EV Charger for Flat Owners: Grants, Consent and Wiring (2026)

Yes — flat owners can install an EV charger, and you’re one of the main groups the government grant is aimed at. You’ll need three things: a designated, private parking space you’re legally entitled to use, written permission from your freeholder or management company, and an OZEV-authorised installer. The EV Chargepoint Grant covers 75% of the supply-and-install cost, up to £500 per socket (raised from £350 on 1 April 2026), funded until at least 31 March 2027. The real hurdle usually isn’t money: there’s no legal right to charge in the UK, so everything hinges on your building saying yes.

Who qualifies for the £500 grant

The grant is open to people who own and live in a flat (including shared ownership) or rent a residential property. Owner-occupiers of houses generally can’t apply — the scheme targets people without a driveway of their own.

Beyond tenure, three conditions matter:

• Designated, private off-street parking that you own or have the legal right to use, accessible to you at all times. It doesn’t have to be next to your flat — a bay across the car park qualifies.
• An eligible vehicle on the OZEV-approved list — as registered keeper, through a lease or work-vehicle arrangement (broadly, six months or longer), or one on order.
• Written permissions in place before you apply. OZEV asks for proof of all legal rights and permissions — including freeholder or landlord consent — with your application.

Since 1 April 2026 the scheme has run on a new application platform: you apply yourself, attaching a quote from an OZEV-authorised installer, and must not have the charger installed until OZEV confirms your application. Your installer then fits the unit, deducts the grant from the final invoice and claims the money back — OZEV pays the installer, never you.

Consent: what leaseholders can and can’t insist on

Here’s the honest bit: there is no statutory right to charge in the UK, and campaigners’ calls for a legal “right to request” haven’t yet made it into law. Your freeholder is under no obligation to say yes.

Your lease still matters. If your parking space is demised — actually included in your lease — and the lease requires the freeholder’s consent for improvements, that consent generally can’t be unreasonably withheld (section 19(2) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927). The snag is the cable: it almost always has to cross communal land to reach your bay, and there the freeholder has much freer rein to refuse. What you can insist on depends on your lease’s wording — one for a solicitor who knows leasehold work.

Consent is normally formalised through a licence to alter, setting conditions on the charger model, its position and the cable route — expect legal and surveyor fees on top of the install. A clear, professional proposal from a competent installer genuinely helps your case.

One bright spot: under Part S of the Building Regulations, new residential buildings in England with associated parking have had to include a chargepoint per dwelling since 15 June 2022 — so consent battles are largely an older-block problem.

Your own meter, or the building’s supply?

The cleanest setup runs the charger from your own meter, so every kWh goes through your own tariff — ideally a cheap overnight one (see our home charging hub). Practicality comes down to distance: a long run from meter cupboard to bay means cable, trunking and groundworks — that’s where the money goes.

Where your own supply can’t sensibly reach, some blocks wire chargers from the communal (landlord’s) supply, with usage metered and billed back through the management company. That needs the freeholder actively involved, so it suits blocks planning charging for several residents at once.

Either way, the installer must notify your electricity network operator (DNO). Within the standard demand limit (broadly 60A per phase) they can connect first and notify within 28 days; above that, or with a supply issue such as a looped supply, the DNO must approve first. The installer you choose will check your supply and consumer unit as part of the quote. And resist the extension-lead-from-a-window shortcut: proper chargers are built for outdoor life with weatherproof IP ratings (compare models on our charger pages); trailing cables across communal ground is a hazard any managing agent will shut down.

Costs, and the grants for the whole block

Evova doesn’t price jobs — only a quote can — but as a rough market picture, a straightforward fully installed 7kW chargepoint commonly comes in around £800–£1,200, with complex jobs (long runs, groundworks, consumer-unit work) costing considerably more. Flat installs land in that second group more often than houses, purely because of meter-to-bay distance. A straightforward job completes in a single 2-4 hour visit; the grant then takes up to £500 off your invoice.

Last checked July 2026 against GOV.UK.

For block-wide charging, note the infrastructure grant that funded building-wide wiring is closed — only the per-socket landlord grant remains; our grants hub tracks the live routes. When you’re ready for numbers, compare OZEV-authorised installers near you or request a free quote — a good installer will have handled leasehold consents before and can supply the technical detail a licence to alter demands.

Grant rules move quickly — cap, closing dates and application platform have all changed within the past year — so verify the current position on GOV.UK before you commit.