Will an EV Charger Add Value to Your Property?

Does having an EV charger installed increase property value?

With lots of households going electric, installing an electric car charger at your home could make it much more attractive when you come to sell. Knowing a charger is already installed could be a big plus for EV driver buyers, especially given how much more convenient it is to charge at home.

Not having to get one installed cane be a nice cherry on top for the buyer, saving them a good couple of hours as that’s roughly how long it takes for a home charger to get installed.

This, in turn, could make your property more valuable, especially when you consider how much other amenities can increase its value. For example, research from Cinch suggests a dedicated parking space could increase a property’s value by as much as 50%. This, they say, is due to many factors, such as the generally high number of drivers, and whilst it does vary by region, they generally found that a parking space will add some value to the property.

Electric car chargers can be expensive pieces of kit, but even then the additional value you’ll get from your parking space will more than offset the cost, whether you intend to use the charger or not. And you can always factor the charger in the price of your home.

How much value would an EV charger add to my home?

This isn’t such a simple question to answer, as even the suggestion that a parking space will add value comes with a huge caveat. Property prices can fluctuate wildly, and are determined by a huge range of factors, some of which may not be obvious or within your control. Depending on when you sell, where you live, who you’re selling to, why you’re selling etc. could all impact how much, if at all, a parking space – let alone a charger – will add to the property’s value.

However, there is some data we can draw on to at least give an idea. For starters, we can safely say that installing our Solo 3S charger starts from £999 which includes installation by a professional and accredited installer and a 5-year warranty. So, at the very least, you could consider increasing the value of your home by the same amount.

But how much does this translate to property value? According to the National Association of Property Buyers[DT1] , an electric car home charger could add as much as £5,000 to your home’s value – so roughly 4x as much as the cost of a charger.

Again, this should be taken with a pinch of salt, and there are many factors that could impact this including:

• Where you live
• When you’re selling
• How old the charger is when you come to sell (as older chargers may not have smart charging functionality)
• What charger you have (as the buyers may want to install a charger by a different provider)
• Who you’re selling to
• Various other market conditions like interest/mortgage rates, general costs of living, supply vs demand etc.

Why does an EV charger add value to a home?

At the very least, having an EV charger will broaden your list of potential buyers as your home will be more attractive for electric car drivers. And with more home buyers having an EV – Zapmap estimates there are over 1.6 million EV drivers on UK roads – this can only be a good thing.

This is especially the case when you consider that there are fewer than half that number of public EV chargers (85,163 according to Zapmap), so home charging will still be a huge part of when and how people charge. Plus, there’s the upcoming petrol and diesel car ban in 2030, which will no doubt push even more drivers towards electric cars.

Above all, home charging is the ultimate in convenience. Being able to charge an EV at home overnight and having it fully charged every morning makes them far more convenient than equivalent petrol or diesel cars which you have to drive somewhere to refuel. Home charging is also the cheapest way to keep an EV charged, making them an investment worth making early for any electric vehicle drive.

So, at the very least, getting a charger installed could very well increase the appeal of the property, if not its outright monetary value, making it easier to sell.

Do I need planning permission to install an EV charger?

EV charger installations generally only take a couple of hours to complete, and provided you meet some very low base criteria, you shouldn’t need to get any additional planning permission.

Preparing your home for an EV charger installation is fortunately straight forward:

1. Decide where you want the charger to be installed in advance, picking somewhere close to where you regularly park your EV. EV chargers must be installed on solid structures like the sides of buildings.
2. Make sure your charger will be able to connect to your home’s Wi-Fi, as Wi-Fi is needed for many smart features like charge schedule.
3. Pick between a tethered or untethered charger, and make sure to choose the right charging speed for your needs.
4. Pick a qualified electrician to do the installation, and be prepared for potential additional installation costs that may be required such as groundworks (although these are rare).
5. Choose a reliable EV charging provider (like Pod!).

Can I take my EV charger with me when I move?

Another option for many households is to keep their electric car charger and bring it to their new home, rather than including it in the sale of their property.

The simple answer is: yes, you can bring your EV charger with you. However, if you think it may increase the value of your property then taking it with you will undoubtedly decrease it. Plus, it may not make the most sense practically or financially, especially if the charger is older and you can see yourself upgrading to a new model in the near future.

So, will an electric car home charger increase your property’s value?

It’s ultimately difficult to say whether an EV charger will impact – positively or negatively – your home’s value when you come to sell. At the very least, research seems to suggest it will, but of course as with anything to do with selling a home, it’s impossible to put a definitive price tag on it.

There are simply dozens of factors that come into selling a property, which is unsurprising given it’s usually the most expensive purchase we make in our lives. But, as we’ve mentioned, even if it doesn’t directly increase your home’s monetary value, it could still be worth getting one installed to attract a wider pool of potential buyers as the UK increasingly shifts towards an electric-only future.

Looking for an award-winning home EV charging system for your property? Start your EV journey by exploring our home charging solutions today.