This privacy statement explains how Airedale Property Trust (APT) manages the personal information we collect about our social housing tenants. It explains what information we collect, why we need it, how we’ll use it and who we might need to share it with. It also explains how we protect information and your rights to access or correct the information we hold about you.

This statement covers the following topics:

• Who we are and what we do
• The information we collect about you
• How we use your information
• How we share your information
• How we store and protect your information
• How can you access or update your information, or make a privacy complaint

We may update this privacy statement from time to time, to reflect changes to privacy law or our operations. This privacy statement was last updated in May 2025.

Who we are and what we do

APT is the kaitiakitanga of the investment assets of Methodist Mission Northern. As part of this, APT helps address local and central government requirements for housing, residential aged care and specialised housing for other at-risk groups, including people living with disabilities. We provide social housing in partnership with the Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT) and local Methodist parishes as an Accredited Housing Provider under Community Housing Regulatory Authority (CHRA). We also provide property management services for the Lifewise Housing First and Youth Housing programmes.

APT is one of three independent charitable trusts – MMN, The Lifewise Trust (Lifewise) and APT. While each Trust operates independently, the Trusts work together towards one vision of connected, just, and inclusive communities.

The information we collect about you

We need to collect personal information so we can deliver our services. Not all the information we collect is mandatory, but we may not be able to properly deliver the services you really need without it. If you have any concerns about providing us with information, talk to us about it and we can help you understand why we need it.

What information we collect about you

We may collect or create the following information about you:

• General information – your name, contact details (address, email and phone number), date of birth, and emergency contact details
• Identification information – such as your driver’s licence, passport, or birth certificate
• Information about your income – where this is required in order to set up your tenancy agreement
• Information about your tenancy – such as rent details, housing inspections, breaches, eviction notices, Tenancy Tribunal information, and any risks or concerns
• Information about our interactions with you – including communications with you or about you, or feedback or concerns you raise with us about our services
• Information about your use of our website – such as your IP address, device data and cookie data (see below)
• Information relevant to a social housing tenancy – such as personal or health information provided to us by Lifewise, if you are receiving a social housing service

Who we collect your information from

We collect information from you directly, for example when you apply for a tenancy in one of our properties. We also create information about you when we’re delivering services, such as when we complete an incident report about your tenancy.

However, we do collect some information about you from other third parties, where required and usually with your authorisation. We may collect information about you from:

• Lifewise, where necessary to manage services
• a property owner, where necessary to enable them to manage their properties
• your next of kin or whānau, where you have authorised this or where necessary to ensure your safety and wellbeing

If we collect personal information about you from a third party that did not already inform you about this, we will let you know as soon as we can after collecting it, and usually in our next communication with you.

A word about cookies

We use cookies (text files that are placed on your hard disk by our web server) to manage the way you can interact with our website. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser settings to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of our website or apps.

How we use your information

We make sure that your information is used and shared only for the delivery of services, to keep you or others safe, or to manage our relationships with other service providers or funding agencies. We anonymise information before using it for reporting purposes.

We will use your information to:

• deliver the services you need or have requested
• communicate with you about your tenancy
• manage our properties and meet our obligations as a housing provider
• communicate with other agencies involved in providing wraparound services to you (see When we share your information below)
• keep you and others safe
• meet our internal and external reporting requirements, including to our funding agencies (see When we share your information below)
• develop and improve our services and resources, to ensure they are operating well, and meeting the needs of our tenants and stakeholders

When we share your information

In order to meet the purposes set out above, and use your information in the ways we’ve outlined, we must share your information from time to time. We will only ever share your information when, and to the extent, necessary to achieve our purpose.

As part of delivering social housing services, we are required to disclose some personal information about you to MCERT. MCERT regulates NZ’s social housing system and is responsible for funding the housing services we deliver. The personal information we disclose to MCERT varies according to the services you use, but may include your name, gender, date of birth, ethnicity, number of dependents, and information about your use of services. MCERT will use this information in accordance with its privacy statement.

We may also disclose information about you to:

• Lifewise, where the information is necessary to enable Lifewise to deliver social housing and other services to you or your whānau
• your authorised representative, next of kin or whānau, where you have authorised this or where necessary to ensure your safety and wellbeing
• the Police, if we believe this is necessary to keep you or others safe
  • property owners, where necessary to enable them to manage their properties
• Tenancy Services, where necessary to manage your tenancy agreement, meet our legal obligations, or protect our legal interests
• our trusted service providers, including data storage providers
• other third parties, or in other situations, where you have given us your permission to do so, where we have told you we will, or where we are required or permitted by law to do so

How we store and protect your information

We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete, up to date and stored in a secure environment protected from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Your information will be securely stored in APT’s electronic systems, which may include cloud-based systems provided by third party providers. Personal information held in these systems is only accessed by APT staff who are authorised and need to access the information for the purposes specified above.

We retain personal information only for as long as it is needed for a lawful purpose, after which time is securely deleted.

How can you access or update your information, or make a privacy complaint

You have important rights in relation to your information, and we respect these. To make a privacy request, update your information, or tell us about any concerns, please:

• call us on: 09 302 5390
• email us at: lifewise@lifewise.org.nz
• write to us at: Attention: Privacy Officer, Lifewise, PO Box 5104, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142

Accessing or correcting your information

You have the right to ask us for a copy of the information we hold about you, or to ask us to correct it if you think it’s wrong. We will never charge you for making a request.

We will need to verify your identity before releasing or correcting your information, such as by sighting a copy of your driver’s licence or birth certificate. If you ask someone (like a family member) to make a request on your behalf, we will need to see written authorisation from you and we may give you a call to check if we’re unsure. Please understand that all these steps are intended to protect your privacy.

We will always seek to be open with you about the information we hold about you. We will only withhold information from you for limited reasons, and will explain this to you if we do. We will respond to your request as soon as we can, and no later than 20 working days after we receive it.

We will correct factual information you think is inaccurate (such as your contact details) but may need to refuse a correction request if we think the information is accurate (such as housing inspection reports). If we refuse a correction request, we will invite you to give us a statement of correction, which we will attach to the information you dispute.

You can tell us if you have concerns about your information

If you have any concerns about the way we’ve collected, used or shared your information, or you think we have refused a request for information without a good reason, then please let us know using the contact details above and we’ll try our best to resolve them.

If we are unable to resolve your privacy complaint, you have the right to make a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. See www.privacy.org.nz for more information.