Skip to main content

Your web browser is out of date. Please update it for greater security, speed and the best experience on this site.

Choose a different browser

Ralph’s story

An older man with grey hair and a stripey jumper takes a smiling selfie in his home. Behind him you can see his hallway and stairs.
23 July 2025

Working with Somerset council, we helped turn Ralph’s cold and damp house into a warmer and happier home.

The Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) was a government-funded energy efficiency initiative that ran between 2023 and 2025 and was delivered via local authorities. It was targeted at low income households living in off-gas properties with a low Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).


CSE worked closely with Somerset council to identify eligible recipients and provide retrofit advice tailored to the specific needs of each property, ensuring proposals for funding aligned with the Home Upgrade Grant
objectives and requirements.

Ralph was supported by HUG to make life-changing home improvements

In some cases, the impact was transformative. Take Ralph*, who lives in a mid-terrace, solid walled home that had previously been difficult and expensive to heat and consequently cold and damp in winter.


Our Retrofit Coordinator Tom McGauran surveyed the home and specified a range of measures including solar PV, loft insulation, ventilation and new storage heaters. Funding worth around £35,000 was secured, and weeks later Ralph’s previously cold and damp home – and his quality of life – were transformed.

“The equipment looks reliable and well made, and all the workmen were friendly, helpful and professional, keeping us informed and making a neat job of everything.”

Ralph, supported through HUG

Ralph’s previously cold and damp home – and his quality of life – were transformed.

Alternative schemes

The Home Upgrade Grant is no longer running, but CSE’s retrofit services team continues to offer project management and delivery for the Warm Homes: Local Grant that replaced it, and for the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund.

*Name changed for privacy.

Ralph is just one of the people we helped in 2024-2025. Read our full impact report to see how our advice, community work and innovative research has influenced the energy landscape.

Share this: