A new report by Demos, commissioned by housing association Stonewater, has urged housing providers to do more to ensure residents benefit from homeworking.

While the report showed that low-paid workers’ experiences of home working have generally been positive, it noted that there are some challenges that need to be overcome.

Low-paid workers report their costs increasing by £10 per month due to homeworking, while high-paid workers report savings of £63 per month

This includes a number of recommendations that would have a particular benefit to the social housing sector:

• Housing providers should review tenancy agreements to ensure that they do not unnecessarily prevent tenants working from home
• Housing providers should aim to provide high-quality broadband access to tenants, and should consider incorporating broadband access into tenants’ rent payments
• Housing providers should explore the possibility of providing tenants with co-working spaces for remote working

There were also recommendations for how the government could support social housing to be better for those who have to work from home:

• The ongoing review of the Decent Homes Standard should consider issues related to working from home. The revised standard should include broadband connectivity, as recommended by the Centre for Ageing Better’s Good Home Inquiry.
• The Future Homes Standard should also be reviewed to ensure it is suitable for a future in which homeworking is significantly more common.
• The Department for Work and Pensions should ensure the current housing benefit system supports homeworking by permitting people who are working from home to have an additional bedroom under the Bedroom Standard, without being penalised by the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (‘Bedroom Tax’) policy.
• The Department for Work and Pensions and social housing providers should take more of an active role in ensuring claimant awareness of social tariffs in the utilities sector, for example, by notifying those who sign up for Universal Credit of the additional schemes for which they are eligible.
• Local governments should be responsible for establishing remote working strategies to the unique needs of the workforce whether young and urban or older and rural. This should include making adult skills and training available for those who want to retrain for homeworking, alongside considering the development of new remote working hubs and the redesign of existing community spaces to ensure equal access to remote working spaces exists.

Nicholas Harris, Chief Executive Officer of Stonewater, said: “We recognise that the way we work has shifted for many and it is unlikely that we will ever go back. As a housing association, we want to make sure that we are as responsive as we can be to the future needs of our customers, ensuring the homes we provide are places where customers can thrive.

“New ways of working present a significant opportunity with where you live becoming less of a factor about the type of work you can access. We are in a unique position to examine the impact of new ways of working, speaking directly to colleagues and customers up and down the country, who may be adjusting to significant changes in the way they work or possibly facing barriers in accessing new opportunities.

“While the shift to homeworking presents many possibilities it also presents challenges, particularly for low-paid employees who might face increased costs and/or lack the provision, connectivity and space to work from home. It is also the case that many low-paid workers will not be able to work from home at the moment.

“We hope that the recommendations in this report will help to overcome these challenges, making sure everyone has the same opportunity to thrive as we adjust to a new normal.

“Demos’ work will help Stonewater and other employers to support their workers, and we are delighted that this report sets a clear direction for the future of working, and how we can ensure that our customers and those on lower incomes have the opportunity to see the benefits of homeworking that many higher earners have.”

Ben Glover, Deputy Research Director at Demos said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed the way that many of us work. Much of the focus has been on better-paid home workers, overlooking the experiences of low-paid homeworkers who may continue to work from home for the long-term.

“Low-paid homeworkers told us they overwhelmingly welcome the shift to remote work. But there are some specific challenges that need addressing: working from home is more likely to cost low-paid workers than others, for example.

“What’s more, too few low-paid workers are able to work from home. That’s why we are calling on the government to make employment contracts flexible by default – a first step to widening access to homeworking.”