ashamed is the man bullying you - imagine it was a friend in this situation - what would you say to them? There's a lot of good advice above so i'm not going to repeat it - instead i will focus on the practicalities since that's what you focused on in the letter. If you leave the property you will not necessarily have to pay for cancelling the lease - it is reasonable to assume your boyfriend will continue to live there. If there is an issue contact the Citizens advice bureau Next - cost is a major issue but you don't need to suffer from physical abuse for shelters to help. You would be surprised how little you would need to contribute towards a hostel and you can be re-accommodated within a reasonable (travelling) distance to your work place whilst you work out your notice period or find somewhere to live. You could live in a house share which will be loads cheaper than renting a place by yourself. Please think about talking to family / friends. You need their support and no-one is judging you, if they are good people they would be distraught knowing you were suffering through something like this but was too ashamed to tell them I also wholeheartedly recommend Lundy Bancroft's book whose full title is 'Why does he do that? Inside the minds of angry and controlling men'. It helped me to see clearly what I was dealing with (to counteract the brainwashing)