PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Housing: Domestic Abuse (16 October 2019)

Legislation provides that a person who is pregnant, has dependent children, or is vulnerable as a result of having to leave accommodation due to domestic abuse already has priority need for accommodation.

The Homelessness Reduction Act which came into force last April goes further, representing the most ambitious reform to homelessness legislation in decades, requiring local authorities to carry out assessments of the housing and support needs of people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness and take reasonable steps to try and prevent or relieve their homelessness. Local authorities must ensure they tailor the advice to meet the needs of particularly vulnerable groups including those who are victims of domestic abuse.

The government is committed to ensuring that the Homelessness Reduction Act is working for all including ensuring that those fleeing domestic abuse get the support they need. These duties apply irrespective of priority need or intentional homelessness, and the steps the local authority and the applicant are to take must be set out in a personalised housing plan.

Through the Act, the government is ensuring that the new prevention and relief duties are providing help to all eligible people, including single people who do not have priority need. Although our data is still experimental the indications are this is happening. During the first year for which we have published data 263,720 households have had a duty to prevent or relieve homelessness accepted, and only 9,440 households have been issued with a 'non priority homeless' decision.

In addition the government has invested £55.5 million in accommodation-based services to support victims of domestic abuse, including refuges since 2014. We are also continuing to provide funding through the Rough Sleeping Initiative to ensure that provision is in place for women who sleep rough.