Refuges and domestic abuse safe accommodation

Refuge workers already know their services save lives. The paperwork around them is less obvious, and gaps in it can leave a refuge out of pocket or residents with rent arrears they did not create.

The safe accommodation duty

Part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 gives tier one councils in England a duty to:

1. Assess the need for support for victims and their children in relevant safe accommodation.
2. Prepare and publish a strategy for providing that support.
3. Give effect to the strategy, usually by commissioning services.
4. Set up a domestic abuse local partnership board.

Tier one councils are county councils, unitary authorities, metropolitan borough councils, London boroughs and the Greater London Authority. District councils must cooperate.

Relevant safe accommodation is defined in regulations and covers refuges, specialist safe accommodation such as services for particular communities, dispersed accommodation, sanctuary schemes and second stage or move-on accommodation.

Housing Benefit for refuges

Refuges are category 3 of specified accommodation. To qualify:

• the accommodation is provided by a local authority or a not-for-profit body such as a housing association, registered charity or voluntary organisation
• the resident has left home as a result of domestic abuse
• the building, or part of it, is used wholly or mainly as non-permanent accommodation for people in that situation

There is no separate support test for category 3. Rent is paid through Housing Benefit, including for residents on Universal Credit, and Housing Benefit for specified accommodation is left out of the benefit cap.

Paying rent on two homes

People fleeing abuse may still be liable for rent on the home they left. Housing Benefit can be paid on two homes for up to 52 weeks where someone has left because of fear of violence. The rules for Universal Credit are narrower, so check each case, and speak to the council's benefits team early.

Priority need and homelessness duties

Since the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, people who are homeless as a result of domestic abuse have automatic priority need under the Housing Act 1996. That affects move-on: a resident leaving refuge can approach any council for homelessness help, and the local connection rules do not apply in the same way where there is a risk of violence in the home area.

Sanctuary schemes

Sanctuary schemes let a survivor stay safely in their own home by adding security measures and support. Regulations made in 2021 protect households in sanctuary schemes from the reduction in Housing Benefit and Universal Credit for having a spare bedroom, so long as the scheme meets the conditions.

Good practice

• Keep the address of the refuge confidential, and train all staff, contractors and managing agents on what that means in practice.
• Have a clear policy for residents with no recourse to public funds, including where funding will come from.
• Plan move-on from the first week, because refuge stays are meant to be non-permanent.
• Keep separate records for children, and link with their schools and social workers where appropriate.
• Review incident and risk management with the commissioner regularly.