The number of domestic abuse crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales in the year ending March 2021 increased by 6%, with the demand on domestic abuse helplines rising by 22%.

Commenting on the consultation, Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, said: “It is vital that victims and survivors can access safe housing regardless of their tenure type. That means staying safely in their own home if they want to, as well as being able to access housing in a new area if they are no longer safe where they live.”

“Refuge welcomes these two consultations, as an opportunity to remove some of the barriers survivors currently face when it comes to housing,” the charity’s CEO Ruth Davison told Stylist. “It is vital that survivors of domestic abuse can access safe and longer-term housing in an area of their choosing and are supported to rebuild their lives.

“Refuge is calling for the ‘local connection’ test to be scrapped so that survivors can be supported to rebuild their lives in a safe area away from their perpetrators. Survivors should not be denied access to social housing because they have no local connection to an area when they have often had no choice but to uproot their lives because it is simply not safe for them to remain in an area with the perpetrator.”

An important new government proposal will now make it easier for domestic violence survivors to move away from their abusers