Last updated: 6 July 2026. This guide has been reviewed against the latest OZEV and GOV.UK guidance. EV charge point grants and eligibility criteria may change, so always check the current requirements before applying or booking your installation.
If you’ve searched for an “EV charger installation grant” in 2026, you’ve probably hit a wall of outdated blog posts still quoting £350 caps and schemes that no longer exist. The funding landscape changed materially on 1 April 2026, and it changed again in some corners on 31 March 2026 when three older schemes closed for good. This guide reflects the current rules what’s open, what’s closed, and exactly how to apply without wasting weeks on an application that was never going to succeed.
We install EV chargers across the UK every week, so this isn’t theory. It’s what we tell clients on the phone.
Quick Answer
Are EV charger grants still available in the UK? Yes but not for everyone. Five OZEV-administered chargepoint grants are open and funded until 31 March 2027. Three older schemes closed to new applications on 31 March 2026.
Who qualifies? Renters, flat owners/leaseholders, residential landlords, businesses, charities, public sector bodies, and state-funded schools. Homeowners who own a standard house with a driveway do not qualify that route closed in 2022.
How much funding is available? Up to 75% of the combined purchase and installation cost, capped at £500 per socket for most schemes (up from £350 before 1 April 2026). Schools can claim up to £2,000 per socket. Workplaces can claim for up to 40 sockets; residential landlords for up to 200.
If none of that applies to you for example, you own your own house outright with a driveway a grant isn’t available, but you can still cut costs through 0% VAT on some installations and, if you’re a business, 100% capital allowances (see the tax relief section below).
What EV Charger Grants Are Available in the UK?
All current charge point grants are run by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), part of the Department for Transport, and applied for via GOV.UK. In February 2026, OZEV confirmed a “final year” restructure: the previous eight-scheme portfolio was streamlined to five, with rates increased from £350 to £500 per socket from 1 April 2026, and all five schemes now run until 31 March 2027.
| Grant | Who it’s for | Grant rate | Cap |
| EV Chargepoint Grant for Renters and Flat Owners | Individuals renting or owning a flat, with private off-street parking | 75% of cost, up to £500/socket | 1 grant per applicant |
| EV Chargepoint Grant for Residential Landlords | Landlords installing at rental properties | 75% of cost, up to £500/socket | Up to 200 sockets/year |
| EV Chargepoint Grant for Households with On-Street Parking | Owners/renters with no off-street parking, installing a cross-pavement (“gully”) solution | 75% of cost, up to £500/socket | 1 grant per applicant |
| Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) | Businesses, charities, public sector bodies | 75% of cost, up to £500/socket | 40 sockets across all sites |
| WCS for State-Funded Education Institutions | Schools and education institutions | Up to £2,000/socket | 40 sockets across all sites |
A sixth, more specialised scheme the Depot Charging Scheme supports charging infrastructure at HGV and coach fleet depots. It’s outside the scope of most residential and small commercial installs, but worth knowing about if you work with logistics or transport clients.
Every scheme shares the same non-negotiable foundations, and this is where we see most applications go wrong:
- The work must be done by an OZEV-authorised installer. We are one, but always check the official register for any installer you’re considering.
- The charger must be on the OZEV-approved product list and must be a “smart” chargepoint capable of remote communication.
- You must not have the chargepoint installed before OZEV confirms eligibility. Install first, and you forfeit the grant entirely no exceptions.
- The grant is deducted directly from your installer’s invoice. You never receive cash yourself.
EV Chargepoint Grant (Renters and Flat Owners)
This is the scheme most homeowners assume still applies to them. It doesn’t and understanding why is the single most important thing in this guide.
Who it covers: People who rent any residential property, or who own and live in a flat (including leaseholders and shared-ownership occupiers), provided the property has private, off-street parking that’s legally allocated to them.
Dedicated parking requirement: This is where most rejections happen. The parking space must be clearly defined, off the public highway, and one you have a legal right to use not a shared visitor bay, not an informal arrangement with a neighbour. Your installer will assess this during the site survey, and if it can’t be evidenced, OZEV will decline the application regardless of everything else being correct.
Approved chargers and installers: The charger must appear on OZEV’s approved product list and be fitted by an OZEV-authorised installer. Self-installation, or installation by a general electrician who isn’t OZEV-registered, disqualifies the claim entirely even retrospectively.
