OZEV grant for home chargers

The OZEV home charger grant is now much narrower than the old EVHS scheme. It can still take a useful amount off the cost of a charger, but it is mainly aimed at renters, flat owners, landlords and some homes that need an approved on-street charging solution.

Quick answer

If you own a freehold house with your own driveway, you should not expect an OZEV home charger grant. That route closed in 2022 and has not reopened.

You may be able to get support if you rent, own and live in a flat, are a residential landlord, or live somewhere without private off-street parking and can install an approved cross-pavement charging solution. The grant is worth 75% of the socket and installation cost, capped at £500 per socket for applications from 1 April 2026.

Source check, 24 May 2026

The current GOV.UK collection points readers to five chargepoint grant schemes that are funded until 31 March 2027. For ordinary households, the useful split is:

• Renters and flat owners can apply when they live in the property, have an eligible EV and have designated private off-street parking.
• On-street parking households need a permanent cross-pavement solution, such as a cable channel, plus local highways authority consent where public land is involved.
• Residential landlords use a separate landlord route with its own socket limits and business or registration tests.

If your installer or charger quote still talks about the old £350 cap, ask them to confirm whether the application is using the post-1-April-2026 process before you cancel or reapply. GOV.UK says reapplying for the higher rate is only relevant where the charger has not already been installed.

Who qualifies now

The main home schemes are now split by situation:

Renters: You can apply if you rent and live in a residential property, including shared ownership, have an eligible EV and have your own private off-street parking space. You need any required permission from the landlord, freeholder or managing agent before applying.

Flat owners: You can apply if you own and live in a flat with private off-street parking. The parking may be at the property or separate from it, but you need legal entitlement to use the space and the installer must be able to fit the charger safely.

Households with on-street parking: You can apply only if you do not have private and exclusive off-street parking and are installing a residential chargepoint alongside a permanent cross-pavement charging solution, such as an approved cable channel. Temporary cable covers and mats do not count, and the grant does not reserve an on-street space for you.

The on-street route is permission-led. The grant does not let you cut into a pavement yourself, and it does not guarantee that your council or local highways authority will approve the cable route. Treat that permission as the first blocker to clear, before choosing a charger model.

Residential landlords: Landlords can claim for chargepoints at rental properties, with limits across their sites. This is not the same as an owner-occupier grant for a private driveway.

Freehold homeowners with a driveway, garage or private residential parking space are usually outside the resident grant unless they are applying as a landlord or fit one of the specific scheme categories.

How much you get

For applications from 1 April 2026, the resident grant covers up to 75% of the cost to buy and install one socket, capped at £500. If the install costs less, the grant is still limited to 75% of the eligible cost. It is not a flat £500 discount in every case.

If you applied before 1 April 2026, the old £350 cap normally applies. GOV.UK says some applicants can reapply for the £500 rate if the chargepoint has not already been installed, so speak to the installer before cancelling or resubmitting anything.

Landlord and workplace schemes have their own limits. Landlords may be able to claim for multiple sockets across sites, while workplace grants are separate from the household grant.

The application process

The exact route depends on the scheme, but the important point is the same: do not install first and hope to claim later. The grant is not usually backdated.

1. Check the right grant category: Start with the GOV.UK guidance for renters and flat owners, residential landlords or households with on-street parking. The eligibility details are different.

2. Choose an authorised installer and eligible chargepoint: The installer and charger model need to meet the scheme rules. If you are also considering Intelligent Octopus Go, check Octopus compatibility before buying hardware. Our compatible chargers guide explains why charger and vehicle compatibility both matter.

3. Get permission before applying: Renters, flat owners and on-street applicants may need permission from a landlord, freeholder, managing agent, local highways authority, planning authority or private landowner.

4. Apply through the current platform: From April 2026, flats, renters and residential landlord applications use the newer GOV.UK grant application process. The installer still has a role in the claim, but applicants should follow the current GOV.UK journey rather than relying on old installer-only advice.

5. Wait for approval before installation: Once the application is accepted, the installer can complete the installation and claim the grant. The grant is deducted from the eligible cost rather than paid to you as cash.

