Customer Service Excellence Accreditation: A national first for LHP!

In June 2026, we undertook our annual audit against the national quality framework for the Customer Service Excellence (CSE) accreditation. At LHP, we’ve been assessed against the CSE framework for 6, but 2026 marks the first year under the new updated quality framework for the Customer Service Excellence Standard.

In simple terms, LHP is externally assessed to check how we’re performing against 5 key areas, which includes:

• Customer insight
• Leadership and commitment
• Information and access
• Service delivery
• Connecting with customers

We’re incredibly proud to share that LHP has become the first organisation in the UK to be assessed and successfully awarded the new updated quality framework for the Customer Service Excellence Standard. We achieved an impressive nine Compliance Plus ratings, with two Emerging Strengths and just one Partial Compliance.

This achievement is particularly significant as the revised standard has become more focused, evidence-led and closely aligned to the Consumer Standards. The assessment places a greater emphasis on demonstrating outcomes, customer influence and organisational accountability, making these results an even stronger endorsement of the way LHP delivers services.

While the results themselves are something to celebrate, what really stood out to Richard Adkins, our CSE Assessor, was the way customer insight is embedded throughout the organisation.

Rather than relying on one or two engagement activities, LHP was recognised for gathering customer feedback through multiple channels and using that intelligence to shape services, policies and decision-making. From Neighbourhood Action Plans, Neighbourhood Champions to our Place Standard assessments, RentSense, Customer Forums, WhatsApp communities and AI-enabled insight through CXone, Richard commented “customer voices are influencing decisions at every level”.

In fact, one of the strongest messages from the assessment was that customer engagement at LHP is not treated as a separate activity. It is woven into the way we manage neighbourhoods, design services, respond to complaints, deliver repairs, allocate homes and support communities.

The nine Compliance Plus ratings recognised our strengths in understanding customers, strategic engagement, consultation and co-design, customer satisfaction, customer-centred services, policy development, digital engagement, community engagement and benchmarking.

The assessment also shone a light on LHP’s culture, with colleagues describing an environment where they feel empowered to make a difference.

One colleague said, “We’re empowered to do everything that we can.”

Another commented, “Here it’s about quality over quantity.”

And perhaps most importantly, a colleague summed up the culture by saying, “We do it because we care and we know that this is valued by our managers.”

These comments demonstrated that customer focus at LHP is driven not only by processes and systems, but by colleagues who genuinely care about delivering the best outcomes for customers.

A huge thank you goes to all our colleagues, customers and partners who contributed to the assessment, helped gather evidence and took the time to meet with the assessor during the assessment days. The positive feedback received reflected the passion, knowledge and commitment demonstrated across the organisation.

Becoming the first organisation nationally to complete this element of the Excellence Standard is a reflection of the collective efforts of colleagues, customers and partners working together to ensure our services are shaped by what matters most to the people who live in our homes and communities.