TL;DR:
- The OZEV EV Chargepoint Grant now covers 75% of installation costs, up to £500 per socket — the cap increased from £350 to £500 on 1 April 2026
- Flat owners and leaseholders with a dedicated parking space are eligible, but you need freeholder or management company permission before proceeding
- All residential grant schemes close on 31 March 2027, so there’s roughly nine months left to claim
Charging an electric car at home is one of the biggest practical advantages EV owners have over petrol drivers — wake up every morning to a full “tank” without visiting a forecourt. But if you live in a flat or own a leasehold property, getting a home charger installed is more complicated than calling an installer and booking a date.
This guide explains what’s actually involved, what grants are available, and how to navigate the freeholder and communal parking conversations that often slow things down.
Who Can Claim What
The government’s OZEV (Office for Zero Emission Vehicles) grant scheme has separate tracks depending on your housing situation.
Flat owners and leaseholders with a dedicated, clearly defined parking space associated with their property can claim the EV Chargepoint Grant: 75% of the total purchase and installation cost of a socket, up to £500. On a typical home charger installation costing £700–£900, that brings your out-of-pocket cost down to around £200–£225.
Renters in rented properties, including flats and houses, can claim the same grant — provided your landlord has given written permission and your parking space is dedicated rather than general communal parking. The charger stays with the property when you leave.
Residential landlords can claim up to £500 per socket, with a ceiling of 200 sockets per year and a total annual claim limit of £100,000. If your landlord owns multiple flats, they may be able to install chargers across the whole building under this track.
The scheme moved to a new application platform on 1 April 2026. Applications go through approved installers — you can’t claim directly. Your chosen installer submits the grant application on your behalf as part of the installation process.
The Permission Problem
For the majority of flat owners, the practical obstacle isn’t money — it’s getting permission. Here’s why it’s complicated:
When you own a leasehold flat, you own the inside of your flat. The external structure, communal areas, parking surfaces, service ducts, and often the wall you’d need to mount a cable route on are owned or managed by the freeholder or a management company. Installing an EV charger — even in your own parking space — almost always requires routing a cable from somewhere, which means touching something you don’t own.
Before you book an installer, you need:
Written permission from the freeholder or managing agent. Some will grant this readily, especially for newer developments where charging infrastructure was anticipated. Others impose conditions: using a specific contractor, restoring surfaces to original condition, or taking out additional liability insurance.
A section 20 process check. If your installation would affect shared areas or the freeholder plans to install charging for multiple properties as part of a larger scheme, they may have obligations around consultation. This rarely applies to a single flat installation but is worth confirming.
Confirmation of cable routing. Your installer needs to know where the cable will run (from your consumer unit to your parking space). If this requires drilling through communal walls or using communal service routes, the managing agent needs to approve the routing plan.
Write to your managing agent or freeholder before engaging an installer. Get their approval in writing and forward it to your installer — grant applications require evidence that you have permission.
Communal Parking Situations
If your flat has access to communal parking (a car park shared with other residents, rather than a space assigned specifically to your flat), your options are more limited. The OZEV grant is designed for dedicated spaces.
What you can do:
Ask your building management to install shared EV chargers. Some managing agents and landlords are installing charging points in communal car parks, often funded through the residential landlord grant track. If multiple residents want EV charging, a collective request to the management company is more likely to move things than individual applications.
Propose a charging bay arrangement. In some buildings it’s possible to have a specific bay formally assigned to your flat in the lease. This involves the freeholder and possibly a solicitor, and may have a cost — but it creates the dedicated space eligibility the grant requires.
Use public charging nearby. Services like Zap-Map let you find rapid chargers within walking distance. Depending on your usage patterns and proximity to public charging, monthly charging costs on public networks may be comparable to home charging on a standard electricity tariff — especially given rising network speeds.
What Installation Actually Involves
A standard home charger installation for a flat with a nearby dedicated parking space typically takes three to five hours. The main components:
The charger unit. A 7kW home charger (the standard) costs £500–£900 to buy and install combined. Smart chargers with app control and scheduling are preferable — they let you charge during cheaper overnight tariff windows and integrate with solar if you have it.
Cable routing. This is the variable that most affects cost and complexity. If your consumer unit is close to your parking space, costs are lower. If the route requires significant drilling, conduit work through communal areas, or a long cable run, you may pay more for labour.
DNO application. Your installer will notify your Distribution Network Operator (DNO) about the new charge point — required for units over 3.68kW. This is handled by the installer and rarely causes delays.
Smart Tariffs for Flat Residents
If you can install a charger, pairing it with an EV smart tariff makes a significant difference to running costs. Octopus Intelligent, OVO Charge Anytime, and similar tariffs offer substantially cheaper overnight electricity specifically for EV charging — sometimes under 10p/kWh versus the standard 24–25p/kWh daytime rate.
These tariffs require a smart meter and a compatible smart charger. If you’re renting, your landlord may not have opted into smart meter installation — worth raising alongside the charger permission conversation.
Act Before March 2027
The OZEV residential EV grant schemes — covering both the flat/renter track and the residential landlord track — are officially closing on 31 March 2027. There’s no announced replacement scheme yet.
If you’ve been putting off the freeholder conversation or the installation, the grant is worth pursuing while it exists. The process from first contact with a managing agent to a completed installation typically takes four to eight weeks, so starting now gives you comfortable time before the deadline.
You can find OZEV-approved installers through the Chargepoint Grant section on GOV.UK. All installers on the approved list can handle the grant application on your behalf.