EV Charge Point Requirements for New Build Homes: Part S and the Nations

Since 15 June 2022, a new home built in England with its own parking has had to come with a working electric vehicle charge point. The requirement sits in Part S of the Building Regulations, and the headline rule is simple: a new residential building with associated parking must have access to electric vehicle charge points equal to the number of dwellings, or to all the associated parking spaces if there are fewer spaces than dwellings¹. Each charge point must have a minimum nominal rated output of 7kW³.

Where a charge point cannot be installed, the rules do not simply walk away. The developer must instead provide cable routes, empty ducting that allows a charge point to be fitted later without digging up the site, and there is a cost cap of £3,600 on the average grid connection cost per charge point that can reduce the number that must be installed². Part S applies to England; Scotland has its own requirements with a different cost threshold, Wales consulted on its own amendments in 2024, and Northern Ireland has been at a discussion stage⁴.

A charge point for every new home with parking

The central requirement of Part S is that new residential buildings with parking come ready to charge a car. A new residential building with associated parking must have access to electric vehicle charge points equal to the number of dwellings it contains, or to all of the associated parking spaces if there are fewer spaces than dwellings². In practice this means a house with a driveway receives a charge point at the driveway, and a block of ten flats with ten allocated spaces receives ten charge points, one per dwelling.

What counts as an associated parking space is defined tightly. The space must be available for use by the occupant of the building or a visitor to it, and it must be within the site boundary of the building⁷. A space on the public road outside the site boundary does not count, which is why homes with no off-street parking fall outside the requirement altogether.

The requirement is about the building as delivered, not about the occupant's choices. The developer must install the charge point as part of the building work, and the buyer of a new home should expect to receive a working unit, not a promise. Planning Portal guidance confirms that building regulations approval is always required when installing an EV home charger, and that new-build homes are required to have EV charge points installed¹. A compliance certificate proving the work complies with building regulations is part of what the householder should hold¹.

For a buyer, the practical test at handover is whether each parking space associated with the dwelling has access to a charge point rated at 7kW or more, and whether the paperwork exists to show it³.

Approved Document S: the guidance and the law behind it

Part S is the legal requirement; Approved Document S is the official guidance on how to meet it. The Approved Document, published in December 2021 and valid from 15 June 2022, provides technical guidance regarding the installation and charge point requirements in Part S to the Building Regulations⁴. It is titled "Approved Document S: infrastructure for charging electric vehicles" and runs to 47 pages⁴.

The legal foundation is the Building Regulations 2010, which now include a Part 9B headed "Infrastructure for the charging of electric vehicles", together with the 2021 amendment regulations that inserted the new requirements⁹. The amendment regulations apply in relation to buildings and building work in England, which is why the territorial reach of Part S stops at the border². The Building Regulations 2010 also contain regulation 44J, "Minimum standards of an electric vehicle charge point", which sets the floor for what a compliant unit must achieve⁹.

Approved Document S sits alongside a family of updated approved documents that came into force in June 2022, and Planning Portal's coverage of those updates notes that the document focuses on infrastructure for the charging of electric vehicles¹⁰. The guidance applies to new residential and non-residential buildings, buildings undergoing a material change of use to dwellings, residential and non-residential buildings undergoing major renovation, and mixed-use buildings that are either new or undergoing major renovation⁴.

Which properties fall within scope: new construction, refurbishment and conversion

Part S is not limited to greenfield housing estates. The covered categories are:

• New residential buildings, including houses and flats, with associated parking⁴
• New non-residential buildings with more than 10 parking spaces³
• Buildings undergoing a material change of use to dwellings, such as an office block converted to flats⁴
• Residential and non-residential buildings undergoing major renovation⁴
• Mixed-use buildings that are either new or undergoing major renovation⁴

For material changes of use, the requirement is that at least one associated parking space for the use of each resulting dwelling must have access to an electric vehicle charge point². There is a condition attached: the requirement applies where a charge point can be accommodated within the incoming electrical supply without upgrading it, so a conversion is not forced into a costly supply upgrade to comply².

