Most Women Who Flee Domestic Violence Have Nowhere To Go

Domestic violence is a major cause of homelessness. Government figures show that in the year to June 2019, almost 24,000 people were made homeless in England directly because of domestic abuse. For those fleeing, it is increasingly difficult to find a space in a refuge, which offers temporary accommodation and intensive support. Councils cut funding for domestic violence refuges by almost a quarter between 2010 and 2017, and last year, Women’s Aid found that 64% of all referrals to refuges were declined. According to latest government figures, just 2% of households made homeless because of domestic abuse between April and December 2018 were offered social housing. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/feb/05/vast-majority-women-domestic-violence-nowhere-to-go

European Court Lands Blow On The ‘Bedroom Tax’

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has landed a major blow against the ‘Bedroom Tax’ and how housing benefit is administered. Judges have ruled that the ‘reform’ discriminated against a domestic-violence victim who was forced to pay extra for her panic room. The case concerned the effect of the ‘bedroom tax’ policy on women living in ‘Sanctuary Scheme’ homes – properties specially adapted to enable women and children at serious risk of domestic violence to live safely in their own homes. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/european-court-lands-blow-on-the-bedroom-tax/

Domestic Violence Victims Struggling To Access Housing Support

A study carried out by the National Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and Multiple Disadvantage found that domestic violence was one of the primary causes of women’s homelessness. But the report said homelessness services were often “inappropriate for women’s needs”, giving examples of women who were placed in mixed complex needs hostels alongside men or people dependent on alcohol and substances. Women facing multiple disadvantages came up against particular problems, it found. Many women referred to what they described as ‘gatekeeping’ in housing departments, which prevented them from accessing immediate emergency accommodation. Download the report here

Secure Tenancies Bill Passes Third Reading Amid Concerns Over Universal Credit

The Secure Tenancies (Victims of Domestic Violence) has passed its third Commons in Parliament with social housing providers still concerned about the impact of Universal Credit (UC) on victims. These concerns were raised during that reading, once opposition amendments aiming to ease financial pressure on women fleeing violent partners had been voted down. One of those amendments was intended to ensure that victims living in housing association properties had the same rights to secure tenancies as those in council housing – with government benches challenged over a “seeming lack of appreciation” of the variety of council housing available. Read more on 24housing.

http://www.24housing.co.uk/news/secure-tenancies-bill-passes-third-reading-amid-concerns-over-universal-credit/

May Fails To Guarantee Refuges Will Not Close Amid Funding Overhaul

Theresa May has failed to rule out the closure of some women’s refuges amid warnings from campaigners that a major funding shakeup could threaten the future of shelters for women fleeing violent partners. In an interview on International Women’s Day, the Prime Minister was repeatedly pressed to guarantee the future of refuges after Government plans for an overhaul of supported housing funding that includes vital shelters. Domestic violence campaigners claim around a third of refuges could close if the plans go ahead, which would take short term supported housing outside of the welfare system and hand funds to local councils. Read more on the Independent website.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-fails-womens-refuges-will-not-close-funding-overhaul-a8246421.html

Shelter Announces New CEO

Polly Neate will join Shelter after four years as CEO of Women’s Aid, the grassroots federation of domestic violence charities that provides life-saving services and campaigns against domestic violence. During this time, Polly dramatically raised the profile of domestic violence against women in the British conscience through prominent commentary and tireless campaigning. Much of this has resulted in legislation to create a new criminal offence of coercive and controlling behaviour, more than £30m new funding for domestic abuse refuges, and a review of the way the family courts treat survivors of domestic abuse and their children. Read more on 24housing.

Homeless Women Turned Away

Local councils struggling to meet the demand for emergency housing are turning away vulnerable homeless women, including domestic violence victims and those with mental health issues as well as those fleeing domestic abuse, an investigation has found. Across several local authorities in England and Wales women found themselves turned away without being properly assessed or being able to make a homeless application despite qualifying for emergency accommodation under government guidelines.  An experiment by Channel 4’s Dispatches found that out of 15 approaches made by women with priority needs, only four were successful.  Read more on the Independent website.

