Housing options

Information on renting or buying your home and your housing options when you separate from your partner.

One of our experienced advisors Lisa from the Advice and Information team has produced a blog which spotlights Frequently Asked Questions on Housing options which you can read here.

Information

Renting a home

You can rent your home from a social or private landlord.

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Help to pay rent

You may get financial help to pay your rent with Housing Benefit, Universal Credit or a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) if you have been affected by the UK Government Benefit Cap.

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Help to pay Council Tax

You may not have to pay your full Council Tax bill if you are on a low income or are the only adult in the house.

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Owning a home

Buying a home and help to pay your mortgage.

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Housing support if your ex-partner is abusive

Housing support is available in Scotland if your ex-partner is abusive.

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What happens to rented housing after separation

This information explains who can continue to live in the house you rent after separation.

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What happens to an owned home after separation

This information is about staying in, leaving or selling your home and about paying the mortgage.

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Useful contacts

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Covering your tracks

You may not want other people to know that you’ve been searching for information or help from OPFS.

When browsing the internet whether on a mobile phone, tablet or computer, you leave a ‘history’ trail of pages and sites you’ve visited.

It’s impossible to completely avoid being tracked online but if you’re worried about someone knowing which sites you’ve been looking at, there are some things you can do to help cover your tracks.

If you’re using a laptop or desktop computer, try keeping another document or website open in a new tab or window while browsing. If someone comes in the room and you don’t want them to see what you’re looking at, you can quickly switch to another window or tab.

Deleting browsing history

You can delete the history of websites you’ve visited, but it’s important to know that if you delete your browsing history, someone else using the same device may notice.

If you share a tablet, mobile phone, laptop or computer with someone, they might notice that passwords or website addresses have disappeared from their history.

Find out how to remove your browsing history and other data from some of the most commonly used browsers:

Browsing in Private mode (incognito)

When browsing ‘incognito’, the internet browser won’t store cookies or record your browsing history on the computer, mobile or tablet.

This option is available on popular web browsers i.e. -

Toolbars

If you use a search toolbar in your web browser, remember that your searched items can be saved as part of your history. Find out how to delete your searched items from the following search engines: