Private Rented Housing: Domestic Abuse
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of current legal protections for victims of domestic abuse seeking to be released from joint tenancies in the private rented sector, particularly in circumstances where (a) the alleged perpetrator is on police bail, (b) the survivor needs to move immediately for safety reasons, and (c) the landlord or letting agent refuses to release the survivor without the agreement of the other tenant or a court order.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook
Under the Renters’ Rights Act, all tenancies with a fixed term transitioned to periodic tenancies on 1 May 2026. As a result, victims of domestic abuse are no longer locked into fixed terms with perpetrators.
The courts have established that any individual tenant can usually end a periodic tenancy without the other tenants’ permission.
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