The Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant for Renters and Flat Owners

If you rent your home or own a flat, the electric vehicle chargepoint grant will pay 75% of the cost of buying and installing a home charging socket, up to a maximum of £500¹. The grant exists specifically for the households that older schemes left out: people who own and live in a flat, and people who rent any residential property, including shared ownership homes². It is run by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), it applies across all four UK nations, and it is confirmed until 31 March 2027².

The grant is not a cash payment to you. OZEV pays your installer, who deducts the grant from your bill, and the whole process runs through an online application you submit yourself before the chargepoint is fitted¹. It has been used: official statistics to 1 July 2026 record 26,504 sockets funded under the renters and flat owners scheme, 9,301 of them in the previous 12 months, at a total of £9.2 million³.

What the grant pays: 75% off, capped at £500

The headline terms are simple. The grant covers 75% of the cost of buying and installing a chargepoint socket, up to a maximum of £500, which means a cheap installation could be covered almost entirely while an expensive one still leaves you a substantial bill¹. East Herts Council summarises the same rule from the household side: up to £500 or 75% of the cost, whichever is lower⁵.

The £500 cap is new. Until the 2026 grant year, the household grant was set at £350, a figure still quoted in Energy Saving Trust's general charging advice and in Zapmap's coverage of the on-street extension⁶. Reporting on the Department for Transport's announcement confirmed the change: "Instead of the previous £350 discount, eligible motorists will now receive up to £500 towards installing a home charging" point, with the new rates applying from 1 April 2026⁸. The government's own guidance on the changes from 1 April 2026 sets out the new grant rates across the chargepoint schemes⁹.

What the grant does not do is cover the whole job. Whatever the 75% contribution leaves unpaid, and everything above the £500 cap, sits with you, and the installer quotes for that balance⁸. For a fuller picture of what a fitted chargepoint costs, see home EV charger costs. The grant also only applies to the groups the scheme was designed for: the Department for Transport stressed that it covers renters, flat owners, small businesses and homeowners without driveways, and driveway owners are excluded from the household version⁸.

Eligibility rules for tenants, flat owners and parking

The eligibility test has three parts, and all of them must be satisfied¹⁰. First, your home: you must either own and live in a flat, or rent and live in any residential property, and shared ownership properties count under both routes². Second, your parking: the property must have designated, private off-street parking that you own or have the legal right to use, and that is accessible to you at all times². Third, your vehicle: you must own or use an eligible vehicle¹⁰.

The parking rule is where most flat applications succeed or fail. A communal residents' car park is not automatically disqualified, but the space must be designated and private, and you must hold proof of all the legal rights and permissions attached to it, such as consent from the freeholder of a block of flats¹⁰. For renters, the supporting evidence includes a rental agreement, and the landlord's or freeholder's permission is part of the legal rights the scheme expects you to demonstrate¹⁰.

The scheme's design is deliberate. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders notes that renters and flat owners are eligible for the grant provided they own an eligible vehicle and have private off-street parking, a group the earlier grant landscape largely bypassed¹¹. Uswitch's guidance makes the same point: the grant is available to flat owners and renters, with separate grants for landlords¹². Homeowners with driveways are pointed elsewhere, and the Department for Transport has confirmed the household scheme does not extend to them⁸.

The vehicle requirement: OZEV's approved list

The grant is only for vehicles on the list of OZEV-approved electric vehicles, published by the government as a downloadable list of vehicles eligible for OZEV residential chargepoint grants¹⁰. All vehicles approved as ultra-low emission vehicles by OZEV are eligible for the residential chargepoint grants, and the list covers both plug-in battery electric and hybrid vehicles¹³.

How you hold the vehicle matters as much as which vehicle it is. You can qualify as the registered keeper of a new or second-hand eligible vehicle, if you have been assigned a company car, if you are leasing an eligible vehicle, if you are named as the primary user by an employer, or if you have ordered an eligible vehicle for delivery within 3 months². Where a vehicle lease is bundled with the chargepoint, the lease must run for at least 6 months, and you must make sure the chargepoint warranty meets the grant requirements¹⁰.

