You are listening to Relationships Shouldn't Hurt, a podcast brought to you by Central Bedfordshire Council. During this series, you'll be able to hear us talk all things domestic abuse and raise awareness of the support available to those affected.
Welcome to our podcast Relationships Shouldn't Hurt. I'm Nina from Central Bedfordshire Council, and today we will be talking about domestic abuse and Housing Options. One of the main reasons people are worried about leaving or separating from someone when they're in an abusive relationship is around complications for housing. People are often really concerned that they won't be able to secure safe accommodation for themselves if they move and are concerned about losing the property or the rights of the property that they're currently living in. In Central Bedfordshire the Housing Options team have two approaches every day from people who are experiencing domestic abuse that want to move. So because of that, we have Katie Voice with us today to talk about those issues around housing and domestic abuse. Hi Katie, did you want to give a little bit of an introduction about yourself? So just your job role, your organisation and what is your team do.
Katie
Yes, hello. I'm Katie and I'm the Housing Options manager here at Central Bedfordshire and I've been in post for about two years. So the Housing Options team are responsible for administrating the Council statutory function around homelessness. Much of my work revolves around ensuring that we’re compliant with the homeless legislation and ensuring that we’ve got the right customer pathways and processes in place to support our customers. The Council's main duties around homelessness is to work with households to prevent them from losing their homes. So we do this by providing housing advice, undertaking housing assessments and developing personal housing plans. We provide advice to everyone, no matter what your housing situation is, around a range of topics, including tenancy rights, eviction proceedings, legal remedies for housing issues and mediating family breakdowns or between tenants and landlords. And, of course, we deal with domestic abuse. So if you're in need of help and housing support it’s very likely that you'll need to come in contact with the Housing Options team.
Nina
Thanks for that, Katie. I just wonder if people are experiencing domestic abuse, they might not necessarily think of themselves as at risk of being homeless. Is domestic abuse a reason, or considered part of making somebody vulnerable with their housing?
Katie
Yes, in short. So the Domestic Abuse Act that's recently come into force at the end of April specifies that people that are experiencing domestic abuse are automatically in priority need, that means that they are considered to be vulnerable. And that's regardless of whether or not they've got dependent children or not, or whether or not they've got other serious health issues.
Nina
Ah, so anyone that is experiencing domestic abuse is automatically considered being at risk of losing their homes so would be entitled to some sort of help from their Council?
Katie
Yes, absolutely.
Nina
That's great, thank you. And I guess we understand that not everyone wants to leave their home, but for those that do, what should they do and what help is available?
Katie
Ok, so I'll try and break this down because it can be sort of, quite a complicated area, so we'll try and make it as easy to understand as possible. So one of the first options that you've got are refuges. So Women's Aid refuges provide temporary accommodation for women who have to leave home because of domestic violence, so people fleeing domestic abuse can access a refuge place by phoning the National Domestic Abuse Helpline and refuges are all over the country. Refuges can be paid for by housing benefit or by the housing costs element of Universal Credit, if that's what you're claiming and you're relying on that welfare benefit, and there are also some spaces available for women that have got no recourse to public funds. So whilst living in the refuge, women can get support and advice on welfare benefits, housing and legal remedies, and these can provide an important breathing space for women who have maybe not decided what permanent course of action that they wish to follow. Men can also access refuges as well, and information can be obtained from the Men's Advice Line.
Nina
That's great, thanks Katie, and all the details for those advice and helplines that you've mentioned will be at the end of the podcast.
Katie
In terms of longer-term housing options, I'll break it down based on what your tenure might be. But if you're in a Council tenancy or you are a housing association tenant, you can contact your housing officer. So if you happen to be a tenant of Central Bedfordshire you can contact your Estates Officer, and they’re contactable through the Council's main switchboard. And if you have a housing association property, then it's normally best that you contact your dedicated housing officer there. It's important to note that every accommodation provider should have a domestic abuse policy and should deal with your disclosure in line with that policy. If you're getting support, your housing officer should liaise with the agency supporting to you, to help establish the risk presented to you and talk to you about what your options are. They can discuss options with you, like finding places of safety, that might be a women's refuge, and potentially looking at a management move. It shouldn't matter whether or not your tenancy is in your own name. So with a housing association or a Council, you need to bear in mind that they can only help you move to an area where they have housing stock. So if you want to move outside of Central Bedfordshire, you just need to bear in mind that it's unlikely that we have any accommodation options for you outside of the district. You may also want to look at mutual exchange, that is where two social housing tenants can swap properties, but this can sometimes take time to find the right match for you. If you do want to leave, they can also get you in touch with the Housing Options team in the area that you want to move to, who can provide detailed housing advice. If you have a joint tenancy in certain circumstances, if you have to leave because of domestic abuse, possession action could be taken against the perpetrator. You may need to apply to your landlord to have your name removed from the tenancy, or you might be able to arrange a settlement via the court to decide who gets the tenancy. But your housing officer can advise you further. If you're thinking of giving up your tenancy, it's really important to get some housing advice first to ensure that you've secured long term and alternative accommodation before you go anywhere. In terms of those of you that might be privately renting, we can liaise with your landlord to see if they've got another property they can move you to. So some landlords have a decent portfolio of other stock options, or we can work with your landlord and you to end the tenancy and arrange for you to get a new tenancy in your own right. If you are an owner occupier and you own your own home, this shouldn't stop you accessing short term help. Domestic abuse agencies can normally help you access legal advice to decide what to do with the property. And we would encourage you to get legal advice so that you can go through your options around whether or not you need to sell the property, or whether or not you can arrange for the other homeowner to buy you out if you jointly own it. If you receive any equity from any house sale, you can normally use this to access privately rented accommodation. Many households have dogs and pets, and there is support available for survivors of domestic abuse, where you might have a pet and may not be able to take it with you to any new accommodation temporarily. So the Dogs Trust Freedom Project and other pet rescue charities often provide temporary foster care for dogs and cats and other pets whose owners are fleeing domestic violence and may not be able to care for their pet until they're settled.
