As ever more of us are moving towards electric vehicles (EV), it could be beneficial for landlords to consider supplying an EV charger with their properties. As a tenant, however, it might not seem a good investment to personally pay for an EV charger to be installed in a rental property. The installation of an EV charger is not cheap but, in this article, we will look at the current grants available from the Government to support the installation of EV chargers for landlords and tenants.
What is the EV Charger Grant?
The scheme is essentially a government grant which is paid to a registered installer for installing a qualifying EV charger at the rented property on behalf of a registered landlord. The grant covers up to a maximum of 75% of the installation costs up to a cap of £350 per installation and a registered landlord can apply for up to 200 grants per year for residential properties.
How the scheme works for landlords
First you must be a landlord, which is essentially any person or company which rents, leases or manages domestic or commercial properties, they could be a:
- landlord of a property that lets the property
- right to manage (RTM) company
- companies owning the freehold of a leased or rented property
- companies owning a building’s common areas. The company may comprise of shareholders who are the leaseholders. The company may also manage the building
- property factor listed here in the property factor register
- private registered providers of social housing (PRP)
- public authorities, such as government departments and their agencies, the armed forces, local governments, the NHS and emergency services
- charities
The landlord must register themselves with the DVLA using the EV Chargepoint grant for Landlords: Registration form and provide a company registration or VAT registration number as well as an email address and a contact address, which must be the same as the address used to register the company with companies house or for VAT purposes.
Once registered the landlord needs to find an OZEV registered installer to carry out the installation work. The installer will then pretty much do all the hard work on the landlord’s behalf. They will check that the property is eligible for a grant by checking that there is private parking for the property which is owned by the landlord or that the landlord has legal sole use of the space. The installer will then propose an approved Chargepoint model and quote for the installation, passing on the grant discount. Upon agreement, the installer will carry out the install and then personally apply for the grant on the landlord’s behalf.
How the scheme works for tenants
If the landlord is not registered with companies house or is not VAT registered, which is relatively common, the tenant can apply for the grant instead.
The scheme as it runs for tenants is very similar to the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, which ended at the end of March 2022 for home owners. The main differences to that scheme are that:
- the customer must live in rental accommodation or own a flat
- the installer must confirm ownership of the property. If rented, confirm the name and address of person or entity letting the property as it appears on the rental agreement
- The customer owns, leases or has ordered a qualifying electric vehicle
- customers will no longer be able to claim for 2 Chargepoints if they own a second electric vehicle
The scheme then runs almost identically to the scheme for landlords. The tenant should find an OZEV registered installer who will then make the relevant checks to ensure that the tenant and the property are eligible. They will then quote to install an approved Chargepoint, ensuring that the £350 discount or 75% discount is applied (whichever is the lowest). After installation the installer will apply for the grant on the tenant’s behalf.
The EV charger grant makes it much more affordable and attractive to have an EV charger installed in rental properties, either by the landlord or the tenant to allow the tenant to move to an electric vehicle much more conveniently by having a charger at home. At the moment there is no end date to the grant scheme, but that does not mean it will carry on indefinitely, so it would make sense to apply for the grant as soon as possible.
