Council's housing team recognised for work with victims of domestic abuse

The Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance sets rigorous standards for how housing providers and local authorities prevent, identify and respond to domestic abuse in a safe, compassionate and survivor‑led way. We have been working closely with DAHA to strengthen our services against these standards, with the sole aim of improving safety and outcomes for survivors.

Achieving Bronze means the council has shown progress across:

• Policies and procedures
• Partnership working
• Staff training and development
• Survivor‑centred practice

As part of the assessment, DAHA completed a thorough review of our service against its national framework. This included scrutiny of our referral pathways, policies and procedures, the Domestic Abuse Champions scheme, staff learning and development, and in‑depth reviews of real housing cases over the last six months.

Cabinet Member for Health, Graeme Henderson, said: “DAHA’s feedback highlighted we have strong referral processes and effective partnerships for people who use our services. They also recognised the quality of housing teams’ responses to initial disclosures, the identification of multiple needs, the use of alerts for high‑risk cases, the availability of training, and the application of trauma‑informed practice when supporting survivors.

“We will continue building on this work, with the ambition to further strengthen our services and progress towards the DAHA Silver Award over the next 12 months.”

Nicki Clarke, Head of Service for Housing and Criminal Justice at DAHA said: “We are delighted to award Wandsworth and Richmond council’s DAHA Bronze Accreditation. This milestone recognises their commitment to strengthening the housing response to domestic abuse and embedding policies and practices that improve safety and outcomes for survivors.

"Housing providers play a vital role in identifying abuse early, responding effectively and ensuring survivors can access safe and secure housing.

“Wandsworth and Richmond have demonstrated real progress in building the foundations for a coordinated, survivor-centred housing response, and we look forward to continuing to work with them as they build on this important achievement.”