Part 7: Miscellaneous and general Section 78: Homelessness: victims of domestic abuse
This section gives those who are eligible and are homeless as a result of being a victim of domestic abuse, "priority need" status for accommodation secured by the local authority.
	Local authorities have a number of statutory duties to support those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The Housing Act 1996 (as amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017) places duties on local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to try to prevent and relieve a person’s homelessness.
	For those who are homeless, eligible and are identified as having a "priority need" the local authority has a duty under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 to secure that accommodation is available for the applicant's occupation. Those who are identified as having a priority need are outlined in section 189 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness (Priority Need for Accommodation) (England) Order 2002 (SI 2002/2051).
	The existing categories of priority need include a "person who is vulnerable as a result of ceasing to occupy accommodation by reason of violence from another person or threats of violence from another person which are likely to be carried out". Prior to this section coming into effect, victims of domestic abuse may be considered to be in this category and therefore have priority need for accommodation, if they can show they are vulnerable as a result of ceasing to occupy accommodation as a result of domestic abuse. This section amends section 189 of the Housing Act 1996 to create a distinct new priority need category, namely "a person who is homeless as a result of that person being a victim of domestic abuse". This will mean that victims of domestic abuse that are homeless and eligible for homelessness assistance, will no longer need to fulfil the vulnerability test to be considered in priority need for accommodation. To further clarify this new position, this section also amends Article 6 of the Homelessness (Priority Need for Accommodation) (England) Order 2002 to clarify that for those who are in priority need due to being vulnerable as a result of ceasing to occupy accommodation by reason of violence from another person or threats of violence, ‘violence’ does not include violence which is domestic abuse.
	The section also amends the language in the Housing Act 1996 to reflect contemporary understanding of the nature of domestic abuse, by replacing references to domestic violence with domestic abuse as defined in section 1 of the Act.