EV chargers for flats and leasehold homes: permission, the right to charge and grants in 2026

In England, there is no legal right to install an EV charger at a flat or rented home today: a leaseholder or tenant needs the freeholder's or landlord's permission, usually under the alterations clause of the lease or tenancy. The government has proposed an "ability to charge", with decisions within a set period and no unreasonable refusals, in a consultation open until 16 December 2026. Meanwhile, the OZEV grant for flat owners and renters pays 75% of the cost, up to £500, until 31 March 2027.

This guide sets out the consent path step by step, what the consultation proposes, the grant and who can claim it, the differences in Wales and Scotland, planning and building rules, costs, and what to do when permission is refused. It ends with the employer's side: a company car driver in a flat can have the charger and the electricity paid tax-free. Voltaback reimburses charging wherever the car is charged, so a driver without a home charger is not penalised.

Can I install an EV charger at my flat?

Usually yes, if three conditions are met:

1. You have off-street parking that you own or have a legal right to use: a space in a car park, a garage or a driveway, allocated to your flat.
2. You get permission from whoever owns the building or the parking: the freeholder (often through a managing agent) for leaseholders, the landlord for tenants.
3. The installation is technically possible and safe: cable route from your meter or a supply in the car park, electrical capacity, and compliance with BS 7671, the national wiring standard.

The second condition is where most projects stall. There is no statutory deadline today for the freeholder or landlord to answer, and no statutory list of acceptable reasons to refuse.

What the "ability to charge" consultation proposes

On 21 October 2026, the Department for Transport and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government opened a consultation called "Expanding electric vehicle charging access for tenants and leaseholders". It applies to England only, because housing is devolved, and closes at 11:59pm on 16 December 2026.

It sets out two options:

• Non-statutory guidance for tenants, leaseholders, landlords and freeholders on how to make and handle requests. Landlords would be encouraged, not obliged, to give reasons for a refusal.
• Legislation requiring freeholders and landlords to give timely decisions and not to unreasonably refuse a request to install a charge point. The consultation gives 28 calendar days as an example of the period for a written response, with reasons for any refusal.

Under the legislative option, the resident would arrange and pay for the charger and its installation, including any fee for permission to make alterations. The consultation asks who should bear maintenance, usage and removal costs afterwards.

Which parking would be covered

The proposal aims to cover as many parking types as possible:

• demised parking, owned by the leaseholder or tenant;
• allocated parking, owned by the freeholder but allocated to the resident;
• communal parking, where the consultation recognises extra issues and asks for views.

It would apply to residential leaseholders and tenants, including shared ownership and mixed-use developments.

Proposed grounds for a reasonable refusal

The consultation lists circumstances in which a refusal could be reasonable:

• the request breaches a term of the lease or another statutory obligation;
• local network upgrades are needed, including where the property has a looped electricity supply;
• there is no off-street parking available to the resident;
• in a block of flats, the freeholder or landlord is adopting a building-wide charging approach;
• the installation does not comply with BS 7671;
• there is insufficient parking space at the building.

None of this is law yet. If you have a request pending, the proposals are still a useful checklist: a request that answers each of these points is harder to refuse.

Source: GOV.UK, Expanding electric vehicle charging access for tenants and leaseholders (consultation).

Step by step: getting permission as a leaseholder or tenant

1. Read your lease or tenancy agreement

Look for three clauses:

• alterations: whether alterations to the flat, the parking or the common parts need consent, and whether consent "is not to be unreasonably withheld";
• demise: whether the parking space is part of your property, or allocated to you in the common parts;
• services and electricity: whether you can run a cable through common parts, and how communal electricity is billed.

2. Get a site survey from an installer

Ask an installer for a survey before you write to the freeholder. You need the proposed charger position, the cable route, the supply (your own meter, or a separate supply in the car park), whether a load assessment or network notification is needed, and the price. Photos and a sketch help.

3. Make a written request

Write to the freeholder or managing agent (leaseholders) or the landlord (tenants). In a privately rented flat where your landlord is itself a leaseholder, the request goes to your landlord, who passes it to the freeholder.

Include:

• the installer's survey and drawing;
• the charger model and confirmation it meets the smart charging regulations;
• the cable route through common parts, if any;
• who pays for installation, electricity, maintenance and removal;
• evidence of the installer's qualifications and insurance;
• an offer to sign a licence for alterations.

