Domestic abuse injunctions and your housing: what to know

Experiencing domestic abuse? The law gives you tools to protect yourself and your home. Court orders can remove the abuser from the home, or ban them from coming near you. Here are the main options, and how they tie to your housing.

What is a non-molestation order?

A non-molestation order is a court order banning the abuser from molesting you. That means violence or threats of it. It also means harassment, pestering, or threatening contact. Alone it makes nobody leave the home. But it can sit beside an occupation order that does.

Breaking one is a criminal offence, and it can mean prison. The police can arrest a breaker without a warrant.

You apply to the Family Court, usually under the Family Law Act 1996.

What is an occupation order?

An occupation order controls who can live in the family home. Depending on your circumstances it can:

• Make the abuser leave the home
• Stop them coming back
• Let you stay, in all or part of it, whoever owns it or holds the tenancy
• Keep the abuser out of an area around the home

Which order you can get, and the test the court applies, turns on two things. Your link to the home: sole tenant, joint tenant, owner. And your relationship to the abuser.

Sole tenant: the right to live there is yours, and the court can be asked to exclude the abuser even where they lived with you.

Joint tenant: the court can still order the abuser out. Their tenancy duties do not automatically end with it.

Abuser as sole tenant: the court can order that you stay. But get urgent advice on your long-term tenancy position too.

How do I apply?

Apply at the Family Court. In an emergency, at immediate risk of violence, you can apply without notice. The court hears you without the abuser present and makes a temporary order straight away.

An emergency application can happen the same day. Contact Refuge or the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 for urgent help.

No solicitor is required to apply, though one helps. Domestic abuse is an area where legal aid still exists. Check your eligibility at find-legal-advice.justice.gov.uk.

Can the injunction protect my tenancy?

Yes. An occupation order that removes the abuser, with you staying, leaves your tenancy running. Tell your landlord what is happening: council, housing association, or private. Many social landlords run policies built to protect tenants facing abuse.

A joint tenancy with the abuser on it runs more tangled. Get legal advice on removing them, or moving the tenancy into your sole name.

What about priority housing?

Has abuse forced you out into homelessness? The council must help, as priority need under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996. Survivors count as a priority group. Many councils keep emergency housing for survivors too. Contact yours as soon as you can.

Where can I get help?

• National Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0808 2000 247 (free, 24 hours), run by Refuge
• SafeLives: advice on safety planning
• Shelter: 0808 800 4444, housing advice
• Local domestic abuse services: most areas have dedicated support services

When should I contact Support for Tenants?

We help tenants with housing disrepair claims. Disrepair the landlord has not dealt with, whatever else you face? Call us.

Call us on 0800 030 4669. No upfront cost. You only pay if you win, and the fee comes out of the compensation, not your pocket. If you don't win, you pay nothing.

Sources

• Family Law Act 1996, Part 4 (family homes and domestic violence) (legislation.gov.uk)
• Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (legislation.gov.uk)