Timelines vary. A simple driveway-adjacent installation can be quick once approved, while flats, communal parking and pavement-channel work can take longer because permissions matter as much as the charger itself.

Documentation and checks to prepare

Depending on your situation, be ready with:

• Proof of vehicle: V5C, lease evidence, company-car evidence or an eligible EV order due within the scheme timescale
• Proof of property type: Tenancy agreement, leasehold evidence or landlord ownership details
• Parking evidence: Proof that you have legal access to the private parking space, or local authority evidence for an on-street solution
• Permission letters: Landlord, freeholder, managing agent, highways authority, planning authority or private landowner consent where relevant
• Installer information: An OZEV-authorised installer and an eligible residential chargepoint model
• Site photos or survey details: Many installers ask for photos of the parking space, cable route and consumer unit before quoting

Common reasons applications get rejected

Wrong property category: Owning a house with a private driveway is the classic mismatch. The current resident grant is not a general owner-occupier charger discount.

The charger is already installed: The grant generally cannot be claimed retrospectively. Check the rules before booking the work.

No eligible vehicle: The grant is tied to eligible electric and plug-in vehicles. A standard hybrid does not qualify.

Missing permission: Flats, rented homes and pavement-channel projects often fail because one of the required permissions is missing or informal.

Temporary on-street setup: An extension lead under a mat or a temporary cable cover is not enough for the on-street grant. The cross-pavement solution needs to meet the scheme and local authority requirements.

Non-approved installer or charger: The installer and chargepoint must be eligible for the grant.

Will the grant be extended again?

The current GOV.UK position is that the simplified home and workplace chargepoint grant portfolio runs until 31 March 2027. The government says it reserves the right to end or change the schemes, and aims to give four weeks’ notice if the grant ends or the amount changes.

That makes the grant useful, but not something to build a whole EV decision around. Treat it as one part of the cost calculation alongside the charger, electrical work, parking position, tariff choice and how much home charging you will actually do.

If you do not qualify

If you do not qualify for an OZEV home grant, check these alternatives before giving up on home or near-home charging:

Local council support: Some councils run on-street charging trials, cable-channel schemes, lamppost charging or local grant programmes. The details vary a lot by area.

Workplace Charging Scheme: This is for businesses and organisations rather than private household installs. If you run a business or manage a workplace, it may be more relevant than the resident grant.

Landlord route: If you rent, a landlord may be able to use the residential landlord grant even where you cannot claim directly.

Energy supplier offers: Suppliers and charger makers sometimes offer discounted installation bundles. Compare the total cost, the charger compatibility and any tariff requirements before treating a bundle as a saving.

Public and workplace charging: If you cannot fit a home charger, regular public, workplace or destination charging can still make an EV work, although you lose much of the cheap overnight-tariff advantage.

Smart-tariff checks after the grant

The grant only helps with the hardware and installation cost. It does not prove that a charger, car, smart meter or parking setup will work well with Octopus Go or Intelligent Octopus Go.

Before treating a grant-funded charger as an Octopus-ready setup, check three separate things:

• whether Octopus can support your car or charger for Intelligent Octopus Go today
• whether your smart meter can send the half-hourly readings needed for smart-tariff billing
• whether your charger app, car app and Octopus app are trying to control the same session

Charger screenshots and vehicle-app logs are useful evidence if something looks wrong, but Octopus smart-tariff billing depends on smart-meter data and the current smart-tariff terms. Keep the grant paperwork, installer invoice, charger model, meter readings and app screenshots together so any later tariff or billing question is easier to untangle.

Even without a grant, a home wallbox can still pay back over time if you do enough miles and can use a cheap overnight tariff such as Octopus Go or Intelligent Octopus Go. Our home charging basics guide walks through the setup, while single phase vs three phase explains why some installations need more electrical checks.

If you decide Octopus is the right supplier after working through the charger and tariff choices, Matt’s referral code can be used during the switch. The grant question comes first though: a cheap tariff is only genuinely useful if you can charge safely where you park.