Chloe Weatherhead, Head of Virtual College's Housing e-Academy, says, "We are reviewing a number of our eLearning courses to ensure they meet the specific requirements of housing legislation in Scotland.

"Scotland's social-housing sector is facing a reduction in its capital budget of thirty per cent, and eLearning is a cost-effective solution to training requirements. Despite having less money to spend, our Scottish providers still have to ensure that both staff and involved tenants are fully conversant with legislation and issues facing the sector."

Hanover (Scotland) Housing Association recently took the decision to move to a blended-learning approach and offer eLearning through the Housing e-Academy as part of its corporate Learning and Development Programme for 500 staff in Scotland.

There are over 180 social-housing providers in Scotland, and the feedback received by Virtual College's Housing e-Academy suggests eLearning will be a pivotal part of staff and tenant learning in the future. As well as offering value for money, it is ideal for those organisations that have staff based across a wide geographical area.

Using eLearning in place of traditional classroom training can save thousands of pounds from the annual training budget, and with less money to deliver arguably more services, Housing e-Academy believes its bespoke packages for the Scottish social-housing sector will help relieve some of the pressure.