15 March 2002
Just 17 of 57 registered social landlords with more than 5,000 homes surveyed on behalf of the Housing Corporation had websites judged satisfactory or better, while none of the smaller RSL respondents even had an IT strategy.
The study, by Oxford Brookes University and Aldbourne Associates, found little evidence of associations integrating technology into planning and blamed a 'culture of secrecy' surrounding ownership of information for the slow progress made.
Skills shortages among IT staff and gaps in understanding by senior managers are highlighted in the report. 'Despite the exhortations of the government and the Housing Corporation,' it concludes, 'it is unlikely that RSLs will meet the public sector e-governance target of delivering appropriate services on-line by 2005.'
Further research by the corporation has found that a larger proportion of RSL properties is empty and unavailable to let in London than anywhere else in England.
Some 2% of homes belonging to small-to-medium-size RSLs in the capital are empty, either waiting for repairs or because they are to be demolished, compared with a national average of 1.5%.
The figures emerged in the corporation's performance indicator tables for 2000/01. No regional breakdown is available for larger associations.
PFmar2002