Nina
That's great and we will, as we said before, give details for those organisations at the end of the podcast. Thanks Katie, that's really comprehensive and so helpful to anyone who is considering their options with regard to their home and whether they want to move or not. And I guess although we know some people do want to move, lots of people say they want to remain in their own home. So what options are there for people to stay safe in their own homes?
Katie
So, many people that are experiencing domestic abuse don't want to leave the home. They do want to stay in the property, and that is absolutely possible for them. So anyone experiencing domestic violence has options for taking civil action to stay in their home and those remedies are generally designed to protect them from further violence and to establish their rights to stay in that home. So someone experiencing domestic abuse might be able to apply for any of the following, a non-molestation order under the Family Law Act, an occupation order under the Family Law Act, or they may even be able to apply for an injunction or an order for damages under the Protection from Harassment Act. So I'll just break down what those different orders are. So a non-molestation order is made by the court to prohibit non-molestation of an associated person or a relevant child. There is no particular definition of molestation, it can cover many forms of unwanted behaviour, including harassment and pestering, as well as physical violence. These orders can be obtained to prohibit molestation generally, such as persistent threats of violence or harassment, or to prohibit particular acts of molestation, such as actual violence or abuse. And to obtain one of these orders, there's no need to prove actual violence, only the molestation. You could also apply for an occupation order. These are orders made by the courts to enforce, declare or restrict rights to occupy the family home. They are typically only a short-term solution and do not affect what happens to the property in a final settlement, which again is why it's really important to get legal advice, particularly if you own your own home. Their main use in domestic abuse cases is to exclude someone from the home or from a specified area around the home. There are also the option around other civil remedies under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. So that particular act contains powers to combat harassment in both the civil and the criminal courts. So a claim for an injunction can be made where harassment has actually taken place, so actual harassment, or where harassment is expected to take place, apprehended harassment. This means that the courts have the power to grant an injunction even when no harassment has yet occurred, although evidence of the threat and harassment is often needed. Applications can be made to the county court or the high court and if the order is breached, the victim has the right to apply for a warrant of arrest. And where a person reaches a civil injunction without a reasonable excuse, they are committing a criminal offence. So where the Police arrest someone for this criminal offence, they can either charge or release them, and the maximum punishment for this offence is five years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. Where a person is convicted of this offence, breach of the injunction can also be punished as contempt of court. There's also access to sanctuary schemes, or what we call in Central Bedfordshire, the Bobby Scheme. So, along with the domestic abuse service, the housing service fund Bedfordshire Police Partnership to provide free home security to victims of domestic abuse. So they look at providing and fitting devices such as new locks, door chains, door viewers, all free of charge. The Bobby team will attend your home, they will carry out a survey and identify any areas where your security might be vulnerable, and where appropriate staff will improve your security with locks, door chains, viewers. And the best thing about this service is that you can refer yourself or an agency can refer you as well.
Nina
If anybody wants any more information about the protection orders that Katie’s talked about, you can hear more about that in episode seven of our podcast, Protection Orders, that's part of our Relationships Shouldn't Hurt series. Information about the Bobby Scheme will be shared at the end of the podcast. If you are a Council tenant or housing association tenant, will they be able to help with any safety measures in your home? Or should people be going straight to the Bobby Scheme?
Katie
If we receive a disclosure of domestic abuse, and somebody needs additional security the Council will refer you into the Bobby Scheme, who will then carry out that work. But it is available to everybody.
Nina
Great, so that's a great one stop, one place that people can self-refer to. Or they can come through their estate manager to get those kind of things that they need to keep their homes safe.
