Domestic abusers weaponising joint mortgages

Many domestic abusers are forcing survivors into debt and homelessness because they won’t pay their agreed share of a joint mortgage.

According to the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, more than 750,000 women in the UK have been affected by mortgage abuse from a current or former partner.

As a result, many have felt trapped into staying with a dangerous abuser, while those who flee often fall into debt or live in insecure housing.

The charity’s research revealed that more than three-quarters of abuse survivors feel unable to leave their partner or an unsafe living arrangement. 

Figures also showed that almost half are having to cover mortgage bills by going without basic essentials, such as food and clothing, or cutting back on utilities.

This is, in turn, harming their mental health, as nine in ten abuse survivors have experienced issues such as anxiety, depression, panic attacks and suicidal thoughts.

Ministers and banks told to act on economic abuse

The charity has called on the government to set up an economic abuse task force, made up of experts in law, financial services and domestic abuse, to tackle this problem and offer greater protection to survivors.

Meanwhile, financial services firms have been urged to offer more support to women experiencing joint mortgage-based abuse and make it harder for abusers to use these products to cause harm.

In addition, the sector watchdog has been told it must provide clearer and stronger guidance and regulations for businesses to avoid causing foreseeable harm to customers experiencing economic abuse.

Sam Smethers, interim chief executive of Surviving Economic Abuse, said: “Being forced to foot the full mortgage bill makes it near-impossible for survivors to flee to safety. 

“For those who do escape, they remain tied to the abuser who can plunge them into mountains of debt.  

“Survivors are doing everything they can to make ends meet. But right now, banks are limited in what they can do to stop abusers from causing a lifetime of debt and homelessness for survivors.”

Responding to the report, a government spokesperson said it recognised the “devastating impact” of financial and economic abuse, adding it is providing £200,000 to the charity this year to raise awareness and support survivors.

“The numbers in this report, which we are now considering, are stark and show how vital our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade is,” the spokesperson stated.

The report’s publication comes just after we called on ministers to support domestic abuse survivors by scrapping the person at risk of violence (PARV) order fee in next month’s Budget.

We’ve expressed concern that the current system means domestic abuse survivors applying for certain debt solutions have to pay £308 to prevent their address being added to a public register and stop abusive ex-partners from tracking them down.