Policy paper

Communities for Afghans phase 2: privacy notice for Afghan households

Updated 15 December 2025

1. Information about how we use your personal data

The purpose of this privacy notice is to explain how your personal data will be used by the (UK) Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for the delivery of the Communities for Afghans Phase 2 Scheme (‘the Scheme’).

2. Who we are and what we do

MHCLG is the UK Government department responsible for housing, community cohesion, and local government matters in England. To comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), we are defined as the ‘data controller’ for your personal data, which means that we have overall responsibility for how it is used for the administration of the Scheme.

We work with the (UK) Home Office to deliver parts of the Scheme, but this notice only explains our use of your personal data. Any activities involving your personal data being carried out by the (UK) Home Office will be explained in privacy notices they make available to you.

3. Why we need to use personal data

We need to use your personal data to help you settle in the UK, to ensure that accommodation arrangements made available to you through the Scheme are suitable, and that appropriate support is in place to help you integrate into communities.

The personal data we need to use

For the purpose of the Scheme, we need to use your:

• Full name
• Date of birth
• Gender
• Nationality
• Passport number
• Contact details

Special category personal data

In certain circumstances, we will also need to collect medical or health information about you. For the purpose of UK Data Protection legislation, this is considered ‘special category personal data’ which means that it attracts stricter safeguards than personal data.

We need this information about you so that we can better understand your needs and to make sure that you are matched to a suitable property. Details of your nationality is also considered special category data, if it reveals your racial or ethnic origin.

4. Where we get your personal data from

We receive information about you from the (UK) Home Office and the relevant Local Authority within which your matched accommodation is located.

5. What we use your personal data for

We use your personal data and special category data for the following purposes:

• if we need to contact you
• to match you to a suitable property and Scheme sponsor group
• to facilitate your travel to your matched accommodation; and
• to ensure that you get the support you need

Our lawful basis for using your personal data

We are required to tell you what lawful basis allows us to collect and use your personal data and special category data.

Our use of your personal data is necessary for the performance of a task we are carrying out in the public interest (i.e., administering a resettlement scheme). This meets the lawful basis of Article 6(1)(e) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

To use your special category data, we must identify an additional lawful basis listed under Article 9 of the UK GDPR. This second lawful basis is that it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest (under Article 9(1)(g) UK GDPR). This is further supported by the Special Interest Condition listed at Part 2(b) of Section 6, Part 2, Schedule 1 of the Data Protection: Act (2018); for the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown or a [UK] government department.

6. Who we need to share your personal data with

For the Scheme to operate and for you to be successfully resettled, it is necessary for us to share your personal data and special category data with a number of relevant organisations involved in the Scheme. These include:

• Principal Sponsors – These are organisations working under our instruction to help with the management of the Scheme. Your personal data will need to be shared with the Principal Sponsor responsible for your resettlement.  Principal Sponsors include: The Gulab Sorkh Foundation, The Afghan Welcome Project and The Refugee Council. Each of these organisations are considered data processors to us and we have data processing agreements in place with them.
• Sponsor Groups, who are responsible for supporting your resettlement, following a property offer. Sponsor Groups work on behalf of Principal Sponsors (above) and your personal data and special category data is shared with Sponsor Groups in order for them to support your resettlement and ensure you will be housed in a suitable property.
• UK Local Authorities (LAs) which participate in the Scheme but work separately to us and are considered ‘independent data controllers’. We need to share your personal data with LAs so that they can make welfare checks
• IT suppliers we use for storing your personal and special category data on our behalf

7. Automated decision making (ADM)

ADM is the process where a decision is made by technological systems i.e., using algorithms or artificial intelligence, without any human intervention. We will not be using ADM in our use of your personal data or special category data.

8. Sending or storing data overseas

We will not store or send your personal data or special category data to jurisdictions that do not meet the UK and EU’s data protection standards.

9. The length of time we plan to hold your personal data and special category data

Your personal data will be held for two years after the Scheme has closed, after which time it will be securely destroyed.

10. Your data protection rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have certain data protection rights. In relation to the Scheme, these are to:

• request and receive a copy of personal data about you that we hold
• ask us to have inaccurate or incomplete personal data corrected or completed
• request deletion of your personal data where no legal justification for retention exists
• request suspension of processing your data (e.g. pending verification or rectification)
• make a formal complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK Regulator for Data Protection

11. Complaints and further information

For more information about the Scheme: Communities for Afghans project: MHCLG policy update.

If you’re dissatisfied with the way in which we have used your personal data, raise a complaint via our website.

If you still have concerns about our use of your personal data, raise these with our Data Protection Officer by email at: dpo@communities.gov.uk.

If you are unhappy about our handling of your data protection complaint, you have the right to raise your concerns with the Information Commissioner or calling them on 0303 123 1113.