Menu

Housing support if your ex-partner is abusive

Last updated: 03/04/2025

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

For support, advice & information on domestic abuse, contact Scottish Women’s Aid.

Call the Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline Scotland on 0800 027 1234.

If you are in danger call the police on 112 from a landline or mobile

What to do if you own your home

If your ex-partner has no legal right to be in the home, you can ask them to leave and call the police for assistance if they refuse. You can also change the locks.

If you are married, in a civil partnership or your ex-partner’s name is on the title deeds to your home they have occupancy rights and therefore you cannot prevent them from entering the house, but you can obtain an exclusion order from the court because of the abuse.

What if my ex-partner is abusive?

What to do if you rent your home

If your ex-partner’s behaviour is abusive this may breach the tenancy agreement and be grounds for their eviction. The tenancy can be transferred to you if it is not already in your name.

Contact your landlord to find out more.

Help from your local council

If you need to leave your rented or owned home due to domestic abuse, contact your local council. They will offer you temporary emergency accommodation in the area you live or in another local authority and you can make a homeless application.

You can have a meeting with a homeless officer to discuss your situation and options which may include returning to your own home or applying to the council for permanent rented accommodation.

 

Previous
Owning a home

Back
Housing options

Next
What happens to rented housing after separation

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

View Privacy policy

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: