If you live in a flat, you've probably assumed an electric car isn't for you. Shared car park, a freeholder to ask, and no idea who'd pay for the electric. It's a lot more doable than you'd think. Here's how to work out your route, which grant you can use, what to send your freeholder and how shared chargers make sure everyone pays only for what they use.

Start with your parking

Where you park decides almost everything else:

• Your own allocated space in a car park, a garage or a bay that's legally yours: you can usually have your own charger, and you could get the grant for flat owners and renters.
• Shared or unallocated parking: a charger for one resident is harder, because nobody owns a particular space. This is where the building owner or management company fitting shared chargers makes sense, and there's a separate grant for that.
• On-street parking only: a different set of rules applies. Pavement charging channels just got easier in England, with their own grant.

The grant if you own or rent a flat

The chargepoint grant for renters and flat owners gives you 75% off the cost to buy and install a charger, up to a maximum of £500. You can apply if you:

• own and live in a flat, or rent and live in any home, including shared ownership
• have your own private off-street parking space that you're legally entitled to and can get to at all times
• own, lease or have a company car that's an eligible electric or plug-in hybrid, or have one arriving within 3 months

You can't apply if you're moving or planning to move, if the charger's already been fitted, or if you've claimed this grant before. Any permissions you need, from a freeholder, managing agent or landlord, have to be in place before you apply.

It runs until 31 March 2027. As an OZEV-authorised installer, we deal with the grant claim for you and take it off your bill. Our guide to the grant for renters and flat owners goes through the application step by step.

The grant if you own or manage the building

The chargepoint grant for residential landlords is for the people who own or run the building, not the residents:

• 75% off, up to £500 per socket
• up to 200 sockets a year
• open to landlords, freeholders, right to manage (RTM) companies, residents' management companies (RMCs) and managing agents acting for a landlord
• the applicant must be registered at Companies House or VAT registered
• each space must be off-street, private, clearly marked out and accessible to the tenant

If your building's run by an RTM company or a residents' management company, that's often the quickest route to chargers for everyone.

What to send your freeholder

Most freeholders and managing agents don't say no to chargers. They say no to vague requests. Make it easy for them to say yes by sending:

• Which space it's for, and proof it's yours to use.
• Where the charger would go, on the wall or post nearest your space.
• The cable route from your flat's supply, or the building's, to the charger.
• Who pays for the installation and for making good afterwards (you).
• How the electricity's paid for: through your own meter, or metered and billed back if it's on the building's supply.
• Who's fitting it: a qualified, OZEV-authorised installer, with the certificate and insurance to show for it.

We can survey first and give you a simple plan to send on, so you're not stuck answering technical questions yourself.

Who pays for the electric?

This is the big question in every block of flats. It usually works one of two ways:

• From your own meter. The charger's wired back to your flat's supply, so the electricity goes on your bill like anything else. Simple, but it depends how far your space is from your flat.
• From the building's supply. Often easier to wire in a shared car park, but then the charger needs a way to bill each person for what they use. That's where the ePod S comes in.

How the Ohme ePod S sorts it

The newest version of the Ohme ePod, the ePod S, has a feature called Park & Charge. Here's how it works:

• The building manager or landlord sets the price per unit.
• They decide who can use each charger.
• They can see what's been used, and by whom.
• Everyone who lives there just opens the Ohme app on their phone and charges.

You pay for what you use, and nobody pays for anyone else's car.

Will the building's supply cope?

A block of flats only has so much power coming in. If several people want chargers, the installer needs to check the building's supply first. Smart chargers can share the available power between them so the supply isn't overloaded, which is often far cheaper than upgrading it. We check all of this as part of the survey.

Residents, landlords and building managers

• Resident? Send this to your landlord or management company.
• Landlord? It makes your flats easier to let to anyone who drives electric.
• Managing a building? It's one less thing for residents to be on at you about.

Questions we get asked

Can my freeholder say no?

Yes, they can. A clear plan from a qualified installer makes a yes much more likely. If lots of residents want chargers, it's worth asking about a shared setup instead.

I rent. Who do I ask?

Your landlord first. You'll need their permission before you apply for the grant. If they own the whole building, they may be able to use the landlord grant and fit chargers for everyone.

How long does the grant take?

OZEV estimates up to 10 working days to assess an application. The charger can't be fitted until you've been told you're eligible.

With 0% VAT on home electricity, charging at home is now far cheaper than public.

Want us to have a look at your building? Get in touch here, or read more about our home EV charger installation.