Women’s Refuges and Safe Accommodation

A women’s refuge is confidential temporary accommodation with specialist domestic-abuse support. The address is kept private to protect everyone living there. Refuge accommodation is intended for women who are not safe where they are living because of domestic abuse, and often for their children as well.

Refuge accommodation is not a general answer to every personal difficulty. If you are homeless for other reasons, unwell, struggling with your mental health, being exploited, or in a different kind of crisis, there are other specialist services that may fit your situation better. Those services are important, but they are not the same as a domestic-abuse refuge.

Sixpence Support UK does not run refuges, cannot arrange a placement and cannot carry out safeguarding work. Information and support provided directly by Sixpence Support UK is free of charge. External services and accommodation providers set their own charges and eligibility rules.

Domestic abuse can include:

• coercive control, threats and intimidation
• sexual abuse
• stalking and harassment
• economic abuse, including controlling money, work, benefits or debt
• technology-facilitated abuse, including tracking, monitoring and online threats
• controlling access to money, medication, transport, food, documents or support

Abuse can come from a current or former partner, or from another family member. You do not need to wait for physical violence before asking for help, and you do not need to have reported anything to the police before contacting a specialist service.

Leaving can be a particularly dangerous time, which is why specialist safety planning matters. Please do not confront the person you are worried about, and do not tell them your plans.

None of this is your fault, and nobody should ask you why you have not left. Asking for information is not a commitment to do anything.

Support varies between services and areas. Depending on the refuge, it may include:

• confidential temporary accommodation
• a personal safety plan
• specialist domestic-abuse support
• help dealing with the council and with housing applications
• benefits and financial-support guidance
• help with children, schools and childcare
• emotional and practical support
• help accessing healthcare
• support with police or court processes, if you choose that
• referrals for immigration advice
• support to plan longer-term accommodation
• contact with specialist services for Black and minoritised women, disabled women, LGBTQ+ survivors, or women with other particular needs

Not every refuge provides every facility, so it is reasonable to ask what a service can offer.

1. If there is immediate danger, call 999.
2. Contact the national domestic-abuse helpline for your nation, or a trusted local domestic-abuse service.
3. Explain any immediate risk, and whether children need accommodation with you.
4. Explain accessibility, health, communication, cultural, immigration or pet-related requirements.
5. A specialist worker can discuss safety with you and search for suitable vacancies.
6. The refuge address will normally remain confidential until a placement is arranged.
7. If no suitable vacancy is available immediately, ask about alternative safe accommodation and about council homelessness assistance.

Please do not travel to a refuge address without arranging the placement first. Refuge locations are confidential and are not listed publicly, including on this page.

These questions are not an interrogation. They are asked so that a placement is safe and suitable for you, rather than one that could put you at risk or fail to meet your needs. You can say that you would rather not answer something.

• immediate risks to you or your children
• the person causing harm, and whether they know where you are
• children travelling with you, and their ages
• health conditions, disability and medication
• accessibility requirements
• pets
• immigration or benefit circumstances
• areas that may or may not be safe for you
• the support you feel you need
• whether the person causing harm has access to weapons
• safe ways and safe times to contact you

Many refuges accommodate women with children. Children are recognised as victims of domestic abuse in their own right when they see, hear or experience its effects.

• Arrangements vary depending on family size and the ages of children.
• Specialist workers may help with school or nursery places, healthcare and emotional support for children.
• Tell the service about every child who needs accommodation with you.
• You should not simply be told to leave your children behind. If you are told that, ask the helpline for support and for another option.
• Contact arrangements, child arrangements orders and court proceedings need qualified legal advice.

Do not delay leaving an immediate danger to collect belongings. Safety comes first.

• identification
• bank cards and some money
• essential medication and prescriptions
• telephone and charger
• keys
• important telephone numbers
• children’s essential items
• benefit, housing and immigration documents
• copies of any court orders
• a few clothes and toiletries
• evidence of abuse, only where it is safe to keep it

You can still be helped without every document. Services are used to people arriving with very little.