Funding limits: 75% of the combined cost of the unit and installation, up to a maximum of £500. You’re only eligible for one grant, so it’s worth getting the specification right first time.
Application process:
- Get a quote from an OZEV-authorised installer (we can do this as part of a free survey).
- Obtain written permission from your landlord or freeholder if you don’t own the property outright this must name you specifically and confirm the property address.
- Register for an account on the current GOV.UK grant platform and submit your application with a recent utility bill, your permission letter, and the installer’s quote.
- Wait for OZEV’s confirmation (the current platform targets roughly 10 working days) before any work begins.
- Once approved, your installer completes the work and claims the grant directly, deducting it from your final invoice.
Common mistakes: Applying with a landlord’s permission letter that doesn’t name the applicant or address; assuming an unmarked driveway space counts as “dedicated” parking when it’s shared with other flats; and the big one having the charger fitted before approval lands.
Workplace Charging Scheme
The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) is the route we use most often for our commercial clients, from single-site offices to multi-depot fleets.
Business eligibility: Open to businesses of any size, charities, and public sector organisations. Small accommodation providers, such as B&Bs with fewer than ten rooms, also qualify. You must own the site or have written landlord consent, and the parking must be dedicated, off-street, and reserved for staff or fleet use not customers or the public.
Charities and public sector: Treated the same as businesses for eligibility purposes, though there’s a separate, more generous scheme for state-funded schools and education institutions (up to £2,000 per socket, reduced from £2,500 as part of the April 2026 changes).
Maximum funding: 75% of the combined purchase and installation cost. If the installation is completed on or after 1 April 2026, the cap is £500 per socket and this applies regardless of when you originally applied, which is a detail a lot of businesses miss when budgeting.
Socket limits: Up to 40 sockets across all of an organisation’s sites. If you’re rolling out charging across multiple depots, this is where good planning with your installer pays off spreading the allowance efficiently across sites rather than maxing out one location.
State aid rule to know: WCS funding counts as Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA), and organisations can receive up to £315,000 in MFA over a rolling three-year period. Most SMEs will never get close to this, but it’s worth flagging if your business has received other government subsidies recently.
Application process: Apply via the WCS portal before installation, choose an authorised installer, and critically don’t let installation happen before approval. The chargepoints must remain restricted to staff and fleet vehicles; opening them to public use after the fact can jeopardise the grant retrospectively.
If you’re planning a larger commercial rollout, our guide to commercial EV charger installation covers site assessment and load management in more detail.
Grants That Have Ended
Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS)
The EVHS was the original OZEV home charging grant, and it’s the reason so many people still believe homeowners can get funding. It closed to standard homeowners in April 2022.
Why it ended: The EVHS was designed to kick-start early EV adoption when home charger costs were higher and far fewer people owned one. By 2022, government policy shifted deliberately: homeowners with driveways were judged to be the group least in need of continued subsidy, since they already had the easiest and cheapest path to home charging. Funding was redirected toward the groups who genuinely couldn’t access home charging without help renters, flat owners, and people without off-street parking at all.
Who it helped: Between its launch and closure, EVHS supported hundreds of thousands of home chargepoint installations for owner-occupiers.
Why homeowners are no longer eligible: If you own your house outright (or with a mortgage) and have a private driveway, you sit outside every current OZEV home scheme. This isn’t a technicality or an oversight in the application it’s a deliberate policy decision, and no amount of paperwork changes it. The only way homeowners can currently access chargepoint funding is if their house has been legally converted into separate flats and they occupy one as a flat.
Schemes that closed on 31 March 2026
As part of the same restructure that increased grant rates to £500, OZEV closed three schemes to new applicants:
- Staff and Fleets Grant previously supported SMEs (fewer than 250 staff) installing chargepoints for staff and fleet vehicles, covering 75% of costs up to £15,000 per installation.
- Commercial Landlord Chargepoint Grant supported commercial landlords installing chargers for business tenants paying business rates, up to 100 sockets a year.
- Residential Landlord Infrastructure Grant funded groundwork and cabling infrastructure (rather than the chargepoint itself) at rental properties, ahead of future socket installation.