NICEIC's guidance for householders confirms the practical test: to be eligible, you must use or own a vehicle on OZEV's list of approved vehicles and have the charger installed by an OZEV-approved installer¹⁴. Plug-in hybrids are not shut out, and Energy Saving Trust's cross-pavement grant rules state that PHEVs listed as eligible by OZEV are accepted, which points to the same underlying vehicle list across the family of schemes¹⁵.

Approved installers and chargepoints for the grant

The installation conditions are fixed by the scheme rules. You must use an OZEV-authorised installer and an eligible residential chargepoint, and the chargepoint model must be on the list of eligible chargepoint models, or the claim will be rejected². OZEV maintains the list of authorised installers, and the installer you choose will handle the claim through the claims management portal¹⁷.

The installer's role is not just fitting the unit. OZEV pays the grant to your chargepoint installer, not to you, so the installer is effectively advancing the grant and recovering it from the scheme¹⁸. The specifications guidance sets out what the installer can and cannot claim for: eligible costs include the chargepoint and installation, but not interest charges, administration costs, warranty extensions beyond 3 years, transport costs, marketing costs, or costs associated with grid reinforcement¹⁶.

Timing is critical. Customers must not have their chargepoint installed until they receive notification from OZEV that they are eligible for a grant, because the grant cannot be backdated⁹. An installation that goes ahead before eligibility is confirmed forfeits the money. The on-street version of the grant states the same rule in its own eligibility list: you must not have already installed your chargepoint¹⁸.

Scotland's separate domestic charge point grant, run by Energy Saving Trust, adds a further layer: the installer must be deemed eligible by both Energy Saving Trust and OZEV and complete an onboarding process before appearing on the eligible installer list¹⁹. For the renters and flat owners grant itself, the OZEV authorisation is the requirement that matters².

The application process and required paperwork

Since 1 April 2026 the application route has changed. Ohme's support guidance for its customers states that you submit the grant application via the UK Government's Find a Grant platform, and that you are responsible for submitting the application directly to OZEV: the installer can no longer apply on your behalf⁴. Applications need to be made online, and the landlord scheme's process, which follows the same pattern, shows the shape of it: contact an OZEV-authorised installer for a quote, create an account, and apply using the form provided, submitting details of your property and vehicle to OZEV⁷.

The evidence you provide is what decides the application. The scheme rules list what you will need:

• Proof of your residence status, such as a rental agreement if you rent the property¹⁰
• Proof of all legal rights and permissions for the parking space, such as from the freeholder of a block of flats¹⁰
• Evidence of your vehicle: as a registered owner, if you have leased one for at least 6 months, if you have used one as a work vehicle for at least 6 months, or if you currently have one on order¹⁰
• For Motability customers, the Motability lease agreement can be used as an alternative to a utility bill⁴

Two conditions deserve attention before you start. You cannot apply for a property that is unoccupied or still being built, and you cannot apply if you are moving house or planning to move¹⁰. Both are checked against your evidence, and both are common reasons for a refusal that has nothing to do with the vehicle or the installer.

Cases where the grant is not payable

The scheme rules set out a series of hard exclusions, and none of them can be argued around after the fact.

• A previous claim. You cannot apply if you have already claimed this grant or its predecessors, the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) or the Domestic Recharge Scheme¹⁰. The closed EVHS was the direct ancestor of today's grant, and a past claim under it bars a new one².
• The property. You cannot apply for a property that is unoccupied or still being built, and the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are outside the scheme¹⁰.
• A mandatory installation. The grant cannot be given if the installation of the chargepoint or infrastructure was a mandatory requirement, which includes buildings under construction or being renovated where the Part S Regulations apply on or after 15 June 2022 in England, and similar regulations in the devolved nations, for example the Building (Scotland) Regulations from 5 June 2023².
• The wrong chargepoint. OZEV will reject a claim if the chargepoint model is not on the list of eligible chargepoint models¹⁶.
• Ineligible costs. Interest charges, bad debts, administration costs, warranty extensions beyond 3 years, transport and marketing costs, and grid reinforcement costs cannot be claimed¹⁶.
• Backdating. The chargepoint must not be installed before OZEV confirms eligibility, as the grant cannot be backdated¹⁸.

