Purpose

1. Domestic abuse is a leading cause of homelessness among women and children in Greater Manchester (GM).
2. 15-20% of homelessness presentations in GM are from domestic abuse victims, making up 17% of the TA cohort, with an annual gross TA rent of circa £15 - £20 million (GMCA PSR analysis, Jan-March 2024).
3. Nationally, domestic abuse creates housing costs of £160 million per year (SafeLives, 2018).
4. Women living in households with an income of less than £10,000 were more than four times as likely (14.3%) to have experienced partner abuse in the last 12 months than women living in households with an income of £50,000 or more (3.3%). (ONS)
5. Women living in social housing (11.1%) were nearly three times as likely to have experienced partner abuse in the last 12 months than women who were owner occupiers (4.1%).
6. Victims may return to the perpetrator multiple times, requiring repeated TA costs (Walby, 2009).
7. Lack of affordable housing means some victims wait longer to be settled or undergo multiple temporary moves (Kelly et al., 2014).
8. The total estimated cost per domestic abuse incident is £14,141 (Walby, 2009, adjusted by GMCA).
9. The cost of seeking occupation orders can impact can victims’ ability to leave an abusive relationship.

Decision

As lead commissioner - to award grants to our two key delivery partners in the Occupation Order project, totalling £180,000.00.

The proposals contained within this decision notice have been approved by the GBV Board at it’s meeting in March 2026.

Housing First
The first grant is to Your Housing Group to support the recruitment of a Greater Manchester Housing Providers (GMHP) Project Manager - Development of Domestic Abuse Provision. As a newly scoped senior role within the partnership, it provides a genuine opportunity to build on all the great work that already exists in this important space across GM and to shape real change and improvement throughout the sector regarding the provision of domestic abuse services.

The GMHPs Project Manager - Development of Domestic Abuse Provision, will provide strategic leadership, operational oversight and system coordination for work to continue to develop and enhance the response to domestic abuse across the Partnership and will work with a team of support resources for the GMHP partnership including the TPA Director, GMHP Coordinator and GMHP Project Officer.

This is a key appointment for the GMHP and GMCA and the communities we serve, therefore we are looking for a Highly motivated professional that can bring to the GMHP and the CA a clear commitment to victim survivor safety and accountability for abuse, gained through experience working at a senior level within a multi agency partnership.

The grant to support the establishment of this role is £50,000 to cover support for the role for two years. Your Housing Group is committing over £100,000 to the role over the same two-year period. The JD is attached to this DN for information.

In addition to this employment support grant. GMCA has given a commitment to deliver a second grant to provide seed funding of £10,000 to a hardship fund to be managed by Your Housing Group. This fund will seek to support victims who are unable to access legal aid providing them with support to acquire an occupation order if this is what this wish. There is a commitment from other members of the GMHPs to add to this fund.

Talk Listen Change
The second grant to be awarded under the detail of this decision notice is to support the recruitment of a Senior Domestic Abuse Service Manager – Occupational Orders.

TLC are a core delivery partner in the Occupation Order Project, a multi-agency initiative designed to enhance victim safety and prevent repeat harm by supporting perpetrators alongside civil protections such as occupation orders.
The post holder will build effective working relationships across housing, legal, children’s services, policing, substance use, mental health, employment and training, and behaviour change providers to ensure perpetrators have realistic routes to comply with civil orders and reduce harm. The role will maintain a strong focus on accountability and defensible decision making, coordinated with victim survivor services to ensure that work with perpetrators actively contributes to safety planning and does not increase risk.

This will include:

• Creating and maintaining safe housing pathways and accommodation options for perpetrators excluded by Occupation Orders
• Leading multi agency planning that reduces the likelihood of breach, homelessness related risk and post separation abuse
• Increasing victim survivor safety by strengthening perpetrator engagement with behaviour change, support services and clear accountability
• Increasing victim-survivor safety and space for action
• Creating pathways to support perpetrators to understand the impact of their behaviour, comply with civil orders, and engage in meaningful, sustained behaviour change.

This will require a specialist understanding of domestic abuse perpetrators interventions, domestic abuse risk, and service model development. The post-holder will be confident in identifying service gaps, problem solving, and engaging professionals in training around domestic abuse perpetrator work. Flexibility will be needed in relation to job scope as the pilot develops. The grant to support the establishment of this role is £120,000 to cover support for the role for two years. A copy of the JD for this role is attached to this decision notice.

Strategic Rationale
Domestic abuse remains a significant driver of homelessness in Greater Manchester, with victims frequently forced to leave the family home due to lack of tenancy rights, legal support, or safe alternatives. The Occupation Orders programme responds to this by reversing the default response, enabling victims to stay put where safe to do so, while perpetrators are excluded through occupation orders and supported to change behaviour.

Partnership Development
Work has focused on positioning the programme within the complex GM housing landscape. A group of exemplar housing providers has been established to act as early adopters, working alongside GMCA, Greater Manchester Police and local authorities to design and test delivery approaches. These providers already have specialist domestic abuse capacity and have committed to progressing this work collaboratively.

These providers are:
• Bolton@Home
• Guiness Housing
• Jigsaw Housing
• L & Q
• Moss Care St Vincent
• Rochdale Housing
• Wythenshawe Community Housing Group
• Your Housing Group
• Stockport Homes

Agencies involved:
• All twenty-eight GM Housing Providers
• All ten GM Boroughs
• Specialist DA Agencies in the Boroughs
• Greater Manchester Combined Authority – Safer Stronger Communities
• Greater Manchester Combined Authority – Enhanced Live Well
• Greater Manchester Combined Authority – Prevention Demonstrator
• Greater Manchester Police – PPD
• Greater Manchester Police – Specialist DA teams on Districts