Installers had until 26 May 2026 to submit claims for work already completed under these schemes, with a final resubmission window closing on 6 July 2026 for anyone asked to provide further evidence. As of the date of this guide, those claim windows have now closed. If you were relying on one of these three grants and haven’t claimed, it’s worth speaking to your installer immediately to check whether your case falls inside the final resubmission allowance.
Regional Grants: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
All five current OZEV schemes apply UK-wide, including Northern Ireland. Beyond that baseline, support varies by nation.
Scotland: Home Energy Scotland, funded by Transport Scotland and administered by the Energy Saving Trust, runs a separate Domestic Charge Point Funding grant of up to £400. It’s aimed specifically at people living in rural or remote areas of Scotland (including the islands) with a household income of £50,000 or less, plus a separate route for people who bought a used EV through the Energy Saving Trust’s Used EV Loan. This grant operates on a first-come, first-served basis, can close without notice depending on funding availability, and can, in eligible cases, be claimed alongside an OZEV grant. If you’re in Scotland, check directly with Home Energy Scotland for current status before assuming it’s open.
Wales: There is currently no standing Wales-specific chargepoint grant equivalent to Scotland’s Home Energy Scotland scheme. Welsh households and businesses rely on the same UK-wide OZEV grants covered above; Business Wales occasionally runs top-up funding, but nothing permanent at the time of writing.
Northern Ireland: Covered by the same OZEV schemes as England, Scotland and Wales there’s no separate NI-specific chargepoint grant. Public charging infrastructure density is lower in Northern Ireland than the rest of the UK, which if anything makes a well-planned home or workplace installation more valuable there.
Who Qualifies?
| Applicant type | Likely eligible? | Route |
| Renter (any residential property) | Yes, with off-street parking | Renters and Flat Owners grant |
| Flat owner/leaseholder | Yes, with off-street parking | Renters and Flat Owners grant |
| Homeowner with driveway (standard house) | No | None EVHS closed 2022 |
| Homeowner with only on-street parking | Possibly | On-Street Parking grant (cross-pavement solution) |
| Residential landlord | Yes | Residential Landlord grant |
| Commercial landlord | No longer for new applications | Closed 31 March 2026 |
| Business (any size) | Yes | Workplace Charging Scheme |
| Charity / public sector body | Yes | Workplace Charging Scheme |
| State-funded school | Yes | WCS for Education Institutions |
| Holiday let owner (residential) | No | Excluded under residential landlord terms |
| B&B (fewer than 10 rooms) | Yes | Workplace Charging Scheme |
Who Doesn’t Qualify?
- Homeowners with private off-street parking who own their house outright the single most common reason people are surprised to be turned away.
- Lodgers renting a room in a property where the landlord or homeowner also lives.
- Anyone installing a chargepoint to meet a mandatory legal requirement for example, new-build developments in England subject to Approved Document S (Part S) building regulations from 15 June 2022, or equivalent rules under the Building (Scotland) Regulations from 5 June 2023, or where a planning condition already requires charging infrastructure. If the law already forces the installation, the grant won’t fund it.
- Anyone who has already claimed under the current grant, the EVHS, or the Domestic Recharge Scheme for the same property.
- Holiday-let-only properties under the residential landlord route (though B&Bs with fewer than 10 rooms can apply via the Workplace Charging Scheme).
- Anyone installing before approval this applies across every scheme without exception.
Required Documents
| Applicant type | Typical documents needed |
| Renter | Recent utility bill (under 3 months), tenancy agreement, landlord’s written permission naming you and the address, installer’s quote |
| Flat owner/leaseholder | Proof of ownership, freeholder/management company permission letter, installer’s quote |
| Residential landlord | Companies House registration or VAT registration, proof of property ownership, installer’s quote |
| Business (WCS) | Proof of premises ownership or landlord consent, dedicated parking evidence, installer’s quote |
| All applicants | Confirmation of eligible EV (owned, leased, or on order), OZEV-authorised installer details |
Step-by-Step Application Process
- Check eligibility against your property type, parking situation, and applicant category before contacting anyone.
- Get a site survey and quote from an OZEV-authorised installer. This isn’t optional it’s a prerequisite for every scheme.
- Gather permissions and documents landlord letters, freeholder consent, or company registration details, depending on your route.