Please do not keep a visible packed bag where the person causing harm could find it. If it is safe, a trusted person may be able to hold a few essentials for you.

• Not all refuge accommodation is completely free.
• A specialist worker can explain rent, licence charges, service charges and possible Housing Benefit arrangements.
• Women receiving Universal Credit may need specialist benefits guidance.
• Some women temporarily need help relating to two homes.
• Women with no recourse to public funds can face additional barriers, but should still contact a specialist domestic-abuse or immigration-support organisation.
• Nobody should be discouraged from asking for urgent safety help because they have little money.

Sixpence Support UK cannot give individual financial, benefits or immigration advice. You can also read our page on Benefits, Grants and Help with Living Costs.

In England, if you cannot safely stay at home because of domestic abuse, you can ask a council’s homelessness team for help. Someone who is homeless because of domestic abuse has priority need under the English homelessness rules.

• You can approach a council and explain that you need to make a homelessness application because of domestic abuse.
• You should not simply be told to return to an unsafe home.
• The council route and the refuge route are different, and a specialist worker may help you with both at the same time.
• Rules differ in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so use the official guidance for your nation.

Please explain your requirements when you ask for a place, for example if you:

• need wheelchair-accessible accommodation
• use powered medical equipment
• need help with medication or personal care
• are deaf or hard of hearing
• are blind or partially sighted
• have a learning disability
• have dyslexia, are autistic, or have another communication need
• have mental-health support needs
• need an interpreter
• need information in an accessible format

Honestly, not every refuge can meet every requirement. Specialist services and dispersed safe accommodation, such as self-contained flats with visiting support, may sometimes be available instead. Saying what you need early makes a suitable match more likely.

Many refuges cannot accommodate pets on site. Please do not let that stop you from asking for help. Specialist pet-fostering arrangements for people escaping domestic abuse may be available in some areas, and coverage and eligibility change, so check the current position with the service.

Please do not abandon a pet, and do not share a safe location publicly.

Please still ask for domestic-abuse help. Your immigration status can affect benefits and how accommodation is funded, and having no recourse to public funds can create real barriers, but it does not mean nothing can be done.

Entitlement depends on individual circumstances, so this page cannot tell you what you are or are not entitled to. Specialist domestic-abuse support alongside regulated immigration advice is the safest route. Women’s Aid’s No Woman Turned Away project supports women who face difficulty accessing a refuge space; check its current eligibility and coverage before relying on it.

Availability changes constantly, and none of these can be guaranteed. Ask about:

• dispersed safe accommodation, such as self-contained flats with visiting support
• specialist accommodation for particular communities or needs
• council emergency accommodation
• sanctuary schemes, where it is assessed as safe for you to remain at home
• outreach and community domestic-abuse support
• help from an Independent Domestic Violence Adviser (IDVA)

A sanctuary scheme, which adds security measures to your existing home, is not suitable where remaining at home would be unsafe.

• You can still contact a helpline.
• You can ask for confidential safety planning.
• You do not have to make an immediate decision.
• Community or outreach support may be available while you stay where you are.
• Please avoid confronting the person causing harm.
• Use a safer device if you think your technology is being monitored.
• Keep emergency contacts somewhere safe, or memorise one number.
• Call 999 if danger becomes immediate.

There is no single correct plan. A specialist worker can help you think through what is realistic for your situation rather than giving fixed instructions that could increase risk.

Each service covers its own nation. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline does not cover the whole UK.

• Domestic Abuse and Safeguarding
• Suicidal Thoughts and Crisis Support
• Food Banks and Emergency Food Help
• Find Local Services

This page provides general information about women’s refuges and safe accommodation. It is not legal, housing, benefits, immigration or safeguarding advice. Services, eligibility and housing rights differ across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Contact a specialist domestic-abuse service for confidential advice about your circumstances.

Sixpence Support UK CIC is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company. Information and support provided directly by Sixpence Support UK is free of charge. External organisations set their own charges, and accommodation costs may apply.