Housing Foundation (Housing Foundation, we and our) is committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 (Privacy Act).
Personal information you provide to Housing Foundation remains private and is kept secure and confidential, including the identity of anyone who contacts us through this website, (https://www.nzhf.org/) and is collected, held and used in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
By accessing and using our Website and/or otherwise providing personal information to us, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy.
What personal information do we collect?
The information Housing Foundation collects about you depends on the services requested, but may include the following:
- Your contact details. Your name, postal address and other contact details, such as your telephone number and e-mail address.
- Other information about you and your household. Such as your date of birth, ethnicity and household size.
- Financial information. Evidence of your income, debt and expenses. We may also request that you provide us with evidence of your financial position, from your Bank, KiwiSaver and other financial organisations as relevant.
Why do we collect your information?
We collect personal information in order to conduct our charitable activities. This includes contacting you to discuss your application by email, letter or telephone and assessing your eligibility and suitability for our housing programmes.
If your application progresses into one of our housing programmes, we also collect your personal information in order to enter into a legal or contractual agreement with you.
What do we do with your information?
In addition to the purposes set out above, we use your personal information in the following ways;
- To assess your application against Housing Foundation’s criteria.
- To carry out administrative tasks related to your application.
- To enter into a legal or contractual agreement if your application progresses into one of our housing programmes.
- To communicate with you or your authorised representative about our services.
- To help us continually improve our services, we may contact you for research purposes, or invite you to take part in a survey (through our Research Partner). You can unsubscribe at any time, on the application form and by contacting us at office@housingfoundation.co.nz or 0800 4 HOUSING(446 874).
- For any other purpose that may be permitted or required by law.
Who do we share your information with?
- In order to progress your application, Housing Foundation may share information with partner organisations including Banks and Solicitors.
- We may also share information with Third Parties located in New Zealand, such as Iwi and Community Housing Providers where we are managing housing programmes on their behalf. We may continue to share updated information that you provide to us in order to progress your application into one of our housing programmes.
- If you enter our Shared Ownership programme, we may share your contact information with our Construction Partners.
- We may also share personal information with our service providers or advisors where necessary to enable them to provide a service to us, e.g. our IT or marketing companies.
Organisations may also provide us with your information. For example, if we enter into a Shared Ownership agreement, your Bank may send us financial information about you. We will only request information from an organisation if it matches our reason for collecting it.
You will be kept involved throughout the above processes and can withdraw your consent to share information at any time, however, please note that withdrawing your consent to share information may affect Housing Foundation’s ability to progress your application.
Housing Foundation does not rent or sell the information you provide to us with agencies that are not involved in progressing your application.
When do we have a legal obligation to consider sharing your information?
As a registered Community Housing Provider, we have certain legal obligations around information sharing as described below:
Under the Family Violence Act 2018 we would consider sharing your information in order to;
- help ensure a victim is protected from family violence.
- make or contribute to a family violence risk or needs assessment.
- make or contribute to the carrying out of a decision or plan relating to family violence.
We would consider sharing information with an agency or social service practitioner covered by the Act, or may initiate sharing information, if it met the purposes for sharing information as outlined above.
Under the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 we would consider sharing your information in order to;
- prevent or reduce the risk of a person under 18 years being subject to harm, ill-treatment, abuse, neglect, or deprivation.
- carry out various other listed functions related to the care and protection of persons under the age of 18 years.
We would consider sharing information with an agency or social service practitioner covered by the Act, or may initiate sharing information, if it met the purposes for sharing information as outlined above.
If we receive an information sharing request from Oranga Tamariki or the Police, we have a mandatory obligation to provide them with any information we hold that may relate to the safety or wellbeing of a person under 18 years.
We would only share information for the purpose of ensuring the safety of you or someone else and would share your information in accordance with the principles of the Privacy Act.
We will always discuss with you before we share your information, if it is safe and appropriate to do so.
Updating your information
You have the right to request details regarding the personal information we hold on you, however this will require us to verify your identity. You also have the right to request your information is updated and corrected if inaccurate. You can do this by contacting us at office@housingfoundation.co.nz or 0800 4 HOUSING (446 874).
We can refuse your request, subject to exceptions set out in sections 49-53 of the Privacy Act 2020; for example, if the information may breach someone else’s privacy, or if releasing it may endanger someone’s safety. Housing Foundation will respond to a request for information within 20 working days.
How long do we keep your information?
We will keep hold of relevant information for 7 years after you complete our housing programme or, a housing programme that we manage on behalf of other organisations. Relevant information may include rent and bond records, and information relating to you purchasing shares in your home. Please contact us if you wish to find out more about what kind of information we keep.
If your application is unsuccessful, Housing Foundation encourages you to reapply for our housing programme if your circumstances change (for e.g. if your income or debt changes). In order for Housing Foundation to assess your progress and to support any future application, we will retain the following information (as provided in your application) about your household on our database;
- Contact details (name, phone, email)
- Household size
- Amount of debt
- Amount of savings
- Income
Copies of original financial and identity documents provided by you as part of your application will be deleted. If you do not want Housing Foundation to retain the above information, please let us know by contacting us at office@housingfoundation.co.nz or 0800 4 HOUSING (446 874).
What if you choose not to supply us with your personal information?
You have the right to choose whether to provide us with your personal information, however we require certain information in order to assess your suitability for our housing programmes. If you choose not to provide us with this information, we may not be able to consider or progress your application.
Further Information
If you require any further information regarding this Privacy Policy, or any queries relating to your application, please contact us at office@housingfoundation.co.nz or 0800 4 HOUSING (446 874).
If you are unsatisfied with our responses or privacy practices, you have the right to make a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner by contacting them at PO Box 10 094, The Terrace, Wellington 6143, or on 0800 803 909.
Policy Changes
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time by posting an updated version on our Website. Any changes will apply from the date we post the updated Privacy Policy on our Website. If we make any significant changes, we will endeavor to provide you with reasonable notice of such changes through our Website, or via other means such as email. By visiting our Website and/or otherwise providing us with your personal information after such notice period, you will be deemed to have accepted the updates to this Privacy Policy.
Last updated: April 2021.