Moving with Dacorum

Following a report agreed by the Portfolio Holder for Housing recently there have been some minor amendments to Dacorum Borough Councils Allocation Policy.  The amendments are summarised below.

• The Council has made a commitment to increase accessibility to sheltered accommodation and allows applicants aged 60+ who own their own property, to bid for accommodation on the register. However with housing need growing, it is important that properties are allocated to those without the means to secure themselves suitable alternative housing. Section 2.5 of the Policy has been amended to confirm that supported housing applicants will be exempt from the financial means criteria if it is evident that their financial means is £250,000 or less. Previously, this was £100,000.
• section 3.3 of the policy has been amended to confirm that as with all offers made by Dacorum Borough Council, applicants who are made a direct offer of accommodation will only receive one offer of accomodation.

The amended Housng Allocations Policy is available in the Information section above under 'Housing Strategies and Policies'.  If these changes may affect you or you would like to discuss your application please contact the Council by email Housingneeds.mailbox@dacorum.gov.uk or telephone 01442 228000 and asking for ‘Housing Options’.

You will soon be able to bid on the new Hightown Housing Assocation development - Peregrine Close, Hemel Hempstead, which is nearing completion.  The development is made up of four blocks in total, 2 of which will be available to applicants on our housing register. 

This development has a play area in the centre of the development which is accessible to all residents.

Kestrel Court - a 8 floor block with lift available:

16 one bedroom flats

16 two bedroom flats

Eagle Court - a 3 floor block with NO lift:

8 one bedroom flats 

7 two bedroom flats.

Advertising on these properties will start in the next few days so check your account on a regular basis so you do not miss the opportunity to bid on a property you may be eligible for.

Please note that 4 weeks rent in advance is required  and additional criteria also applies for some properties.

Please pay close attention to the information included on the adverts.

Things to be aware of:

• One parking space is available per flat but it is not allocated.
• Each block has its own communal bin facilities.
• Kestrel court has a lift and a buggy store.
• Eagle court does not have a lift or a buggy store.
• Shared outdoor space.

If you are shortlisted for one of these, the Council's Allocations Team will contact you.

You will soon be able to bid on the Swing Gate Lane, Berkhamsted Development – Corn Mill Court and High Street Berkhamsted, which is nearing completion. The development is made up of:

6 one bedroom flats

3 two bedroom flats

2 three bedroom houses

1 two bedroom house

Advertising on these properties will start later on today so check your account on a regular basis so you do not miss the opportunity to bid on a property you may be eligible for.

Please note that there are some unique features at this development so please pay close attention to the information included in the adverts. 

Things to be aware of:

• All of the properties share communal outdoor space.The houses do NOT have their own gardens.

• There is no outdoor storage space so push chairs, bikes etc. will need to be stored within the properties.

• Parking is available but is not allocated.

• There is no lift within this development.

• Some of the properties have entrances from main High Street and some have access via an entrance at the back and will be statd on the advert.

• The properties share communal bin facilities.

   

  If you are shortlisted for one of these, the Council’s Allocations Team will contact you.

Privacy Policy – Housing (Tenants & Landlord, Property & Place and Strategy)

This privacy notice explains how Dacorum Borough Council (the Data Controller) will use any personal information we collect about you when you use our services.

It has been written to give you a clear explanation of our data processing practices to safeguard you and your personal information

What information do we collect about you?

What information do we collect about you?

• Name, Address, DOB, NI Number and contact details, proof of EU Citizenship

• Names of next of kin

• Financial Information

• Tenancy History

How will we use the information about you?

The information that the Council will collect varies depending on how you use the Council’s Services. We are using the information provided in this case because we have a Legal obligation {GDPR Article 6(1)(c)} “processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the Council is subject” under the Housing Act 1985, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Local Government and Housing Act 1989, Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, Housing Act 1996, Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, Homelessness Act 2002, Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, Housing Act 2004 and the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.  In this case we are collecting personal information so that we can;

• Manage and administer tenancies

• Manage Housing Register

• Manage, administer and maintain the Housing Stock

• Manage and administer temporary accommodation, homelessness referrals

• Provide adaptations to Homes

• Manage Tenant Improvement Panels

• Manage new builds

• Manage and administer supported housing

• Manage private rented sector in Dacorum and undertake enforcement activity

Special Categories of Data

If you’re providing us with special category personal information (such as details about your health) we will be processing this under Article. 9(2) and Article 10. 

