Domestic abuse

If you are a Waltham Forest Council tenant and are experiencing abuse of any kind, please contact our Tenancy Team.

Telephone: 020 8496 4197. If you let the team know your address, they will put you into contact with your local tenancy officer.

Email: Tenancy.Management@walthamforest.gov.uk

Tenancy Officer

 In the first instance, your case will be given to your local Tenancy Officer. If they are unavailable, your case will be assigned to another experienced Tenancy Officer. We will open your case within 48 hours or sooner depending on your situation. We will contact you through the safest method of contact this may be telephone, at our offices, at an agreed safe location or at your home. You can speak to your Tenancy Officer in confidence and they will discuss the support and options available to you.

Community Independent Living Officer (CILO)

If you live in 50 and over sheltered accommodation, then your case will be assigned to a CILO. We will open your case within 48 hours or sooner depending on your situation. We will contact you through the safest method of contact this may be telephone, at our offices, at an agreed safe location or at your home. You can speak to your CILO in confidence, and they will discuss the support and options available to you.

Independent Domestic Violence Advisor

You will also be provided with an Independent Domestic Violence Advisor to ensure that you are supported through the process. They can help you with everything they need to become safe and rebuild your life. If needed, they will represent your voice at a Multi-agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC), as well as helping you understand the criminal justice process.

We will create an action plan that prioritises the safety of you and your family. Depending on your wishes and the level of risk there are several options available:

Remaining in your home

If you do not want to leave your home, there are options available to reduce the risk to you and to support you to feel safe within your home. These options include being supported to apply for Non-Molestation and Occupation Orders and the Sanctuary Scheme.

For more information on the legal options available to you, please see the National Centre for Domestic Violence and Rights of Women websites.

Sanctuary Scheme

The Sanctuary Scheme provides security measures, installed by professionals, to help survivors feel safer in their homes. Security features installed by approved contractors include:

• Secured doors and windows
• Locks and grilles
• A new 'Sanctuary Door'

The Sanctuary Scheme installation works best with a non-molestation order and/or occupation order.

The scheme is open to all tenants who are survivors of domestic violence.

Leaving home

If it is unsafe for you to remain in your house your Tenancy Officer will work with the housing solution service to find you short-term temporary emergency housing. Your temporary accommodation may be in another area inside or outside of the borough to protect you from the perpetrator (person causing the harm). The temporary accommodation that is provided will fulfil the size requirements of your family. This will just be a temporary arrangement whilst your Tenancy Officer works with the Allocation team to move you back into secure accommodation. If it is too dangerous for you to return to the Waltham Forest area, you can present to another local authority. You will be given a homeless duty, placed in temporary accommodation, and be made an offer of secured accommodation by the local authority you have presented to.

Rehousing

If you are placed in temporary accommodation inside or outside of the borough, we will work to return you to your original address when it is safe to do so. Your original address may not be safe to return to, but it is safe for you to remain in the borough. Your Tenancy Officer and the Allocation team will work to move you back into secure accommodation. You will then be classed as a transfer case. The amount of time it takes to move you will depend on the size of the queue and the availability of properties that meet your household's needs.

Policies and procedures

• Safe Homes Domestic Abuse Prevention Policy (PDF)
• Safe Homes Domestic Abuse Prevention Procedures (PDF)