EV charging in flats: leasehold consent, shared car parks and grants
Where you park. 5 minute read
In a block of flats the charger is the easy part. The work is in getting the freeholder or management company to agree, deciding whose electricity supply it runs from, and claiming the grant before it ends in March 2027.
Three parties usually have a say before a charger goes into the car park of a block: you, whoever owns or manages the building, and the installer who has to find a route for the cable. The first two need to agree before the third can quote properly.
There is no legal right to charge in England
Leaseholders and tenants in England have no statutory right to install a charger as of October 2026. In October 2025 the government said it would make it easier for renters and leaseholders to install chargers and would consult on how. Ministers repeated that in written answers in early 2026. We found no consultation published by the date of writing.
Until that changes, the lease and the freeholder decide. Read the lease for clauses on alterations, on the common parts and on the parking space itself, because the cable will usually pass through at least one of them. The grant rules expect it too: OZEV asks applicants for proof of all legal rights and permissions, "such as from the freeholder of a block of flats".
Who to ask
| Building set up | Who gives consent |
|---|---|
| Freeholder with a managing agent | The freeholder, usually through the agent |
| Right to manage company | The RTM company; ask it whether the freeholder must also agree |
| Residents' management company | The directors of the company |
| Rented flat | Your landlord, who may in turn need the freeholder |
A written request goes further than an email asking whether a charger is allowed. Include the charger model, where it will be mounted, the route the cable will take, whose supply it uses, who pays for it and who maintains it. An installer can put most of this in a site survey report, which the freeholder can pass to its own surveyor if it wants one.
Your own charger, or a system for the whole car park
A charger wired to your own flat's supply. The installer runs a cable from your meter or consumer unit to your allocated bay. This suits a block where only one or two residents want charging and the route is short. The electricity goes on your own bill, so nobody needs to work out who used what.
A shared system. A new supply or a feeder pillar serves several chargers, with load management sharing the available power between them. OZEV's infrastructure specification describes power coming from "upgrades to the local supply" or "load balancing", and notes that "some installations may need an extra smart meter or current clamp device". The building then has to recover the cost of each resident's charging, which needs an agreed billing method. It costs more at the start and suits a block where many residents will want a charger within a few years.
Grants, and the one that has gone
| Grant | Who claims | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Flat owners and renters | The resident, with a designated private space | 75% up to £500 |
| Landlord chargepoint grant | Freeholders of multi unit buildings, RTM companies and residents' management companies | 75% up to £500 per socket |
Both close on 31 March 2027. OZEV's separate grant for car park wiring and groundwork, the residential landlord infrastructure grant, closed to applications on 31 March 2026. A management company planning a full car park system now pays for that groundwork itself. The full eligibility rules are in our grant guide.
A resident can claim only one grant, and the charger must not be fitted before OZEV confirms eligibility. If the management company is planning a shared system, find out whether it will claim the landlord grant for your bay before you apply for the resident grant yourself.
New blocks and big renovations
Since 15 June 2022, Approved Document S has required new residential buildings in England to have a chargepoint for each dwelling with an associated parking space, or for every space where there are fewer spaces than dwellings. Where grid connection costs would average more than £3,600 per chargepoint, cable routes are fitted instead. Chargers under Part S must have an output of at least 7kW.
Major renovations of residential buildings with more than ten parking spaces must give each dwelling access to a charger in at least one space, unless the cost would exceed 7% of the renovation. A charger fitted to meet Part S gets no OZEV grant.
Questions from leaseholders
The freeholder has not replied. Can I go ahead? Not safely. Without consent the work may breach the lease, and the grant rules require permissions to be in place before you apply. Write again, keep copies, and ask the managing agent for a named person and a date.
Who pays for the electricity in a shared car park? Whoever the building's arrangement says. With a charger on your own supply, you do. With a shared supply, the management company pays the energy bill and recovers it from users through the charger's billing, which the residents should agree in writing before installation.
Can the charger be on a bay I rent rather than own? For the resident grant, the space must be designated and private, and you need a legal right to use it whenever you want. A rented bay can meet that if the agreement gives you those rights. A shared, unallocated car park does not.
The drawback for flat owners
Time. A freeholder's answer can wait on a board meeting, a managing agent's queue or a surveyor's report, while the grant runs towards its March 2027 end. Start the consent request before you start collecting quotes.
Installers who survey and fit in blocks and shared car parks are listed under EV charging for flats. A request through Get quotes can say how many bays are involved, which helps installers decide between a single charger and a shared system.