Today, the government has announced that 75 councils across England will share £16.6 million to help fund domestic abuse refuge services. While refuges are an incredibly important resource, in the long term people fleeing abuse need safe and stable homes to rebuild their lives in.

Under the current system survivors of domestic abuse are not automatically entitled to help with finding permanent housing. This is leaving many at risk of homelessness, with Crisis’s own research showing that nearly 2,000 people were not deemed vulnerable enough for an offer of permanent housing.

Responding to the announcement Hannah Gousy, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Crisis, said: “For people experiencing domestic abuse having somewhere safe to flee to can be lifesaving. While we welcome the government’s commitment to fund emergency refuge spaces, survivors also need safe permanent homes if they are to begin to rebuild their lives, and currently we’re denying many of this basic right.

“Left with nowhere else to go many people end up trapped in temporary accommodation for months or even years on end with their lives on hold, often far away from their families and the communities they know. This is no way to live.

“We have the means to fix it – the forthcoming Domestic Abuse Bill is the government’s chance to make this right by ensuring that everyone fleeing domestic abuse is automatically entitled to a safe home. Putting lives on hold can’t carry on.”