Supported Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government plans to take to support providers of supported housing affected by planned reductions in social housing rents.

Gavin Barwell: The Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable through our welfare reforms. That is why we have exempted supported housing from the Local Housing Allowance cap until 2019/20, from which point we will bring in a new funding model which will ensure that the sector continues to be funded at current levels, taking into account the effect of Government policy on social sector rents. We will apply the rent reduction to supported housing, with the exception of domestic violence refuges, with rents in these properties decreasing by 1% a year for 3 years, up to and including 2019/20.

Women's Refuges To Be Exempt From Benefits Cap

Safe houses for women and children escaping domestic violence are to be exempted from the Government's planned welfare cuts, Theresa May has said. The Prime Minister came under pressure from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to protect funding for women's refuges in the UK, amid fears that two-thirds would close when the changes come into force. Mr Corbyn warned that such a move would be "devastating" for the "very vulnerable" women in the refuges and place them in danger. Mrs May confirmed the Government is working to exempt refuges from the cap. Read more on the Care Appointments website.

Domestic Violence Victims Are Disappearing From Homeless Statistics

The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that 14,780 households in the UK were accepted by local authorities as being statutorily homeless between January and March 2016, an increase of 9% on the previous year. This is defined as a household that is unintentionally homeless and in a priority need category (such as having dependent children). But the government’s statistics only tell half of the story. According to official figures, domestic violence looks like it is decreasing. Despite the stories about refuges closing down and local authorities that lack the funds to provide a safe place to those fleeing domestic violence, there has been a 13% fall in the number of people accepted as homeless because of that reason since 2009. This is despite the incidence of homelessness continuing to rise in that period. Download the figures from the ONS website.

Housing Benefit Cuts 'Risk Damaging UK's International Reputation'

Theresa May risks damaging Britain's international reputation if she fails to scrap housing benefit cuts facing the disabled, veterans and other vulnerable people, Labour has claimed. Shadow communities secretary Grahame Morris warned ministers they must go further and reverse the planned changes to supported housing scheme funding. He warned the cuts will "jeopardise the safety" of people fleeing domestic violence and also affect the elderly, people mental health difficulties and the homeless. Mr Morris said a failure to change the policy would raise serious questions about the new Government's priorities while also accusing them of "breaking the covenant with our veterans".  Read more on the Liverpool Echo website.

Could “Right To Rent” Checks Put Domestic Violence Victims At Risk?

New “right to rent” rules essentially mean landlords must carry out a government-approved check on all prospective tenants to confirm that they have a right to live in the UK.  One group in particular that could suffer under the new rules: domestic violence victims, particularly if they are migrant women. Migrant women in the UK are also not entitled to legal aid, benefits, and may be at a disadvantage with language skills. Migrant women with documents, meanwhile, are likely to have them taken away by controlling partners: hiding a women's passport is a classic abuser tactic, and could affect non-migrants too, since landlords are technically meant to check every tenant's right to rent. Read more on the CityMetric website.

Bedroom Tax On Domestic Violence Victims Actually Costs Taxpayers

It would cost the Government less to exempt victims of domestic violence from the “Bedroom Tax” than it would to fight a court battle to force them to pay it, Labour has claimed. Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith asked DWP ministers how many victims were affected by the under-occupancy penalty and how much it would cost to exempt them. When he did not receive a direct reply, he said: “I am sure the minister knows the answer to my question, it is 280 victims of domestic violence and it would cost around £200,000 to exempt them.” Read more on the Independent website.

Call For Immediate 'Bedroom Tax' Exemptions After Court Ruling

Ministers should immediately exempt people "discriminated" against by the "bedroom tax" rather than write a "blank cheque" for legal fees, Labour has said. Shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith told MPs the exemption should apply to victims of domestic violence and the families of severely disabled children following the Court of Appeal ruling. He said it would cost the Government £200,000 to exempt 280 victims of domestic violence who have panic rooms installed in their homes. Labour MPs could be heard saying "shameful" after Work and Pensions Minister Justin Tomlinson confirmed the Government will appeal to the Supreme Court. Read more on the AOL website.