The mandatory-requirement exclusion is the one that catches flat owners out. If your lease, the freeholder or a planning condition already obliges the building to provide charging, the installation is not something the grant will subsidise, and the same rule appears in the landlord scheme².

How the scheme works: OZEV, the portal and assessment times

The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles provides grants to support the use of electric vehicles, including the installation of charging devices, and it introduced the current family of residential grants²¹. Energy Saving Trust, which delivered webinars on the residential landowners scheme, describes OZEV as the body that introduced the new grants, and the administration sits with OZEV and its claims systems²¹.

The mechanics run through the claims management portal, where installers submit claims for the work done¹⁶. On the household side, the sequence is: you apply online with your evidence, OZEV assesses the application, and only when OZEV notifies you of eligibility does the installation go ahead⁹. Ohme's support guidance states that OZEV estimates up to 10 working days to assess applications and claims, provided no additional evidence is required⁴. Energy Saving Trust's separate Scottish domestic grant quotes a decision within 8 working days, which gives a sense of the timescales across the family of schemes¹⁹.

OZEV also audits. The on-street scheme's rules state that OZEV will select some installations to be audited, that audits may take place before or after a claim is paid, and that they may include an on-site visit¹⁸. Applicants may be asked by OZEV to provide evidence at any time, so the documents you gathered for the application should be kept².

The scheme's horizon is fixed. The grant opened on 1 April 2022 and closes on 31 March 2027 at 11:59pm, and OZEV aims to provide 4 weeks' notice if the grant ends or the grant amount changes, honouring claims made before any public announcement subject to the grant criteria². Five chargepoint grant schemes are available until 31 March 2027 with the new grant rates²³.

Related schemes: landlords, on-street parking and the wider family

The renters and flat owners grant is one of five chargepoint grant schemes running until 31 March 2027²³. If you fall outside it, another may fit.

Landlords. A separate grant exists for residential landlords, and it covers the purchase and installation of chargepoints at residential properties, across several properties or one property²⁴. Eligible applicants include landlords with property to let, right to manage companies, residents' management companies, freeholders of multi-unit buildings, public sector organisations, charities, registered social housing providers, property management companies and property factors in Scotland²⁰. The landlord grant pays 75% of the cost of buying and installing chargepoints, up to £500 per socket²⁰. A landlord cannot apply if they live in the property, if the chargepoint was already installed before OZEV confirmed eligibility, or if the property is only used for holiday accommodation²⁰. OFTEC's funding summary describes the same support towards the purchase and installation of chargepoints at residential properties²⁵.

On-street parking. Households with no off-street parking at all have their own version: the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant for Households with On-Street Parking, which pays 75% of the cost to buy and install a socket, up to £500, when you also install a non-temporary cross-pavement charging solution²⁶. Its aim is to accelerate the uptake of chargepoints for users with accessible on-street parking, and it requires consent from the local highways authority plus a declaration that you will obtain the necessary planning permissions¹⁸. The grant does not confer ownership over, exclusive use of, or reserved access to any on-street parking space outside your property¹⁸. Northern Ireland's infrastructure department publishes the same household and landlord grants, including the on-street scheme, for applicants there²⁶.

The wider family. Government guidance lists grants for installing chargepoints for individuals, landlords, businesses, the public sector, charities and education institutions, with the landlord grant at up to £500 per socket and the on-street household grant for those who only have on-street parking²⁷. The Planning Portal notes the incentives available to tenants or homeowners, including grants to help buy and install a charge point at a property with on-street parking²⁸. Energy Saving Trust runs the cross-pavement charging grant alongside these schemes¹⁵, and its domestic charge point funding for Scottish homes with dedicated off-street parking sits alongside the UK-wide schemes¹⁹. For the closed predecessor that today's grant replaced, see the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, and for the landlord route in full, see the EV chargepoint grant for landlords.

For a household's energy independence, the grant changes the economics of charging at home rather than the dependence itself. A funded socket means the car can charge on your own tariff, overnight, and alongside solar if you have it, rather than at public rates. What remains is the grid connection, the supplier's tariff, the installer's authorisation and OZEV's rules: the grant pays for the hardware, not for freedom from any of them.