- Register and apply through the relevant GOV.UK grant page. Don’t proceed with any installation work at this stage.
- Wait for written confirmation from OZEV. Current processing targets around 10 working days, though this can vary.
- Installation goes ahead only once both you and your installer have received approval notification.
- Installer claims the grant, submitting photographic evidence and your invoice showing the pre- and post-grant cost.
- You pay the balance the grant amount is already deducted from what you owe.
Common Reasons Applications Are Rejected
- Wrong or unauthorised installer using someone not on the OZEV register invalidates the claim, even if the work itself is excellent.
- Applying too late, or not at all, before installation the single most common and most avoidable mistake.
- Missing or incorrectly worded permission letters landlord or freeholder consent that doesn’t name the applicant and address specifically will bounce back.
- No genuinely dedicated parking shared, unmarked, or informally-agreed spaces don’t meet the private off-street parking requirement.
- Ineligible property type most commonly, homeowners with driveways applying under a scheme that hasn’t covered them since 2022.
- Mandatory installation requirement already in place if building regulations or a planning condition already requires the chargepoint, no grant applies.
Can You Apply After Installation?
No. This is one of the most rigid rules across every OZEV scheme: the chargepoint must not be installed before OZEV confirms your eligibility. Applications submitted after installation, or claims where the invoice date predates the approval date, are refused outright there’s no appeals route around this. If cost is tight and you’re tempted to get ahead of the paperwork, don’t. It’s the single most expensive mistake we see people make, because a £500 grant is gone permanently once the work is done.
How Long Does Approval Take?
OZEV’s current platform targets roughly 10 working days to assess a straightforward application. In practice, incomplete documentation particularly poorly worded permission letters is the biggest cause of delay, sometimes stretching the process to several weeks while evidence is resubmitted. Building a buffer of at least 3–4 weeks into your installation timeline is sensible, especially if you’re coordinating around a house move or a new vehicle delivery. For a broader sense of what happens once approval lands, see our guide on how long EV charger installation takes.
Business Tax Relief
Grants and tax relief solve different problems, and businesses often assume they’re interchangeable. They’re not.
100% First-Year Allowance (FYA): Businesses buying new, unused EV chargepoint equipment can claim the full cost against taxable profits in the year of purchase, under section 45EA of the Capital Allowances Act 2001. This has been extended and now runs to 31 March 2027 for Corporation Tax and 5 April 2027 for Income Tax. The same 100% first-year relief also applies to new zero-emission cars.
Important interaction with grants: capital allowances apply to what your business actually spent if a WCS grant has already reduced your invoice, the allowance is calculated on the net amount you paid, not the pre-grant price. You can’t claim tax relief on money you never spent.
Ongoing running costs: if employees charge company EVs at home and are reimbursed, HMRC’s Advisory Electricity Rate keeps that reimbursement outside Benefit-in-Kind territory, provided you stick to the published rate. There’s no equivalent of the old “fuel benefit charge” for electricity, which is one of the quieter financial advantages of running an EV fleet.
Grant vs Tax Relief
| Grant (OZEV) | Tax Relief (FYA) | |
| Who can claim | Individuals, landlords, businesses, schools | Businesses and companies only |
| How it works | Reduces the invoice before you pay | Reduces taxable profit after purchase |
| When you benefit | Immediately, on the invoice | At your next tax return |
| Cap | £500–£2,000 per socket, scheme-dependent | 100% of net qualifying cost, no fixed cap |
| Can they be combined | N/A | Yes allowance applies to the cost net of any grant received |
| Applies to | New chargepoint installations | New, unused chargepoint equipment |
Real Examples
Homeowner with a driveway: Owns their house outright, wants a home charger. No OZEV grant available the EVHS closed in 2022. They’ll pay full installation cost, though may benefit from 0% VAT depending on the installation (see our guide on VAT on EV charger installation).
Tenant renting a house with off-street parking: Rents privately, has a dedicated driveway space, landlord agrees in writing. Applies under the Renters and Flat Owners grant, gets 75% of costs covered up to £500, and pays the balance directly to the installer.
Landlord with a portfolio of rental flats: Registered at Companies House, installs chargers across several properties. Applies under the Residential Landlord grant, claiming up to £500 per socket across as many as 200 sockets in a year.