For residential buildings undergoing major renovation with more than 10 associated parking spaces after the work, at least one associated parking space for the use of each dwelling must have access to a charge point, and cable routes must be installed in all additional associated parking spaces³. A percentage cap applies here too: the building is exempt from installing charge points where the cost exceeds 7% of the total cost of the major renovation, with cable routes required instead unless those also exceed 7%³.

The wider building regulations framework applies to putting up a new building, extending or altering an existing one, and providing services and fittings in a building, which is the hook on which the EV provisions hang¹¹. A conversion of a building, as defined by the building regulations, triggers the application of the EV provisions¹².

The 7kW minimum: what counts as a compliant charge point

A charge point only satisfies Part S if it delivers real power. The legislation requires the unit to have a minimum nominal rated output of 7kW³. This is a deliberate floor: 7kW is the rate at which a typical home charge point replenishes a car overnight, and anything slower would leave the requirement hollow. Scottish policy states the same standard, requiring all dwellings with a parking space to have at least one EV charge point socket with a minimum 7kW output power rating⁵.

The Building Regulations 2010 set out minimum standards of an electric vehicle charge point in regulation 44J, giving the requirement legal teeth beyond the power rating alone⁹. Installation work must also meet recognised standards. Government guidance on charge point and infrastructure specifications requires installations to be carried out as per BS EN 61851, the IET wiring regulations BS 7671, the IET Code of Practice for Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment Installations, and the Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations¹³.

One arrangement is expressly permitted: a single charge point with multiple outlets may serve more than one parking space, as long as each parking space served has its own outlet, the outlets can be used simultaneously, and the arrangement meets the minimum requirements of Approved Document S⁷. This matters for developments where running separate units to every space would be disproportionate, but it does not dilute the per-dwelling entitlement.

A meter supplying more than one charge point may be an acceptable way to meet the requirements in certain circumstances, for example in communal areas⁷. For a householder, the practical questions at handover are the rated output, the certification, and whether the unit is a working charge point rather than a socket that falls short of the standard.

Planning cable pathways and points for later hookup

Where a charge point is not installed, the rules turn to cable routes. For new residential buildings, cable routes for electric vehicle charge points must be installed in any associated parking spaces which do not have access to a charge point, but only where the building has more than 10 associated parking spaces and more spaces than dwellings². Below that threshold, a space without a charge point simply has no cable route obligation attached to it.

The cable route is not a vague gesture towards future charging. Approved Document S requires all cable routes to be laid as straight as possible and with suitable access points, so that cables can be pulled through in future⁷. The point of the ducting is that a charge point can be retrofitted without excavating the driveway or the communal parking area years later, when the surfaces are finished and the cost of digging has multiplied.

Where a lamppost or similar is proposed as the future connection location for the charge point, it should either be metered or capable of being metered for future connection⁷. This prevents a "future connection location" that is physically impossible to bill through from counting as compliance.

For non-residential buildings the ratios differ. A new building which is not a residential building or a mixed-use building, with more than 10 parking spaces, must have one of those spaces with access to one charge point, and cable routes in a minimum of one fifth of the total number of remaining parking spaces³. Where all the parking spaces are in a covered car park, cable routes must be installed in a minimum of one fifth of the total number of spaces².

The cap of £3,600 on connection charges

The charge point requirement is capped by the cost of connecting to the grid. The number of charge points that must be installed is the maximum number that it is possible to install at an average sum of £3,600 or less per connection³. If the grid connection cost is higher, the number of required charge points falls accordingly, and the spaces without charge points fall back on the cable route provisions where those apply⁷.