4. Agree the terms

If the answer is yes, the freeholder will usually want a licence for alterations: a short agreement setting out the works, the standard they must meet, insurance, maintenance, what happens when you sell or leave, and reinstatement. A legal fee for the licence is common.

5. Apply for the grant before installing

If you are eligible, apply for the OZEV grant and wait for confirmation before the installation. Charge points installed before the grant is confirmed are not eligible.

6. Install, register, keep the paperwork

Your installer notifies the network operator where required and provides the certificate. Keep the licence, certificate and grant confirmation together: you will need them when you sell or leave.

If there is no answer, or a refusal

Ask for written reasons. If your lease says consent cannot be unreasonably withheld, a refusal without a sound reason may be challenged, but legal action is slow and costly. In practice, the best leverage is a complete request that answers the reasonable refusal grounds listed above, plus a proposal to fund removal at the end.

The OZEV grant for flat owners and renters

How much

75% of the cost of buying and installing one charging socket, up to £500. The rate increased from £350 on 1 April 2026, and funding is confirmed until 31 March 2027.

Who can apply

You can apply if:

• you own a flat (including shared ownership), or you rent a residential property, flat or house;
• your home has its own private off-street parking space, clearly defined, accessible at all times, and you own it or have the legal right to use it, with proof of permissions such as the freeholder's consent;
• you own or use an OZEV-approved electric vehicle.

You cannot apply if you own the house you live in, rent from a resident landlord, are moving, have already claimed this or an earlier home grant, or live in a new build that must have a charge point by law.

Company car drivers qualify

The vehicle condition is met if you are the registered owner, if you have leased an eligible car for at least six months, if you have used one as a work vehicle for at least six months, or if you have one on order. A company car driver living in a flat can therefore apply in their own name.

How it works since April 2026

Applications for the flats and renters grant moved to a new platform on 1 April 2026. OZEV estimated up to 10 working days to assess applications. Once you are confirmed eligible, OZEV notifies your installer, who claims the grant with photo evidence of the charger, its serial number, the parking space and the building.

Sources: GOV.UK, EV chargepoint grant for renters or flat owners, GOV.UK, Eligibility, GOV.UK, Changes to electric vehicle chargepoint grant schemes from 1 April 2026.

Grants for landlords and blocks of flats

For a block of flats with a shared car park, the closure of the infrastructure grant means that preparing cabling for all spaces is now paid by the freeholder or the residents. That is one reason freeholders may prefer a building-wide approach: one supply, load management and a shared billing system, rather than a cable per flat.

Source: GOV.UK, Changes to electric vehicle chargepoint grant schemes from 1 April 2026.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

The consultation's "ability to charge" covers England only. Elsewhere:

• Wales: most rented homes are let under occupation contracts governed by the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, which set out when the landlord's consent is needed for alterations. Leasehold flats work much as in England, through the lease. The OZEV household and landlord grants apply in Wales.
• Scotland: in tenement buildings, rights over common parts, such as a shared car park or a cable route through a close, depend on the title deeds and, where they are silent, on the statutory Tenement Management Scheme, which sets how owners take decisions on common parts. The OZEV grants apply, and the Energy Saving Trust runs Scottish schemes that can change during the financial year.
• Northern Ireland: OZEV household grants apply. The smart charge point regulations do not.

Housing law differs significantly between nations: check the rules for your property before relying on any of these routes.

Planning permission and building regulations

Planning

Installing a wall-mounted charger or a charging post in an off-street parking space generally does not need planning permission in England, under permitted development rights, within size and position limits. Exceptions are common in flats: listed buildings and some conservation areas. Ask the installer to check, and the council if in doubt.

Building Regulations Part S

Since 2022, Approved Document S requires new residential buildings with associated parking to have charge points, and sets requirements for residential buildings undergoing major renovation. If you buy a new-build flat with a parking space, the developer should already have provided a charger or cable routes, which is also why new builds are excluded from the household grant.

A second government consultation, published alongside the "ability to charge" one, seeks views on changes to building regulations to increase charging in new buildings and major renovations.

The parallel rules for workplaces, and how they compare, are covered in our article on the legal requirements for workplace chargers.

