What are Property and Furniture Orders?

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A Property Order says who can live in a specific house or flat. A Furniture Order says who can keep the furniture including appliances, like a fridge and beds.

If you apply for a Protection Order, you can apply for a Property Order and Furniture Order at the same time.

There are two kinds of Property Orders:

• An Occupation Order gives the person who applied for a Protection Order the right to live in the house or flat where they're now living (or somewhere else you want to live). It means the person who's been violent isn't allowed to live there without your agreement.
• A Tenancy Order says that the person who's been violent is no longer the tenant of a house they've been renting with you. You can still live there, but the person who's been violent can’t.

Keeping furniture

If you've applied for a Protection Order and want to stay in the house or flat you shared with the person who's been violent, you can apply for an Ancillary Furniture Order to keep the furniture and appliances in your house or flat.  

If you want to move out, you can apply for a Furniture Order to take all or some of the furniture and appliances to your new home.

It doesn't matter who owns the furniture.

If the person who's been violent doesn’t leave the property

If the person who's been violent stays in the property when there's an Occupation Order or Tenancy Order, they can be arrested by the Police for breaching the Protection Order and removed.

To apply for any of these Orders, go to our forms page:

Protection Order forms