New clause 43—Housing Act 1996: Removal of local connection—

“(1) The Housing Act 1996 is amended as follows.

(2) At the end of section 199 (local connection), insert—

“(12) A person who is or is likely to become a victim of domestic abuse, is not required to have any local connection to any authority within the meaning of section 199(1) of this Act for the purposes of his or her application.

(13) For the purposes of subsection 12, a person must provide evidence of domestic abuse or the risk of domestic abuse in one of more of the forms set out in regulation 33(2) of the Civil Legal Aid (Procedure) Regulations 2012.””

This new clause would remove the need for a local connection for victims of domestic abuse when applying for social housing to a particular local authority.