Bedroom Tax 'Breaches Human Rights Of Vulnerable People'

The so-called “bedroom tax” breaches the human rights of vulnerable people, Britain's most senior judge has ruled. But Lord Thomas, the Lord Chief Justice, and two other senior judges face claims of “usurping the role of Parliament” over the ruling hailed by campaigners against the Government’s benefits changes as a major victory. The judges, sitting at the Court of Appeal in London, found that the policy discriminated against a victim of domestic violence and the family of a severely disabled boy because of the way it is administered. Campaigners hailed the judgment as a vindication for claims that the policy was having a “catastrophic impact” on poor families.  The case is now set to go to the Supreme Court. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

Housing At Risk For More Than 400,000 Vulnerable People

Ninety-five percent of supported housing providers would be forced to close housing schemes for vulnerable and older people if a planned housing benefit cap goes ahead. The capping of housing benefit at local housing allowance levels for social housing tenants, announced in the chancellor’s spending review, represents a major threat to the financial viability of such schemes because the intensive housing management required is paid for by charging higher rents. These rents are covered by housing benefit for those residents unable to work. More than 440,000 vulnerable people, many of them pensioners, live in housing association homes that are now at risk across England. These include sheltered housing and extra care for frail elderly people, and supported housing schemes for people recovering from alcohol and substance misuse, young people leaving care and women fleeing domestic violence. Read more on the Guardian website.

High Court Orders Benefit Cap Judicial Review

The high court has ordered an urgent judicial review into the benefit cap and its impact on disabled people and their carers.  A claim by Iain Duncan Smith to have the case dismissed was unsuccessful and the High Court ruled that the case should proceed to a full hearing, no later than October 2015. The judgement comes soon after the Supreme Court ruled that the benefit cap breached children’s rights, meaning it could result in them not receiving “adequate food, clothing, warmth and housing, the basic necessities of life”. The Government recently admitted that the benefit cap could have “unintended consequences” for victims of domestic violence and amended the legislation to exempt those in women’s refuges. Read more on the Welfare Weekly website.

Judges Criticise Benefit Cap but Reject Bid To Overturn the Policy

The Supreme Court has criticised the government’s benefit cap for depriving children of the “basic necessities of life” but has ruled out overturning the policy. The criticism came in a Supreme Court divided judgment in the case of two single mothers who were victims of domestic violence and said the cap was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.  Although the appeal by the two women to overturn the policy was dismissed by a majority of three to two, three of the judges were concerned it was in contravention of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child requirement for governments to prioritise the interests of children. Read more on the Children & Young People Now website.

Women Facing Homelessness, Domestic Violence and Social Exclusion

On 6 November 2014, the House of Lords is scheduled to debate the following motion:

“that this House takes note of women facing homelessness, domestic violence and social exclusion”

Information presented in this Note has been compiled to provide background reading for Members ahead of the debate. Although there is significant overlap between the issues, the Note has been divided into three separate sections. These in turn consider women’s homelessness, domestic violence and social exclusion. Each section opens with an introduction to the issue, including background and statistics, with the aim of providing some context, before setting out the government policy. The sections then conclude with commentary from charities, interested organisations and research bodies that have put forward further policy recommendations. Download the report from the Parliament website.

Domestic Violence Victims Told To Register As Homeless To Be Rehoused

Barnet Council has been accused of trying to penalise domestic violence victims by forcing them to declare themselves homeless before they can be rehoused. Under the new housing allocation scheme, which is currently under public consultation, victims of domestic violence would have to apply to the council as homeless in order to be rehoused in temporary accommodation. Council chiefs say this will help those fleeing violence to be rehoused immediately. However, housing experts and domestic violence charities have argued the system will unfairly penalise those trying to escape violence by removing their priority status on the housing waiting list and reduce the likelihood of them being placed back in council accommodation. Read more on the Barnet Today website.