OZEV Grant Explained: Who Qualifies and How to Claim in 2026

The OZEV grant landscape has shifted considerably since its peak. If you’re a homeowner Googling whether you can still get £350 off a home charger, the short answer is no, that scheme closed in April 2022. But if you’re a flat resident, a landlord with rental properties, or running a business, there’s still money on the table.

We’ve installed hundreds of EV chargers across London and Essex under various iterations of these grants. The rules have tightened, the eligibility has narrowed, but the application process, when you know the route, remains straightforward. This guide covers what’s actually available in 2026, who qualifies, and how to claim without tripping over the technical requirements.

What OZEV Grants Still Exist in 2026

The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) currently administers two main grant schemes:

• EV Chargepoint Grant for flat owners and renters, up to £350 or 75% of installation costs (whichever is lower) for eligible residents in flats and rental properties
• EV Infrastructure Grant for landlords, up to £350 per socket (capped at 200 sockets across all your properties annually) for landlords installing chargers in residential buildings

The workplace charging scheme (WCS) that offered businesses up to £350 per socket closed to new applicants in April 2024. If you’re a business looking to install EV infrastructure now, you’re funding it yourself, though the VAT treatment and capital allowances still make it financially sensible.

Both active grants require installation by an OZEV-approved installer. We’re on that register. The grant is claimed by the installer on your behalf, deducted from your final invoice. You don’t fill in forms or wait for reimbursement.

Who Qualifies for the EV Chargepoint Grant (Flats and Rentals)

This grant targets people who can’t install a charger as easily as someone with a detached house and a driveway. You qualify if:

• You live in a flat (purpose-built or converted)
• You rent a property (house or flat) and have landlord permission
• You have dedicated off-street parking (your own space, not shared visitor bays)

The property must have existed before the grant application. No claiming on new-builds still under construction. The parking space needs to be clearly associated with your dwelling, a numbered bay, a garage, a designated area. Shared parking where anyone can park anywhere doesn’t qualify.

In practice, across East London and Essex, we see this claimed most often in:

• 1960s and 70s mansion blocks with allocated underground parking (common in Ilford, Wanstead, parts of Chingford)
• Converted Victorian houses split into flats with rear parking areas (Walthamstow, Leytonstone, Woodford)
• Modern purpose-built flat developments with ground-level parking courts (Stratford, Canning Town, Barking Riverside)

If you’re a leaseholder, you may need freeholder consent to install the charger, that’s a separate legal matter from the grant itself, but it’s a common blocker. We’ve worked through dozens of these. Most freeholders agree once they understand the installation won’t damage the building fabric and the leaseholder is covering the cost.

Who Qualifies for the EV Infrastructure Grant (Landlords)

This one’s for landlords and property developers installing chargers at residential buildings with multiple dwellings. You qualify if:

• You own the building or manage it on behalf of the owner
• The building has at least two residential units (flats, maisonettes, bedsits)
• The chargers are in dedicated parking spaces for residents

The grant covers up to £350 per socket, capped at 200 sockets per financial year across all your properties. If you’re a housing association with 500 flats, you can claim for 200 chargers this year and 200 next year.

We’ve installed under this scheme for landlords with portfolios around Romford, Brentwood, and the Docklands. The business case is straightforward: tenants increasingly expect EV charging, especially in new-build or refurbished blocks. Installing now future-proofs the property and can justify a small rent premium or faster lettings.

The grant doesn’t cover groundwork if you need to dig up a car park or upgrade the main electrical supply. It covers the charger unit and the standard installation labour. If your car park needs a new substation or 50 metres of SWA cable trenching, that’s on you.

How to Claim: The Actual Process

You don’t claim the grant directly. Your OZEV-approved installer claims it on your behalf and deducts it from your invoice. Here’s how it works in practice:

Step 1: Contact an OZEV-approved installer. Check the register on the gov.uk website or ask the installer to confirm their approval status. We’re approved and have been since the scheme launched.

Step 2: Site survey. The installer visits, checks your electrical supply, confirms parking eligibility, measures cable routes. This is where most issues surface, inadequate supply, unclear parking rights, listed building constraints.

Step 3: Quote. You receive a quote with the grant already deducted. If the total install cost is £800 and you qualify for £350, you pay £450. If the cost is £400, you pay £100 (75% of £400 is £300, so the grant is capped at that).

Step 4: Installation. Once you accept the quote, the installer books the job, installs the charger, and submits the grant claim to OZEV with photos and compliance certificates.

Step 5: Payment. You pay the installer the net amount (after grant deduction). OZEV reimburses the installer directly within a few weeks.

