If you and your partner no longer wish to remain in the relationship and you have reached the point where you have decided to leave, you should carefully think about the following points:

• If you and your partner own or are buying a property and you have no dependant children, you should stay in the property until you have made a legal agreement about your share of the money in the property. You should make sure that you have suitable alternative accommodation to go to prior to leaving the property
• If you and your partner live in rented accommodation with a joint tenancy and you have no dependant children you should make sure before leaving that the rent payments are up to date, your name is taken off the tenancy and that the landlord is told of the day that you leave the property. You should not leave the property first without first getting suitable alternative accommodation
• If you and your partner do have dependant children it is in the interest of the children that they stay in the family home with the person who is responsible for their primary care, even if the family home is in your partners name. If you own or are buying the property you should get legal advice about your interest in the property before leaving. If the property is rented you should make sure before leaving the property that the rent payments are up to date, your name is taken of the tenancy and the landlord is aware of the date you moved out. You should not leave the property until you have first found suitable alternative accommodation.

Domestic Abuse

There are many forms of domestic violence including emotional, physical, mental and sexual. If you or someone you know is suffering from domestic abuse or violence and need to leave your partner, the housing options team can help.

Trafford’s Housing Options Service can give help and advice if you are being abused by someone who lives with you or someone who used to live you.

You can have an interview with a member of staff of the same sex if you wish and the team will deal sensitively and confidentially with anything you tell them.

Advice and support is available 24hours a day, including weekends. Contact details:

Between 8.30am to 5pm pm Monday to Friday - Housing Options Service Trafford, telephone 0161 912 2230, visit us at Friars Court, Sibson Road, Sale, M33 7SF or email host@salford.gov.uk

The Service is closed for staff training on Wednesday mornings.

Or outside these hours if you are homeless, contact the Emergency Duty Team, telephone 0161 794 8888.

We can arrange emergency, temporary safe accommodation; this may be out of the Trafford area.

Your whereabouts will be kept secret and the cost of any rent if you are not working or on a low income will usually be covered by Housing Benefit. We will also help you access the Housing Register if this is what you want to do.

We can put you in contact with other services that will be able to give you help. We will also give you information on other options available to you, such as taking out injunctions against the person abusing you, help in setting up a sanctuary scheme if you want to stay in your home (this will include extra security measures) and also putting you in touch with an Outreach Worker.

You may also want to look at websites provided by external agencies in relation to domestic violence.