Garden Court Chambers has responded to the Government’s consultation on the impacts of joint tenancies on victims of domestic abuse and on local connection requirements for social housing for victims of domestic abuse.
Garden Court welcomes the Government’s intention to amend the eligibility rules for an allocation of social housing, so as to exempt survivors of domestic abuse from any local connection or residency requirements. We discuss the details of those proposals and make suggestions. We also welcome an intention to take steps to end the practice whereby a perpetrator of domestic abuse can make a survivor of domestic abuse homeless, by unilateral termination of a joint tenancy.
We put forward proposals, suggesting draft legislation and/or guidance that the government could adopt so as to protect survivors of domestic abuse. The consultation responses were written by Liz Davies QC, Marina Sergides and Tessa Buchanan from Garden Court’s housing team and Naomi Wiseman from Garden Court’s family team.
