Majority of property leaders committed to installing EV charging in flats by 2026

However, as the UK’s leader in fully-funded and managed individual EV charging solutions for flats and apartments, ChargeGuru has identified a huge discrepancy between intention and action. 

When asked why they’re not installing EV charging, landlords and property managers outlined several key barriers:

• 35% felt maintenance was the biggest barrier

• 34% said the ongoing costs they associated with EV charging

• 32% cited four reasons jointly. Those include time constraints, installing an appropriate number of charging points, feeling a lack of consumer demand, and the upfront cost they associate with EV charging

While 97% of property managers, developers, and landlords say they know how many of their residents own an EV, almost three-quarters of residents (70%) told ChargeGuru they would still be or are reliant on public charging if they owned an EV.

While public charging infrastructure is well-placed to provide charging options for flat residents, private chargers still have some way to go. Zapmap’s data shows over 20,000 new public charge points were installed in 2024, increasing the UK’s total number of chargers by almost 30% in one year alone. Meanwhile, there are estimated to be around 800,000 home chargers installed, according to ChargeUK in 2024, and those are mostly owned by drivers with driveways – not residents living in apartment buildings. 

While the private figure seems large, as of January 2025 Zapmap tracked roughly 1.4 million fully electric cars owned in the UK and this increases to 2.1 million when including all plug-in cars. This demonstrates the huge gap between those able to charge at the, on average, 3x cheaper rate from their property versus the public network.

Encouragingly, 81% of property managers, developers, and landlords say they are aware of the process of getting EV charging infrastructure installed on their premises; 86% of property managers, developers, and landlords also say they are aware of the funding available from the Government to install Electric Vehicle charging.

Denis Watling, Managing Director, ChargeGuru UK, comments: “While the data paints a positive picture of increasing private EV charger infrastructure plans, the reality is that many property decision-makers are not putting these plans into action. To accelerate private “at-home” EV charging adoption, industry leaders, the government, and the property sector must continue to work together to overcome key barriers. 

Installing EV infrastructure is a long-term commitment and investment, so every care must be taken to implement the right solution that addresses the challenges for each building - whether that’s upfront costs, fair access, ongoing maintenance, etc. 

Our data shows that 75% of residents considered the availability of EV Charging in their current move, or will do in their next one. So regardless of the potential hurdles, the data shows property managers and freeholders can't afford to wait unless they want to risk getting left behind their competition.”