Section 39 — Housing and Planning Act 2016: Use of information in database

Use of information in database 39 1 The Secretary of State may use information in the database for statistical or research purposes.

2 The Secretary of State may disclose information in the database to any person if the information is disclosed in an anonymised form.

3 Information is disclosed in an anonymised form if no individual or other person to whom the information relates can be identified from the information.

4 A local housing authority in England may only use information obtained from the database—

a for purposes connected with its functions under the Housing Act 2004, b for the purposes of a criminal investigation or proceedings relating to a banning order offence, c for the purposes of an investigation or proceedings relating to a contravention of the law relating to housing or landlord and tenant, d for the purposes of promoting compliance with the law relating to housing or landlord and tenant by any person in the database, or e for statistical or research purposes.

5 For the purposes of paragraph 17 of Schedule 23 to the Finance Act 2011 (which relates to HMRC data-gathering powers), the database is to be treated as being maintained by the Secretary of State.