New clause 44—Allocation of Housing to domestic abuse victims—

“(1) Section 160ZA of the Housing Act 1996 is amended as follows.

(2) After subsection (8) insert—

“(8A) The Secretary of State must within two months of the Domestic Abuse Act 2020 being passed make regulations under subsection (8) to prescribe the criterion set out in subsection (8B) as a criterion that may not be used by a local housing authority in England in deciding what classes of persons are not qualifying persons.

(8B) The criterion is that a relevant person must have a local connection to the district of a local housing authority.

(8C) For the purposes of subsection (8B), a “relevant person” is a person who—

(a) is or has been a victim of domestic abuse within two years of the date of their application for an allocation of housing under Part 6 of the 1996 Act, and

(b) has recently ceased, or will cease, to reside in accommodation provided by a local authority in an area in which they have been subjected to domestic abuse and where—

(i) the person has fled or will flee their local area; and

(ii) the purpose of fleeing was or is to escape domestic abuse.

(8D) The regulations made under subsection (8A) must specify that a local housing authority may not consider the location or whereabouts of the perpetrator of the domestic abuse.””

This new clause would remove the need for a local connection for victims of domestic abuse when applying for social housing to a particular local authority.