Leaseholder in a shared block of flats: Needs freeholder and management company permission before applying, since the parking area is shared infrastructure. Once permission and a dedicated bay are confirmed, applies under the same Renters and Flat Owners route as a tenant would.
Small business installing four staff bays: Applies through the Workplace Charging Scheme, covering 75% of the combined cost up to £500 per socket across the four bays, provided the parking is reserved for staff and fleet use only.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming homeowner eligibility still exists because an old blog post or forum thread said so.
- Getting a quote from a general electrician instead of confirming OZEV authorisation first.
- Installing before receiving written approval irreversible once it happens.
- Submitting landlord permission letters that don’t name the applicant or specify the address.
- Overlooking the “final year” status of these schemes with funding confirmed only to 31 March 2027, delaying an eligible application into 2027 carries real risk of missing the window entirely.
EV Charger Grant — FAQ
Straight answers on eligibility, funding and OZEV rules
No — not if you own a standard house outright with a private driveway. That route (the EVHS) closed to homeowners in April 2022 and hasn’t reopened.
Yes, provided the property has dedicated off-street parking and the landlord gives written permission naming the tenant and the property address.
Yes — residential landlords can apply for up to 200 sockets a year at £500 per socket, provided they’re registered at Companies House or VAT registered. The separate Commercial Landlord Chargepoint Grant closed to new applications on 31 March 2026.
Yes, through the Workplace Charging Scheme, covering 75% of costs up to £500 per socket, for up to 40 sockets across all sites.
Yes, without exception. Using an installer who isn’t on the OZEV register disqualifies the grant entirely, regardless of how good the work is.
No. Every current scheme requires OZEV’s written approval before any installation work starts. Retrospective claims are refused.
Yes — the grant applies to the combined cost of the charger unit and installation labour, not just the hardware.
No — you can only claim one grant per socket or per property, depending on the scheme. You cannot stack the OZEV grant with its predecessor schemes or claim it twice for the same installation.
You can usually resubmit with corrected evidence if the rejection was due to missing documentation. If the rejection is due to fundamental ineligibility (for example, owning a house outright), no amount of resubmission will change the outcome.
Up to £500 per socket, or 75% of the combined purchase and installation cost, whichever is lower. On a typical £900–£1,200 home installation, that can bring your out-of-pocket cost down to roughly £400–£700.
Yes, all five OZEV schemes apply across the whole UK. Scotland also has a separate, smaller Home Energy Scotland grant with its own income and location criteria.
Only smart chargepoints on OZEV’s approved product list qualify — your installer will confirm which units are eligible during your quote.
Individual renters and flat owners are limited to one grant. Landlords and workplaces can claim across multiple sockets, up to their scheme’s cap.
OZEV currently targets around 10 working days for a decision, though incomplete documentation can extend this significantly.
No. You need to own, lease, or have a confirmed order for an eligible electric vehicle — you don’t need to already have taken delivery.
Yes, provided they can evidence a dedicated, legally allocated parking space and obtain the necessary freeholder or management company permission.
For individuals, no. For businesses, the grant reduces the qualifying cost for capital allowances purposes rather than counting as separate taxable income.
The chargepoint grant is for individuals (renters, flat owners) and residential landlords installing at homes. The Workplace Charging Scheme is specifically for businesses, charities, and public sector organisations installing chargers for staff or fleet use.
Not under the residential landlord route, which explicitly excludes holiday-only accommodation. Small B&Bs with fewer than 10 rooms can, however, apply via the Workplace Charging Scheme.
Unconfirmed. OZEV has described the current five-scheme portfolio as a “final year” of funding at these levels, and no announcement has been made about what, if anything, follows March 2027. If you’re eligible now, there’s a real incentive to act rather than wait.
Getting the Grant Right, First Time
Grant rules are strict, and OZEV doesn’t offer much leeway for paperwork errors. If you’re unsure which of the five schemes applies to your situation or whether your parking arrangement actually meets the “dedicated, off-street” test it’s worth getting a proper site survey before you apply, not after.
As an OZEV-authorised installer, EV Install Pro handles the eligibility check, the paperwork, and the claim as part of every installation, so you’re never navigating this alone. If you want a clear answer on what you can claim before you commit to anything, get in touch for a free assessment.
