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The government has published new statutory guidance for councils on giving domestic abuse survivors access to social housing.
The guidance is designed to help local authorities apply domestic abuse legislation in the Housing Act 1996 and has been issued in a bid to make it easier for survivors to move on from refuges and temporary accommodation.
A summary of responses to a consultation on the guidance has also been published.
While the 191 responses broadly supported ministers’ proposals, some councils expressed concern that removing the requirement for survivors to have lived in an area for a minimum length of time before being eligible for social housing could put pressure on areas with more refuges.
People fleeing domestic abuse sometimes move to new areas in order to be a safe distance away from their abusers.
The new guidance “strongly encourages” all local authorities to exempt people living in domestic abuse refuges or other forms of safe temporary accommodation from residency requirements.
And it states that ministers “are aware” that not all local authorities have a refuge in their area.
“We would encourage local authorities, therefore, to consider the scope for working together with neighbouring authorities, taking into account the needs and preferences of victims and their families, to ensure that any increased pressure on social housing does not fall disproportionately on those authorities with refuge provision,” it adds.
The guidance also tells councils to avoid putting domestic abuse survivors under pressure “to accept accommodation which is inappropriate simply in order to increase the throughput for refuges”.
Councils are being told to review their housing allocations policies in light of the new guidance.
Listen to our Housing Podcast episode about domestic abuse:
The ‘Make a Stand’ pledge has been developed by CIH in partnership with Women’s Aid and the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) – made up of Standing Together Against Domestic Violence, Peabody and Gentoo. It was launched under the CIH presidency of Alison Inman in 2018, and then continued by her successor as president Jim Strang.
As of 6 February 2018, 300 organisations had signed up.
As part of the pledge, housing organisations can make four commitments to support people who live and work in housing who are experiencing domestic abuse.
These four commitments are:
* To put in place and embed a policy to support residents who are experiencing domestic abuse
* To make information about national and local domestic abuse support services available on your website and in other places which are easily accessible to residents and staff
* To put in place a HR policy and procedure on domestic abuse, or to incorporate this into an existing policy, to support members of staff who are experiencing domestic abuse
* Appoint a champion in your organisation to own the activity you are doing to support people experiencing domestic abuse
Click here to read a piece by former CIH president Alison Inman explaining more about the campaign