If you would like advice and help on housing options, you can contact Rochdale Council Housing Department on 0845 6024995.
Staying with Family or Friends
Staying with family or friends is often a first option when women flee from violence at home. However, this may not always be appropriate. Women can feel they will be harshly judged by their family, which can increase their feelings of shame and guilt. They are often safe for only a short time, as they may be traced and pressured by their abuser. Also, family or friends may not be able to accommodate a woman for long, especially if she has children.
Renting Privately
Privately rented accommodation is an option in theory, but for many women this is difficult, e.g. for women on benefits, as not all landlords welcome claimants; and for women with children, as many landlords do not accept children. It can be expensive so it may be an option only for women entitled to Housing Benefit through low income or through being on Income Support.
Temporary Accommodation: Refuges and Hostels
Women’s refuges provide safe temporary accommodation. This may be the only option for some vulnerable women who are in immediate danger of being pursued by their abusers. Refuges provide a high level of advice, casework support, practical help, and counselling. (However, most refuges do not take women that have a current drug or alcohol problem.)
Local Authority Duties under the Housing Act 1996
The local authority has a duty to help women who cannot live in their home (permanently or temporarily) because of violence. The Code of Guidance states that a woman should not be considered safe just because she has an injunction against her aggressor. Housing authorities should not require an injunction or police involvement before they offer housing. Women and children seeking rehousing because of domestic violence should apply to be put on the housing register list to get permanent accommodation. They will then be nominated to a local housing association.
Housing people with Immigration Restrictions
The Asylum Act 1996 means that people with immigration restrictions, i.e. people with no recourse to public funds, are no longer entitled to local authority accommodation and assistance under homelessness legislation. Housing officers should establish a woman’s immigration status before making referrals on their behalf (see Section 13 on Immigration). Also, if already housed, those subject to immigration control cannot be allocated a new tenancy.
Avoiding Homelessness: Remaining in the Family Home
It may be possible for the victim of domestic violence to remain in her present home and prevent herself from becoming homeless. If she wishes to remain in her current home, she should ask a solicitor to look at her legal rights to the home. She should consider whether she feels safe enough to stay in the property and try to get her partner to leave. If, as is most likely, he is not willing to do so, she may wish to apply for an occupation order through the courts to exclude him from the house (Domestic violence help available under civil law).
If the woman is living in an extended family that is with her in-laws she should not assume that the head of the household is the owner - it could be her husband. However, getting an occupation order or asking the partner to leave may not be practical in this situation, especially if the rest of the family are also abusing her.
Research has shown that many women do not feel safe staying in their own homes. Even if a woman does want to stay, she may be at risk while getting legal protection and may need alternative temporary accommodation in a refuge or local authority temporary accommodation, whilst she applies for non-molestation or occupation orders.
Through the Safer Home Scheme we can assist women by providing additional security measures that will help them stay in their own homes safely.
Transfer of the Tenancy to the Woman’s Name
If the names of both the woman and her partner are on the tenancy agreement, it is now possible to apply under Part IV of the Family Law Act for the tenancy to be transferred to the woman’s sole name. She can then, if she wishes, use her existing tenancy to access alternative safe accommodation, either through a transfer or through an exchange. It is also possible to arrange reciprocal transfers between local authorities and/or other social landlords; that is, where two authorities each agree to house a woman from the other area in one of their empty properties.
If there are other members of the family living in the household that do not have a right to stay, such as in-laws, they can be asked to leave.
Owner Occupiers
If the matrimonial home is privately owned, the woman needs to find out who is the owner. If it is in her partner’s name, her solicitor needs to serve a notice to the land registry to put a claim on the property.
