for the Council to maintain a register of anyone who is interested in building their own home. Therefore, holding your information on this register allows us to carry out this as part of the Council’s public task.

At any point in time you may contact us and opt out of being on the register if you have changed your mind about building your own home.

What type of information is collected from you

The Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Regulations (2016) include eligibility criteria for the register, allowing local authorities to set local connection and financial tests and define how the information on the register is held.

In order to administer our services we collect the following information from you:

name
address
email
telephone number
further information which will help us to build a picture of the demand for self and custom build in the Forest of Dean.

We will only ask for personal information that is appropriate to enable us to deliver our services.

Who your information may be shared with (internally and externally)

We may share some information with our other services including:

Your information may be shared with other relevant services within the Council to enable the Council to fulfil its duty to research demand for self-build plots.
We will not normally share your information with organisations other than our partner organisations without your consent; however, there may be certain circumstances where we would share without consent such as where we are required to do so by law, to safeguard public safety, and in risk of harm or emergency situations.

Personal details included on the register will not be made public.

We will not pass identifiable information from the Register onto anyone outside the Council without your written consent.

How long we keep your information (retention period)

The Self-Build register is reviewed every year.

The Council will hold this information for as long as it is required to enable the Council to carry out this public task.

How we protect your Information

We will not transfer your personal data outside the EU without your consent.

We have implemented generally accepted standards of technology and operational security in order to protect personal data from loss, misuse, or unauthorised alteration or destruction.

Please note however that where you are transmitting information to us over the internet this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure.

For any payments which we take from you online we will use a recognised online secure payment system.

We will notify you promptly in the event of any breach of your personal data which might expose you to serious risk.

Your rights

You have rights under the Data Protection Legislations:

to access your personal data
to be provided with information about how your personal data is processed
to have your personal data corrected
to have your personal data erased in certain circumstances
to object to or restrict how your personal data is processed
to have your personal data transferred to yourself or to another business in certain circumstances
you have the right to be told if we have made a mistake whilst processing your data and we will self report breaches to the Commissioner.

How you can access, update or correct your information

The Data Protection law gives you the right to apply for a copy of information about yourself. This is called a ‘Subject Access Request'.

If you wish to see a copy of your records you should contact the Data Protection Officer. You are entitled to receive a copy of your records free of charge, within a month.

In certain circumstances access to your records may be limited, for example, if the records you have asked for contain information relating to another person.

The accuracy of your information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services more quickly. The Council is working to make our record keeping more efficient. In the meantime, if you change your address or email address, or if any of your circumstances change or any of the other information the Council holds is inaccurate or out of date, please email us or write to us at:

Strategic Housing
Forest of Dean District Council
High Street, Coleford, GL16 8HG
Tel: 01594 810000
Email: customer.services@fdean.gov.uk

Further information

If you would like to know more about how the Council uses your information, or if for any reason you do not wish to have your information used in any of the ways described in this privacy notice, please contact the Data Protection Officer at data.protection@fdean.gov.uk

For more information about data protection please visit: www.fdean.gov.uk/about-the-council/council-data-and-information/data-protection/

For more information about self build: www.fdean.gov.uk/planning-and-building/self-build-housing/

If you are concerned about the way the Council is handling your personal information you can contact the Information Commissioner (ICO): https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

The Council reserve the right to update this privacy notice from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.