Housing

SEA recognises that access to safe and affordable housing is vital for anyone escaping domestic abuse. Housing concerns can also become a method of control for perpetrators.

SEA has been a member of the ‘National Housing and Domestic Abuse Policy and Practice Group’ led by the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) since it was established in November 2017.

The Group brings together representatives from major homelessness, housing and domestic abuse organisations to ensure that:

  • The experience of survivors of domestic abuse is more prominent in the housing sector and helps shape improved and enhanced service delivery;
  • Women and children can access secure housing and good quality services when experiencing domestic abuse; and
  • Co-ordination exists between the housing and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) sectors with regards to domestic abuse.

Together, the Group has submitted responses to the following:

  • Social Housing Green Paper (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, November 2018)
  • Transforming the Response to Domestic Abuse (Home Office and Ministry of Justice, May 2018)

Other briefings and responses

In June 2020, SEA submitted written evidence to the HCLG COVID-19 inquiry. Please read the full briefing here. 

In May 2019, the UK Government unveiled a new package of support for victims-survivors of domestic violence and abuse (DVA). It sees a legal duty placed on local authorities to deliver support in accommodation-based services, backed by funding to place services on a sustainable footing. SEA responded to the consultation in August 2019. We also submitted a good practice example of our work to address coerced debt, highlighting to commissioners of violence against women and girls services that they must recognise the importance of economic stability within coordinated community responses to domestic abuse.

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