Changes to Social Housing Rules For Domestic Violence Survivors Welcomed

Plans to change the rules around domestic violence survivors and the social housing list have been praised by the Wexford Women's Refuge.

Victims will now be able to transfer time spent on a social housing waiting list to another local authority.

This means someone moving from outside the county onto the Wexford County Council list will retain their original qualification date and won't have to start the system again.

The scheme will also work for those moving out of Wexford to a different county.

The reform has been introduced by Minister for Housing James Browne following “extensive consultation” with local authorities and Cuan, the state agency dedicated to tackling and reducing domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.

Locally, women's groups have welcomed the decision with the chairperson of the Women's Wexford Refuge Vicky Barron saying it's not before time.

"It's something that many domestic violence services and other specialist providers have actually been calling for for a number of years.

"It's really important that survivors have access to safe, long term housing because what we see at the moment is about 60 per cent who leave refuge accommodation end up in emergency accommodation.

"Any moves that will mitigate that and make lives better is absolutely very warmly welcome."

There are concerns that many victims may not be coming forward to detail their abuse because they feel it could jeopardise their efforts to get a home.

Councillor Barron, who's also the Mayor of Wexford, says the hope is that this rule change will encourage more women to come forward.

"Many women and children actually return to the family home where the abuse is occurring because sometimes it's easier to wait there and move up the list and eventually hope you out rather than go to the bottom of the list in another county.

"We often see women leaving the county where they may have left their support network behind.

"For example a woman moves to Dublin, they get into a situation with domestic violence and they're on the housing list up there, right now, they can't actually transfer back to Wexford at the moment.

"This change will help those to move down to their supports and hopefully to a place that's safer."

Mayor Barron says the devil is in the detail but there may be some disquiet about having people from outside the county move up the social housing list at the expense of those who had already been on it.

She says she understands that frustration and says the system still needs to ensure that it's fair to everyone.

"Look. people are good. but it is totally understandable that anyone would have an issue if they're going to be moved down the list.

"Ultimately what we need is a huge increase in our social housing stock, we need to see all the waiting lists across the board being shortened then we wouldn't really see that problem would we?".

Mayor Barron also says it can be a very difficult time for victims who may need to uproot their entire lives to get away from their situation.

She's welcoming any changes that will make that decision easier.

"Any woman who decides to move her family lock stock and barrel, that's never an easy decision or something she would do lightly.

"When it happens, it is for genuine reasons, be it trying to get back to their home supports or that the woman and her children need to seek safety, far away from their abuser.

That report was funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.