• Medical Information

• Disability Information

• Mental Health and Complex behaviours

• Drug, Alcohol, Domestic Abuse Information

• Criminal convictions

   

Processing of Special Category Data is carried out specifically under the following;

Article 6(1) (c) – processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject

Article 9(2) (a) – the data subject has given explicit consent to the processing of those personal data for one or more specified purposes, except where Union or Member State law provide that the prohibition referred to in paragraph 1 may not be lifted by the data subject;

Article 9(2) (b) - processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of social security and social protection law.

Article 10 - Processing of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences

Sharing / Recipients

We may share the information with other recipients for the purposes of carrying out the functions (listed above)                     

We may share your information with;

• Osborne – Repairs and Improvements

• Sunrealm – Heating / Plumbing repairs

• IDIS – Door Entry systems & CCTV

• T&P Fire Equipment Servicing

• Express Elevators – Stair lifts and passenger lift maintenance

• Orion – communal boiler servicing and water treatment

• Professional surveying and engineering consultants

• Experian – Credit Checks

• Other Local Authorities and Housing Associations

• Debt Recovery / Tracing Agencies

• Utilities Companies

• Citizens Advice Bureaux

• Turning Point (Health and Social Care only)

• Herts County Council, NHS, NHS Trusts

• Central Government Departments

• < >

  Border Agency

• < >

  Other internal Council departments; Anti-Social Behaviour Team, Customer Service Unit, Corporate Anti-Fraud, Legal Governance, Finance, Benefits and Council Tax

How long will we keep this information?

We will destroy this personal information in accordance with our Retention Policy.  To determine how long we should keep information, we consider what the legislation states and what is good practice. This means we will securely destroy the information once we no longer need it.  If you would like to know the specific period of time that relates to your personal information please contact foi@dacorum.gov.uk

Security and Location of Data

We will ensure that all personal information is kept securely on servers hosted in the United Kingdom.

Access to all our user information is restricted. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job are granted access to personally identifiable information.

The servers on which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment which is continually monitored and tested.

Individuals’ Rights

You have a right to request a copy of the personal information that we hold about you.  If you would like a copy of some or all of your information, please contact foi@dacorum.gov.uk  in the first instance or visit http://www.dacorum.gov.uk/home/open-data/personal-information

Notification of changes

From time to time it will be necessary to update this Privacy Policy. This is in order to ensure our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.

If at any point we decide to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will notify users. Users will have a choice as to whether or not we use their information in this different manner. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy in force at the time the information was collected.

Cookies

Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information.  This information is used to make your use of the internet better.  For further information on how we use these and how you can control it, please visit  http://www.dacorum.gov.uk/home/cookies-policy

Our Data Protection Policy

We have a General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Policy in place and this can be found here:

Data Protection Officer

Our Data Protection Officer for the purposes of Articles 37 to 39 of the General Data Protection Regulation is the Information Security Team Leader (Legal Governance).  You can contact them by emailing foi@dacorum.gov.uk  or calling 01442 228538.

Working towards the home of your dreams

Imagine moving into a brand new home on a highly desirable new development, surrounded by properties that have been selling for £half a million.  For added security there’s even wireless CCTV on site!  Too good to be true – a fantasy, surely?

Maybe not – we are currently advertising thee, three-bedroom properties, as well as learning new DIY skills and putting them to good use installing some of the fittings in their own new homes.  Dacorum-based Hightown Housing Association (a registered provider of social housing), will be giving three new tenants the chance to move into a ‘custom build’ home on Barratt’s brand new Spencer Park development.   

Spencer Park is close to open country side including the Nickey Line cycleway. Railway links to London are available a few miles away, the industrial area is within walking distance. The M1 motorway is barely ten minutes away and it’s just a short trip to the thriving local town centres in Harpenden, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead. 

If you’d prefer to shop locally, there will be a shop on the development as well as a Sainsbury’s supermarket, a parade of shops and a petrol station close by.  Local primary schools are rated ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.

What’s the catch?  If your application is successful, you would have to attend a five-day course, learning essential skills that you can then apply to the finishing of your home.  The good news is that you would choose your own kitchen, bathroom and tiles before getting stuck in to install them, supervised by Barratt’s trained staff.

This is a unique opportunity to access free training and skills including Site safety, First Aid, use of site equipment such as tile cutters and angle grinders, ‘second fixes’ to properties including tiling and painting. You must be over 18 and complete all the training to be considered for the property, so you would gain these vital skills by working on your own home under supervision.  It is possible that some trainees could also be offered an apprenticeship.