Lumen Housing is required to meet the requirements set by the Housing Ombudsman to ensure continuous learning an improvement is embedded. All complaint information is recorded and performance information is produced and analysed by the Senior Management Team. The Member Responsible for Complaints (MRC) has lead responsibility for complaints and supports a positive complaints handling culture.
Complaints Performance 2024/25
This report covers complaints received by Lumen Housing from 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025.
The annual self-assessment against the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code has been submitted and published on the Lumen Website, along with this report.
| Complaint Volume |
2024/25 |
2025/26 |
|
| Stage 1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Stage 2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Housing Ombudsman |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| TSM Complaints per 1000 properties |
0 |
12.5 |
12.5 |
| TSM Complaints completed within timescale |
0 |
0 |
0 |
During the reporting period there has been one complaint reported. Lumen Housing has been operating since 2019 and delivered 80 units of affordable accommodation as at the 31st March 2025. When reviewing our performance and implementing improvements it is essential to reflect on our journey and strategic approach to growth and service delivery.
We have used the data received through the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM’s) to seek assurance that complaints are being captured accurately.
In respect of our approach to complaints handling we take an early resolution approach when addressing expressions of dissatisfaction, aiming to resolve issues at the earliest opportunity. This proactive approach effectively prevents complaints from escalating further through the process.
Our staff, contractors and partners are empowered to take ownership of service-related issues and resolve them promptly without requiring managerial approval. We believe this approach speeds up the resolution time and contributes to higher levels of customer satisfaction.
Complaints we have refused
There have been no complaints made which Lumen Housing have refused to accept.
Service Improvement Plan
As a result of our learning, we have developed a plan of things we can do to improve how we handle complaints and improve the experience for our customers.
Learning from Complaints
In response to a recent complaint concerning the verification of tenant rent amounts for individuals claiming Universal Credit, we have taken several steps to improve our service delivery:
- Rent verification forms received from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are now subject to thorough review before being returned.
- The Universal Credit Landlord Portal has been successfully implemented to streamline the verification process.
- Staff have received enhanced training and continued support to ensure more effective communication with our customers.
These improvements aim to streamline processes and ensure a higher level of service delivery.
Improved Communications
We will improve the way we record expressions of dissatisfaction to make it less cumbersome. Recording this information enables us to look for trends in service failures so that we can implement changes to improve service delivery.
We will actively promote complaints and how our customers can complain through newsletters and the website.
Positive Complaint Handling Culture
We will provide refresher training to staff which focuses on the Housing Ombudsman Complaint handling code and recognising the difference between a service request and a complaint.
We will provide all new starters with complaints training as part of their induction.
We will continue to discuss complaints at team meetings and feedback learning from service improvements.
We will evaluate each complaint to review why things went wrong and how we can prevent this from happening again.
We will share the learning from positive changes implemented which has improved the service to our customers.
Response to the Complaints Service Improvement Report from Claire Stone, Lumen Housing Board Chair & Member Responsible for Complaints
In the last twelve months Lumen Housing Association has only received one formal complaint. This is low even as a proportion of our small number of homes. Lumen has responded in two ways.
Firstly, procedural changes have been made to address the issue raised in the complaint, and preventative action has been put in place as a result of gaining access to the Universal Credit portal. This was achieved with the support and guidance of one of our board members.
Secondly, we continue to promote the complaints procedure in a variety of ways to make sure that all our residents have both the knowledge of, and easy access to our complaints process if they are not satisfied with any aspect of the service Lumen delivers. We want to encourage all forms of feedback and are keen to learn so we can meet the needs and expectations of our residents.
The board continue to receive reports on the volume of complaints at every meeting and are asked to confirm their satisfaction with both the approach to and performance in addressing complaints. Members are also asked to approve this submission as compliant with the regulatory standard.