Source: GOV.UK, Approved Document S.

How much does a charger at a flat cost?

The charger itself costs the same as for a house. What changes is the cable route and the supply.

Add the licence for alterations fee, if the freeholder charges one, and possibly a survey fee from the managing agent.

Worked example: company car driver in a leasehold flat

A driver with an allocated space in their block's car park, 25 metres from their meter, gets a quote of £1,800 for a 7 kW smart charger with cable through the common parts. The freeholder's licence costs £300 in legal fees.

If the employer pays the £1,600, the driver pays nothing. The installation creates no taxable benefit for a company car; confirm the treatment of the legal fee with your payroll adviser, as HMRC's manual only lists the charging point itself. If the company owns the charger, it can claim the 100% first-year allowance on chargepoint equipment until 31 March 2027, but only on the part it paid after the grant.

Detailed price bands for home chargers are in our guide to home charger installation prices.

Building-wide charging: what to ask the freeholder

Some freeholders answer an individual request by proposing a shared system for the whole car park. It can be the better outcome, provided a few questions are answered first.

• Who owns and operates the system? The freeholder, a residents' management company, or a charging operator under contract.
• How is electricity billed? Per kWh through an app or card, at what price, and with what margin over the building's supply contract.
• Is there a standing charge or membership fee per resident, even for those who do not drive an EV?
• Can residents choose their own charger in their allocated space, or only the operator's?
• Who pays for future capacity when more residents switch?
• What data do residents receive? Session-level kWh and price, which matters for an employer reimbursing a company car.

A shared system often charges more per kWh than a home tariff, because the operator recovers its investment through the price. For a company car driver, the employer then reimburses a higher cost per mile, but the driver avoids a refused request and an installation bill. Ask for the tariff in writing before you rely on it.

When permission fails: the practical alternatives

A word on sockets: a standard 13 A socket with the car's portable cable delivers about 2.3 kW, roughly 8 miles of range per hour. It is acceptable for low mileage if the circuit has been checked by an electrician. Never run a cable across a public pavement without the council's permission and an approved cable channel: it is a trip hazard and can expose the driver to liability.

How a dedicated socket compares with a charger is covered in our guide to the best outdoor sockets for EV charging, and the wider choice of home charging set-ups in our guide to charging an electric car at home.

Company car drivers in flats: what the employer can pay

For an employer, a driver living in a flat is not a reason to refuse an electric company car. The tax rules are the same as for a house.

Two decisions to take before ordering the car:

1. Who leads the permission process: the driver, with the employer's support letter and funding, or the employer's chosen installer.
2. What happens if permission is refused: workplace charging, a charge card for public charging, or an on-street solution, with a reimbursement policy that does not leave the driver out of pocket.

Voltaback does not install chargers, but it helps drivers get installer quotes through its charger installation service.

Source: HMRC EIM23900.

After installation: reimbursing the electricity fairly

In a flat, the company car's electricity can come from three sources: the driver's own meter, a communal system billed by the freeholder or an operator, or public chargers. A fair policy reimburses each at its real cost.

• Own meter: the kWh drawn by the car, at the driver's tariff. Voltaback relies on the home's MID-certified meter, not on a standalone cable meter.
• Communal system: the operator's invoice for the car's sessions.
• Public: the receipt or charge card statement, or HMRC's Advisory Electricity Rate for public charging, 15p per mile since 1 September 2026.

Voltaback reads charging sessions from the car itself, across more than 48 brands, so the reimbursement works whether the driver charges at a private charger, a communal unit, a socket or a public network. The employer never receives the driver's geolocation. The approach is explained on our page on the alternative to funding home chargers.

Source: GOV.UK, Advisory fuel rates.

A flat is not a reason to give up on an electric company car

The rules are moving in favour of tenants and leaseholders, but today in England a charger at a flat still depends on the freeholder's or landlord's permission. A complete request, the £500 grant and an employer ready to fund the rest make most projects possible. Where they are not, workplace, communal and public charging fill the gap.

What matters for the driver is that every charging session is paid fairly, wherever it happens. Voltaback reimburses the company car's charging at its real cost, home, communal or public, with no hardware, ISO 27001 certification since 2 December 2025 and more than 200 client companies.

Talk to us about your drivers' charging