Priority Need for Housing For Survivors of Domestic Abuse

Prior to the passage of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, people made homeless as a result of domestic abuse had to prove they were more vulnerable than the ordinary person in order to access homelessness assistance from councils, unless they were pregnant, had children or had another specified vulnerability. The Domestic Abuse Act amended housing law to deem anyone made homeless by domestic abuse automatically in priority need for temporary accommodation, which came into force in July 2021.

This report looks at how well the change is working and whether survivors’ experiences of making homelessness applications have improved as a result, including a survey of frontline workers from Solace and other domestic abuse and homelessness services.

Solace

2022