The EV Charger Grant Explained: Do You Qualify in 2026?

Getting a home EV charger fitted costs between £500 and £1,000 in most cases. The government’s EV Chargepoint Grant can take up to £350 off that, but the eligibility conditions aren’t always explained clearly. As an OZEV-approved installer, this is something I deal with on most EV charger jobs. Here’s how the scheme actually works.

What Is the Grant?

The EV Chargepoint Grant is administered by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), which sits within the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. It provides eligible households with up to £350 toward the cost of buying and installing a home charge point.

The discount doesn’t come to you as a rebate or cheque. The approved installer claims the grant on your behalf and deducts it directly from your invoice. One bill, already reduced.

Who Qualifies?

The scheme currently covers two main groups.

Homeowners with off-street parking. If you own your home, have a dedicated off-street parking space (a driveway, private garage, or allocated private bay), and you own or have placed an order for a qualifying electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle, you’re likely to be eligible.

Renters and flat-dwellers. Tenants and people living in flats can also apply, but the property owner or landlord needs to be involved in the application process. There’s a landlord-specific strand of the grant for this situation.

The vehicle requirement. The grant applies to new fully electric vehicles and qualifying plug-in hybrids. Most modern EVs and PHEVs sold in the UK in 2024 and later are on the eligible list. If you’re unsure whether your vehicle qualifies, I can check during the survey visit.

What Doesn’t Qualify

A few situations fall outside the scheme:

• Properties without any off-street parking
• A second property (one grant per household)
• Installations where a charger was already fitted and you’re looking to upgrade the unit only
• Vehicles not on the OZEV approved list
• Business premises (a separate workplace charging scheme exists for those)

What About the LEVI Scheme?

You may have seen references to the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) scheme and wondered if it’s relevant. LEVI covers public and shared charging infrastructure, such as on-street charge points and shared bays in residential blocks. It’s a government programme aimed at local authorities and housing providers rather than individual homeowners. If you’re a landlord managing a block of flats and want to install shared charge points, LEVI is worth looking into. For a standard home installation, it doesn’t apply.

How to Apply

Because OZEV-approved installers handle the process, homeowners don’t deal with OZEV directly. The steps are:

1. Get a quote from an OZEV-approved installer. Jack will confirm your eligibility and check your vehicle during the free survey visit.
2. The installer verifies your off-street parking and vehicle against the approved list.
3. Installation happens on the agreed date.
4. The installer submits the grant claim and the £350 is deducted from your invoice.

You don’t fill in any forms or wait for approval before work starts.

What Will You Pay After the Grant?

A typical home EV charger installation in 2026 costs between £500 and £950 in the Chesterfield area, depending on the unit chosen and how far the cable needs to run from the consumer unit. After the £350 grant:

Installation Scenario	Before Grant	After Grant
Simple cable run, smart charger	£550 – £700	£200 – £350
Longer run or external conduit	£700 – £950	£350 – £600
Consumer unit work also needed	£900 – £1,300	£550 – £950

Smart chargers with app scheduling and solar integration sit toward the higher end. A straightforward tethered 7kW unit is toward the lower end.

Choosing the Right Charger

The charger unit is usually agreed at quote stage, but broadly:

• Tethered charger (cable permanently attached): convenient for daily use, slightly cheaper, suits single-EV households
• Untethered charger (socket only): neater appearance if the charger is visible from the street, suits households with more than one EV or different connector types
• Solar-integrated smart charger: worth considering if you have solar panels or plan to add them

I work with several brands and can advise on what suits your setup during the survey visit.