Privacy Policy

How we use your personal information

Who we are

The Homemade Homes by Accent brand is used by Accent Housing Limited for the marketing of its shared ownership properties. Accent Housing has its own separate privacy notice which can be found here.

This privacy notice explains how Homemade Homes use your personal information when you:

• buy a new shared ownership home;
• buy a pre-owned shared ownership home;
• buy further shares in your shared ownership home;
• sell your shared ownership home; and
• make an enquiry about a home, from Accent Housing.

The personal information that we collect

We collect the following categories of personal information:

• Name, address, contact details including mobile number and email address.
• Date of birth, gender, marital status, household details.
• Financial details, including your income and any mortgages, loans, credit cards or other financial commitments you may have.
• Employment status.

If you are an Accent Housing customer, we may already hold some of the information listed above. We may also need to consider:

• the type of tenancy or lease you have with Accent Housing, including start date;
• details of any warnings or alerts;
• details of any current or expected debt; and
• (if buying or selling a share of your home) what percentage share of your home you already own.

If you have previously lived in an Accent Housing home and have any outstanding debt, we may take this into consideration when you apply for a home through us

Where we get information from

Some of the information that we collect comes directly from you but we may also need to collect information from other organisations such as:

• credit reference agencies;
• local authorities;
• Help to Buy agents
• solicitors;
• estate agents;
• financial advisors;
• mortgage lenders.

Why we use personal information

We use your information to assess your application/s and whether you can afford a home, including the continued costs once you have purchased. If you are looking to sell or buy further shares in your home, we will use your information to check whether you are able to do this and whether you can afford to do so. We also use your information to manage the legal sales process and carry out any enquiries and checks that may be required such as credit searches and money laundering checks.

We will use your information to deal with any defects or repairs that may be necessary in your home and we may also ask you to take part in surveys to help us understand how happy you are with your home and/or our services.

If you are already an Accent Housing customer, we may use some of the information you provide to us to validate the records we currently hold about you and make sure they are accurate and up to date.

Data protection law allows us to use personal information, but only if we have a proper and lawful reason to do so. We use your information for the following lawful reasons:

• To manage a contract that you have with us or will be entering into with us; this will be your lease and/or your sales contract.
• To meet a legal duty, for example where we need to carry out money laundering checks.
• When it is in our legitimate interests to do something, which includes: asking you to take part in surveys and carrying out checks to make sure you can afford your home.*
• When you give us permission to use your personal information, for example when you agree to receive marketing from us.

*A legitimate interest is where we have a business reason to use your personal information, but even then, it must not go unfairly against what is fair and right for you.

Storing personal information

We will keep your information safe and put appropriate security measures in place to protect it.

If you are unsuccessful with your application for a shared ownership home, we’ll keep your application details for two years. After this time your information will be deleted.

If you are successful with your application, we will keep your information for the duration of your lease and up to seven years afterwards if you sell your home. We may need to keep your information for longer than this though if you still need to settle any outstanding service charges or other debt.

Sharing personal information

We may share your information with your representatives and agents, such as your solicitor, your mortgage lender or your estate agent.

We may share your information with our legal advisors and credit reference agencies. We may also need to share your information with the police or the courts if they are investigating crime or if we have to do so by law.

For details of how your personal information will be used whilst you are living in your home, please see Accent Housing Limited’s privacy notice, which can be found here.

Marketing

If you have given us permission, we will send you information about other homes we think you may be interested in. You have the right to withdraw this permission at any time; please contact us at: info@homemadehomes.com if you wish to do so.

Your rights

You have a right to see or have a copy of your personal information. You also have the right to have any incorrect information we hold about you corrected.

In certain cases you have the right to:

• object to how we use your personal information or restrict how we use it;
• have some of the information we hold about you deleted;
• have your information transferred to another organisation.

If you would like to or exercise any of the above rights, or if you are not happy with how we have handled your personal information, please contact our business assurance team at: businessassurance@accentgroup.org.

If you are still unhappy with how we handle your personal information after contacting us, you have the right to complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office at: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/your-personal-information-concerns/

Links to other websites

This website contains links to other websites that we think might be useful to you. If you use these links to leave our website, please refer to the privacy notice on the website you are visiting as we are not responsible for the collection, protection or privacy of any of the information that you give to other sites.

Our cookie policy

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. 

Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorised as necessary are stored on your browser as they as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. 

We also use third-party cookies that help us analyse and understand how you use this website, to store user preferences and provide them with content and advertisements that are relevant to you. These cookies will only be stored on your browser with your consent to do so. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies by using the cookie widget which is displayed as an icon on the bottom right of your screen. But opting out of some of these cookies will have an effect on your browsing experience.