More social homes needed to protect people from domestic abuse

Tens of thousands of new social homes are required in Scotland to allow people to escape abusive households - that's what the charity Shelter are telling us today.

Figures from Shelter Scotland show 4,832 applications were made to councils from people experiencing homelessness who said they left their old address due to violence or abuse, between April 2019 and March.

The charity say 37,100 new homes are needed over the next five years.

Alison Watson, director of Shelter Scotland, said: We support efforts to change the law so that wherever possible survivors of domestic abuse can stay in their homes, and perpetrators are made to leave.

But where that isn't an option, access to social housing must be made easier and the only way to do that is to build the homes Scotland needs.''

The charity has put forward a local woman known as Lucy - not her real name - who was sent to a hostel after leaving an abusive partner.

She is now part of the charity's Time for Change group in Aberdeen.

Lucy said: It wasn't safe. There were fights every night. The noise was horrendous. Doors would be slammed.

I could even hear punches being thrown. Men would chap on my door. It was really threatening and it made me really ill being there.

I ended up going back to my ex-partner. I was never more at risk of being hurt.''