DOMESTIC abusers face eviction from social housing without a victim having to leave first, under proposed legal changes aimed at tackling what ministers have called a “moral failure.”

Around 15,000 households in England last year faced being forced to find a new place to live because of domestic abuse.

Under current law, landlords can only evict an abuser after the victim has already left, while victims in joint tenancies face the sole option of ending the tenancy entirely, potentially leaving them homeless and struggling financially.

The Social Housing Bill, debated in Parliament today, would close a loophole allowing abusers to end a tenancy unilaterally.

New legislation would also give courts the power to transfer a joint tenancy into the victim’s name alone, or require landlords to provide suitable alternative accommodation where staying at the current address was not deemed appropriate.

Domestic abuse commissioner Dame Nicole Jacobs welcomed the changes as “an important step,” saying: “Sharing a social home with a perpetrator presents victims and survivors with an impossible choice.

“Remaining in their home means facing further abuse but leaving could put them at risk of homelessness.

“Alongside survivors and campaigners, I have been calling for action to stop perpetrators from weaponising joint tenancies — and I’m pleased to see that the government has listened.”

Housing Secretary Steve Reed said the changes “put victims first, give landlords the powers they need, and make sure perpetrators can no longer use housing as a weapon of control.”

The Bill also promises the biggest overhaul of right to buy in a generation, raising eligibility from three to 10 years, protecting newly built social homes for 35 years and giving councils stronger powers to buy back properties sold under the scheme.