The installer handles all paperwork: the grant application, the electrical certificates (BS 7671), the photographic evidence, the compliance declarations. You sign a form confirming eligibility (that you live in a flat or rent the property, that the parking is dedicated, etc.), but that’s it.

What the Grant Covers (and What It Doesn’t)

The grant pays for:

• The charger unit itself (typically a 7kW single-phase wall box)
• Standard installation labour
• Up to 15 metres of cable run from your consumer unit or a nearby supply point
• A dedicated circuit with RCD protection

It doesn’t cover:

• Consumer unit upgrades (if your board is an old rewireable fuse type, you’ll need to upgrade it first, not grant-funded)
• Supply upgrades (if your incoming supply is too small, you’ll need to apply to your DNO for an upgrade, separate cost and timescale)
• Groundworks beyond minor surface-mount trunking (digging up tarmac, trenching across a car park, installing new ducting)
• Planning permission or listed building consent fees

In a typical flat installation in a 1980s block in Loughton or Buckhurst Hill, the grant covers almost the entire job. In a Victorian conversion in Walthamstow with a tired old fuse board and 60 metres of cable run to a rear parking area, the grant covers maybe a third of the total cost. Site survey tells you which camp you’re in.

Alternatives If You Don’t Qualify

If you’re a homeowner in a house you own, you’re funding the charger yourself. The good news: prices have dropped. A straightforward 7kW installation now costs £800 to £1,200 depending on cable run and board condition. That’s less than the post-grant price was three years ago.

Some energy suppliers offer interest-free credit or discounted chargers if you sign up for their EV tariff. Octopus, OVO, and EDF all run promotions. The tariff itself can save you £400 a year if you charge overnight, so the effective payback is quick.

Businesses can still claim capital allowances under the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) or super-deduction rules (if still active). The charger and installation costs are fully deductible. If you’re VAT-registered and the charger is used for business purposes, you can reclaim the VAT on installation too. Not a grant, but it softens the blow.

Technical Requirements for Grant-Eligible Installations

OZEV mandates specific technical standards. Every grant-funded charger must:

• Be a smart charger (controllable via app or API, able to respond to grid signals)
• Meet the Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021
• Be installed by an OZEV-approved installer who is also NICEIC-registered or equivalent
• Have a dedicated circuit protected by a Type A RCD with 6mA DC leakage protection (or Type B RCD)
• Be tested and certified to BS 7671:2018+A2:2022

The smart requirement means older “dumb” chargers aren’t eligible. The charger must be able to schedule charging, respond to tariff signals, and integrate with the grid. In practice, every major manufacturer (Ohme, Zappi, Hypervolt, Andersen) meets this. We install Ohme units most often, reliable, good app, integrates with Octopus and other smart tariffs.

The installer must provide an Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC) on completion, photos of the installed charger showing the parking space and property, and a declaration that the installation meets Building Regulations Part P. We handle this as standard. You receive a certificate pack and digital copies of everything submitted to OZEV.

How Long Does It Take?

From first contact to charging your car: typically two to four weeks. The grant claim itself adds no time, we submit it on installation day, OZEV processes it in the background, you’re already using the charger.

Delays usually come from:

• Freeholder or landlord consent (can take weeks if the managing agent is slow)
• DNO supply upgrades (if needed, allow six to twelve weeks)
• Part P Building Control sign-off in some boroughs (rare, but Newham and Tower Hamlets sometimes ask for it)

If your supply is adequate, your parking is clear, and you’re ready to proceed, we can usually install within a week of survey. The grant claim is submitted same day. You pay us the net amount, drive off happy, and OZEV reimburses us a few weeks later. You never see that part.

Is the Grant Worth the Hassle?

If you qualify, yes. £350 off a £1,000 job is a 35% saving. The “hassle” is minimal, you sign a one-page eligibility form, we do the rest. The grant doesn’t slow down the installation or add bureaucracy to your side.

If you’re a landlord installing ten chargers, that’s £3,500 off the bill. If you’re a housing association installing fifty, it’s £17,500. The business case shifts from marginal to compelling.

The grant won’t last forever. Government EV policy is moving away from installation subsidies and towards grid integration and public infrastructure. If you’re eligible and planning to install in the next year, claim it while it exists.

Bottom line: The OZEV grant has narrowed to flats, rentals, and landlords, but if you’re in that group, it’s still up to £350 off your installation with no extra paperwork on your end. The installer claims it, you pay the net price, job done. We’ve processed hundreds of these claims across East London and Essex. The system works. If you’re eligible, use it.