Supported Housing Pilot Survey: privacy notice
Published 22 June 2026
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supported-housing-pilot-survey-privacy-notice/supported-housing-pilot-survey-privacy-notice
The following is to explain your rights and give you the information you are entitled to under UK data protection legislation. For the purpose of this notice, the definition of ‘personal data’ is information which relates to and can identify an individual.
1. Who is responsible for your data
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is the data controller. This means MHCLG is legally responsible for how your personal data is used in this survey.
MHCLG has appointed Verian, an independent research organisation, to carry out this research on its behalf. Verian will collect and process survey answers for MHCLG.
Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dpo@communities.gov.uk.
2. Why we are collecting your data
Your survey answers are being collected by Verian on behalf of MHCLG as part of an evaluation to enable us to assess the impact, outcomes and value for money of supported housing.
Your supported housing provider will not share information such as your name, address or contact details, with MHCLG or Verian.
However, some special category data will be collected in the survey, including information about your health, disability, wellbeing and use of health services. The survey may also collect criminal offence data, for example if you answer questions about contact with the police, courts or prison. This information is needed to understand the outcomes and value for money of supported housing.
3. Lawful basis for processing
Data protection legislation sets out when we are lawfully allowed to process your data. The lawful basis that applies to this research is Article 6(1)(e) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), because processing your data is necessary for a task carried out in the public interest (public task).
Your data needs to be processed to understand the outcomes and value for money of supported housing and the wellbeing benefits to users, thereby informing future iterations of this and similar programmes.
Where the survey collects special category data, such as information about health, disability and wellbeing, this will be processed under Article 9(2)(g) of the UK GDPR, because it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.
4. With whom we will be sharing the data
Supported housing providers are distributing the survey, which is being conducted using online and paper questionnaires, on behalf of Verian and MHCLG. No directly identifying information will be shared with Verian by the participating supported housing providers.
All data provided in the answers will be handled securely by Verian and its sub-contractors.
Findings will be reported to MHCLG in an anonymised and aggregated way, and no individual answers will be included in any reports, presentations or other outputs from this research.
5. For how long we will keep the data
Any data you may have provided within your answers to this evaluation will be held by Verian, on behalf of MHCLG, for up to 12 months after the end of the project, which will be in August 2027.
MHCLG may instruct Verian to delete data earlier where appropriate.
6. Your rights – for example, access, rectification, erasure
Regarding your data you have rights that affect what happens to it. You have the right to:
- know that we are using your personal data
- see what data we have about you
- ask to have your data corrected, and to ask how we check the information we hold is accurate
- complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (see ‘10. Complaints and more information’)
In some circumstances you may also have the right to withdraw your consent to us having or using your data, to have all data about you deleted, or to object to particular types of use of your data. We will tell you when these rights apply.
7. Sending data overseas
Verian stores and processes survey data securely in the UK and the European Union for survey-related purposes.
European Union countries provide an equivalent level of protection to the UK for personal data rights and freedoms.
MHCLG stores data in the UK.
8. Automated decision making
We will not use your data for any automated decision making.
9. Storage, security and data management
Verian will store data on secure servers and environments. Verian will delete all individual answers from their systems at the end of the evaluation, which will be August 2027.
10. Complaints and more information
When we ask you for information, we will keep to the law, including the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.
If you are unhappy with the way the department has acted, you can make a complaint.
If you want to make a Subject Access Request, another request in relation to your rights, or if you are not happy with how we are using your personal data, you should first contact dataprotection@communities.gov.uk.
If you are still not happy, or for independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing, contact:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545 745