The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) is planning to transform the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) to support people in rented and leasehold accommodation.
The existing scheme will run for a further year, until 31st March 2022, by which time OZEV expects the market to have reached sufficient maturity to operate effectively without government intervention.
The scheme will then focus solely on rental and leasehold properties – especially flats – where charging provision is currently more limited, and potentially more challenging to secure. The objective of the reformed EVHS is to stimulate demand in the rental and leasehold sectors, helping to ensure people living in these types of accommodation are able to access charging provision for electric vehicles (EVs) at home.
The planned transformation follows the recent government announcement of up to £50m of funding to support the rollout of home and workplace charging, which also includes plans to boost charge point access to those in rural areas and the charity sector.
The transformation of the EVHS will come in two parts. First, a new digital platform will be launched for the revised EVHS in the second half of 2021. This will allow people in rental and leasehold accommodation to continue to access EVHS funds and, additionally, allow non-resident landowners of these properties to apply on behalf of their tenants or leaseholders.
An additional fund will also be made available to help with the cost of ducting for people in multi-unit occupancy buildings, such as apartment blocks.
Second, the current EVHS support for owner-occupied single unit housing will continue until 31st March 2022. After this date, support will focus solely on rental and leasehold properties.
OZEV anticipates the transition to the digital platform will take place in autumn 2021, but cannot provide a more exact date until the initial scoping phases of the build are complete. It is currently considering how to most effectively administer the existing EVHS scheme for its final year. OZEV will either digitalise the current EVHS platform so that all new applications are run from it in the autumn, or continue with the current platform until the 31st March 2022. Under both options, installers will have over a year to prepare for the change.
The digital platform will also aim to be more user centric. It will possibly mirror the system used in the Workplace Charging Scheme, where customers apply for a voucher which is redeemed once an installation is complete.
OZEV is liaising with industry bodies on how to transition the current EVHS. Installers can fill in a survey on proposed changes to the EVHS here. OZEV will communicate its approach once it has completed the consultation and fully evaluated all options.