The cap works on the average, not on the single most expensive connection. "Connection cost" is defined as the cost of upgrades needed to the electricity system in order to accommodate a charge point, excluding the cost of any building work and the cost of the charge point itself⁷. So a site where most connections are cheap but one is expensive may still comply in full, because the average stays under the cap.

The evidence requirement is specific. To show that the connection cost is greater than £3,600, at least two formal quotes should be given to the building control body, at least one of which must come from a distribution network operator³. A developer cannot simply assert that the connection is expensive; the claim has to be documented to the regulator's satisfaction.

Northern Ireland's discussion of equivalent provisions has referred to the same figure, subject to a cost cap of £3,600 for the average connection cost¹⁴. Scotland's threshold is different and lower, at £2,000, which is covered below.

Flats, terraces and mixed-use developments

Flats are squarely within the rules. The building regulations set standards for electrical installation work in relation to dwellings, which includes houses and flats¹⁵, and Approved Document S applies to new residential buildings and mixed-use buildings alike⁴. A block of flats where each dwelling has an allocated space must provide a charge point per dwelling, and the multiple-outlet allowance lets a single unit with separate simultaneous outlets serve more than one space where that is more sensible⁷.

Terraced houses raise a counting question, because a terrace is one building but many homes. Approved Document S answers it: for semi-detached houses or terraced properties with associated parking spaces, the "building" that the "more than 10" parking spaces threshold refers to may be considered at the individual dwelling level rather than the whole building⁷. This matters because the cable route requirement is triggered only above the threshold, so whether a terrace of twenty homes with twenty spaces is counted as one building or twenty dwellings decides whether cable routes are owed on the spaces without charge points.

Mixed-use developments follow the category of the part in question: a new mixed-use building is covered as a residential building for its dwellings and by the non-residential provisions for its commercial parking⁴. For non-residential parking above 10 spaces, the one-charge-point-plus-one-fifth-cable-routes formula applies³.

Householders in flats should note one boundary outside Part S: the permitted development rights that apply to many common projects for houses do not apply to flats, maisonettes or other buildings, so a flat owner looking to add a charge point later faces a different permission landscape from a house owner¹⁷.

Exceptions: covered car parking, accessible bays and parking free sites

The rules contain explicit exemptions and special cases, and they are worth knowing before assuming a development has failed to comply.

• No parking, no requirement. Where no associated parking spaces are provided, there is no requirement to install an electric vehicle charge point³.
• Covered car parks. Where all parking spaces are within a covered car park, the requirement to install a charge point does not apply, but cable routes must still be provided for a minimum of one in five parking spaces³. The same exemption applies to buildings undergoing major renovation and to material changes of use³.
• Voluntary charge points in covered parking. Where a charge point is installed in a covered car park despite the exemption, the section 6 guidance of Approved Document S does not apply to it, but it must still meet other relevant standards including electrical safety⁷.
• Accessible parking. Where accessible parking spaces are associated with the building, at least one accessible parking space should have access to either a future connection location or an electric vehicle charge point³.
• Major renovation cost cap. A residential building undergoing major renovation is exempt from installing charge points where the cost exceeds 7% of the total cost of the renovation, with cable routes required instead unless those also exceed 7%³.

The accessible parking provision is notable for being satisfied by either a charge point or a future connection location, a lower bar than the full requirement for ordinary spaces³. For a household that includes a disabled driver, this is the provision that guarantees at least a route to charging.

Rules across the devolved nations

Part S applies to England⁷. The other nations have taken different routes to the same policy goal.

Scotland has its own set of requirements. Transport Scotland's policy states that all dwellings with a parking space must have at least one EV charge point socket with a minimum 7kW output power rating, and that where an exemption applies, ducting infrastructure must be installed in each car parking space⁵. For residential buildings undergoing major renovation with more than 10 car parking spaces, ducting is to be installed in each residential car parking space, and charge point sockets with minimum 7kW output are to be installed in as many residential car parking spaces as the post-renovation electrical capacity allows, subject to a cost cap of 7% of the total major renovation cost⁵. Scotland's grid connection exemption threshold is £2,000 of additional cost, markedly lower than England's £3,600⁵. Scottish consultation material from 2021 set out the same 7kW minimum and the same parking space thresholds for non-residential buildings¹². The Building (Scotland) Regulations are cited in UK grant rules as carrying equivalent requirements from 5 June 2023¹⁸.

