Call for housing associations to introduce domestic abuse code of practice

The regulator’s new consumer standards came into force in April, and a number of landlords have already failed to meet the requirements.

As part of the code of practice, the report recommends that registered providers should be required to have a “domestic abuse specific policy”.

Landlords should also provide “regular colleague training”, it says.

The report, which is based on the experience of professionals and domestic abuse survivors in the city, also recommends that providers should join the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance. 

Data around domestic abuse should be captured to understand the scale of the issue, the report says.

Coalitions must be developed to “share approaches to identifying and responding to domestic abuse”.

Another recommendation is to introduce “reciprocal arrangements” between registered providers across Sussex for households fleeing domestic abuse, with a co-ordination role “resourced by registered providers or the council”.

The report concludes: “One thing is clear – addressing the complex needs of adult and child survivors of domestic abuse requires a collaborative approach.

“No single agency or organisation within the housing industry can bear the responsibility alone.”

In the report’s foreword, Nicholas Harris, chief executive of Stonewater, wrote: “Our experience shows us that there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach for people who experience domestic abuse.”

Stonewater has a domestic abuse refuge in Brighton and Hove and around 90 units of accommodation nationally, made up of refuge spaces and dispersed, dedicated ‘safe spaces’.

Sarah Pugh, domestic abuse transformation manager at Stonewater and the report’s author, said: “It is my hope that partners within the domestic abuse and housing sector work collaboratively to assess the feasibility of the report recommendations and take ownership of the recommendations they have contributed to, whether this is as a single agency or a coalition of agencies, to drive tangible transformation in the city.”