Disconnected - Social Housing Tenants and the Home Working Revolution (Paperback)

An examination of how Regional Social Landlords are working to give tenants access to information technology. Many RSLs are beginning to address the digital divide - the extent to which tenants may be excluded from the benefits of advances in information and communications technology. Tenancy agreements and allocation policies may however work against this by making working from home with PCs almost impossible for tenants and their children. This report looks at how housing association and council tenants - and their children - find it hard to work from home. It reviews allocation procedures that fail to take families' work needs into account, questions outdated tenancy conditions that bar "running a business" and tests wired community practices for their employment potential. Warning of the danger of a growing home-working divide between social tenant and home owners, the report contains recommendations for all social landlords and for national policy reform.