A long-awaited step forward for victims of domestic abuse in Scotland’s housing system

Last week, regulations were laid to enact part 2 of the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act passed by the Scottish Parliament on 17 March 2021.  
 
This means that, next year, social landlords will have the power to apply to the court to end a sole tenancy of a perpetrator of domestic abuse or end a perpetrator’s interest in a joint tenancy, enabling the victim (and often her children) to remain in the family home. After almost five years, this a welcome development which has been long called for by the housing sector. 
 
This power will be complemented by provisions in the recently passed Housing (Scotland) Act 2025. A social housing domestic abuse policy requirement should ensure staff are trained to support victims and victims are included in the decision about where they want to live; this is the right approach. Many (but not all) social landlords already have this in place so the legislation will help to drive better practice where this doesn’t exist — although like any legislation, it will be several years before it is enacted. 
 
Evicting a perpetrator, a domestic abuse policy requirement and indeed national funding to help women leave their abusive partner were all called for by Scottish Women’s Aid and CIH Scotland back in our 2020 joint report on improving housing outcomes for women and children experiencing domestic abuse. To its credit, the Scottish government has also committed to a national fund to leave, which will help victims cover the costs of moving to a new home, new clothes, transport and all the other essential costs that victims absorb when finding a new home, no matter where they live.  
 
So, as the year ends, we should recognise and celebrate the significant policy changes made by the Scottish government to support victims of domestic abuse. 
 
But addressing systemic discrimination in our housing system takes more than just these policies. 
 
While they will help to mitigate the impact of domestic abuse for victims living in social housing, there remains so much still to do for those living in other tenures, whether it is:  

• Enacting part 1 of the 2021 Act where the police and courts can ban suspected abusers from re-entering the home for a period of up to three months with a domestic abuse order
• Improving availability of suitable single-sex local authority temporary homeless accommodation for women with or without children in their area 
• Improving the quality and availability of refuges in Scotland to meet the standards set out in the Istanbul Convention, which came into effect in 2022.

These priorities must go alongside the delivery of the 15,693 social and affordable homes that our research shows Scotland needs every year in the next parliament. We cannot build a better housing system without homes, and we cannot enforce the rights of victims and survivors unless they have somewhere safe and affordable to live. 
 
The commitment of up to £4.9bn for the Affordable Housing Supply Programme from the Scottish government for next four years, coupled with the announced policy measures, provide a foundation for a better housing system, one that is rooted in human rights for victims of domestic abuse. 
 
But it is only a start. We need to go further, improve access to homes, improve rights and ensure that victims are supported no matter what tenure of home they have in the housing system.