Wales consulted in September 2024 on draft amendments to its Building Regulations to ensure EV charging points are included in new residential buildings, new non-residential buildings, and buildings undergoing major renovations or material change of use where car parking is part of the development⁶. Until such amendments are made and in force, the Welsh position differs from England's. Welsh building regulations guidance on electrics confirms that the Building Regulations set standards for electrical installation work in relation to dwellings, houses and flats, in Wales as in England¹⁵.

Northern Ireland has not adopted Part S. A discussion document from the Department of Finance in 2023 considered next steps for building regulations there, referring to a cost cap of £3,600 for the average connection cost in the context of the English provisions¹⁴. Northern Ireland households looking at grants rather than new-build requirements can look to the EV chargepoint and infrastructure grants administered there¹⁹.

The origin of much of this policy is European. The EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive required member states to lay down requirements for the installation of at least one recharging point and ducting infrastructure for at least one in every five parking spaces in new non-residential buildings and those undergoing major renovation with more than ten parking spaces, with a deadline of 1 January 2025 for existing non-residential buildings with more than twenty parking spaces²⁰. The UK provisions go further for homes.

Funding seldom available where a charge point is already mandatory

A charge point that the law already forces the developer to install is not one the taxpayer will help pay for. The EV chargepoint grant for residential landlords cannot be given if the installation of the chargepoint or infrastructure was a mandatory requirement, and this exclusion covers buildings under construction or being renovated where the Part S Regulations apply on or after 15 June 2022 for England, and devolved countries with similar regulations, for example the Building (Scotland) Regulations from 5 June 2023¹⁸.

The same exclusion appears in the grant for renters and flat owners: buildings under construction or being renovated where the Part S Regulations applies on or after 15 June 2022 in England are excluded, as are devolved countries where similar regulations apply²¹. The landlord grant otherwise operates across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and requires each parking space to be off-street, private and clearly defined, accessible to the tenant, and owned by the applicant or subject to a legal right to install¹⁸.

The logic is straightforward. Part S moves the cost of the charge point onto the developer and, through the price of the house, onto the buyer. Grants exist for the retrofit cases the building rules do not reach: the existing home, the flat with a communal space, the landlord's let property. A buyer of a new home should not expect a grant towards a charge point that the developer was already obliged to fit.

How Part S affects a home's energy self sufficiency

Part S is one of the few rules that delivers energy infrastructure into a home automatically, before the household asks for it. A new home with a 7kW charge point arrives ready to run a car on electricity bought on the household's own terms, at home, overnight, on a tariff of the householder's choosing, rather than at the public charging networks' rates. That is a genuine transfer of capability from the public network to the home.

The independence is real but bounded. The charge point depends on the grid connection, and the £3,600 cap exists precisely because that connection can be expensive; where the cap bites, the household inherits a cable route and a future bill rather than a working unit³. The charge point itself is typically a smart unit, which brings app accounts, firmware and manufacturer support into the home, dependencies covered in smart EV chargers and EV charger apps and connectivity. Charging costs remain tied to the household's electricity tariff, explored in EV energy tariffs, and the full picture of what home charging means for a self-sustaining household is set out in EV charging and household energy independence.

For a buyer, the practical inheritance from Part S is threefold: a charge point rated at 7kW or more for each parking space the rules caught, cable routes where they did not, and paperwork showing compliance. Homes with no parking receive nothing, and their owners face the different challenge covered in charging without off-street parking. The wider context of home charging, from charger types to installation, is in the home EV charging guide.