Katie
Absolutely.
Nina
Ok, if sadly people have to approach Housing Options because the domestic abuse that they're experiencing, as a homeless applicant what can you expect? So what will happen when you walk through the door, as well as that kind of process that you take them through?
Katie
Ok, well, I think the first thing to say is, regardless of what type of accommodation you're living in, everyone in this situation has the right to make a homeless application to any Council in the country, so long as you feel safe, that's the main thing. How we can help in each case is different as the options available depends on the individual circumstances, what their wishes are. Obviously, these legal rights to housing will vary, if you're approaching another Council they may have different housing options available to you as well, because different schemes will be operating in different areas. What we will do is assess your case and develop a personalised housing plan, that is an action plan of actions that the Council can take to help you achieve your housing goals and actions that you can take as well to resolve your own housing situation. But the aim would be to either help you secure alternative, settled accommodation or help you put measures in place to keep you in your home. We can provide detailed housing advice, and we will work with your landlord and housing provider to find the right option for you. Access to grant resources are available, we can help you access privately rented accommodation and signpost you to the support that you need. We will liaise with any agency supporting you, we can assist you with legal remedies, and if you need a place of safety there and then and a refuge space cannot be found or you've got nowhere else where it’s safe to stay, then we can look at arranging emergency accommodation within Central Bedfordshire. If you're not safe in the Central Bedfordshire area and you want to move out, then we will work with you to approach another Council for that long term help.
Nina
And I do wonder, from what you're saying then anybody that's experiencing domestic abuse has the right to approach any Council, anywhere to talk about their housing options? Is that right?
Katie
Yeah, that is correct. As a bare minimum, you should be able to expect detailed advice about your housing situation and what would be available in that particular area. But really, if you are experiencing domestic abuse, that local authority should be taking a homeless application and they shouldn't be turning you away.
Nina
And I know that lots of people feel apprehensive about and worried about disclosing that they're experiencing domestic abuse. But from what you're saying, it's really important that people do that on that first contact with the Housing Options team? From a Central Bedfordshire point of view are the Housing Options team trained to manage those disclosures of domestic abuse so that people can feel reassured about coming forward with their disclosures?
Katie
All Housing Options officers are trained to deal with domestic abuse. So many of our Housing Options officers are domestic abuse champions and we’ve undergone domestic abuse awareness training. Options Officers generally will carry out a DASH assessment, and we aim to provide a non-judgmental and trauma informed service. But as you said Nina, it's really, really important so that we can help keep you safe, start helping you get the support that you need that if you do feel that you are in this situation and that you are experiencing domestic abuse, that you can disclose it. But we will, we will work around you as much as we can. But if you only want to deal with a female or a male Housing Options Officer, we will do our best to make that happen. If you can only speak to us at certain times of the day, we will try and adapt how we deal with you in order to help you and to keep you as safe as possible.
Nina
That's great, that’s really reassuring Katie, and I'm sure for people that are experiencing domestic abuse and thinking about whether to disclose, that will really help to reassure them that it is safe to approach the Housing Options team to talk about their circumstances. We're really lucky in Central Bedfordshire to also have the DART team, so the Domestic Abuse Resettlement Team, that provides intensive and bespoke support for anybody aged over 16, who has or hasn't got children, that are escaping domestic abuse and are looking to move to safe accommodation. And they'll work with people that are experiencing domestic abuse and liaise with Housing Options or housing association teams or for those in the private sector. And they'll help people to move within Central Bedfordshire, the county of Bedfordshire or nationally, they offer that support as far as they can. Details for the DART service will be given at the end of the podcast. So thank you, Katie, for joining us for this episode. I'm now going to share the details of all the support services mentioned in today's podcast. The free 24-hour National Domestic Abuse helpline number is 08082000247. The details for Women’s Aid can be found on their website, including more information about emergency accommodation and the support that is available for all aspects of domestic abuse. Respect is the helpline for male victims of domestic abuse, you can contact them on 08088010327. You can find more information about how to make a homeless application in Central Bedfordshire on the website. To find out more information about the Bobby Scheme in Central Bedfordshire visit the Beds Police Partnership website or you can contact them on 01234842619. More information on the Dogs Trust is available on their website. Or you can visit the Bedfordshire Domestic Abuse Partnership website to find out more about pet rehoming or foster care services. As mentioned at the end of the podcast we also have Domestic Abuse Resettlement Team who may also be able to help support you to move, or you can contact them via email on DARTreferrals@impakt.org.uk.
Thank you for listening to Relationships Shouldn't Hurt. If you or someone you know has been affected by domestic abuse or the issues raised in this podcast, you can contact the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 08082000247. You can also find lots of information about domestic abuse on our website, and if you're in the Bedfordshire area, you can find local support services on the Get Help page of this website. If you are in immediate danger, please call the Police on 999.