Workplace Charging Scheme: What UK Businesses Actually Need to Know in 2026/27

The government has just confirmed a bigger grant and a final deadline. Here’s the full picture—who qualifies, how much you’ll get, and what’s changing from April 2026.

The Workplace Charging Scheme has been running since 2021, and in that time it’s helped fund over 60,000 chargepoints across the UK—backed by £21.8 million in government grants. That’s a decent track record. But the scheme is about to change, and if you haven’t applied yet, the next twelve months are your last chance.

From 1 April 2026, the grant per socket rises from £350 to £500. The maximum you can claim jumps from £14,000 to £20,000. That’s a meaningful increase—and it comes with a hard deadline. The WCS has been extended for a final year until 31 March 2027, after which the scheme closes permanently.

So whether you’re a facilities manager weighing up installation costs or a finance director trying to pin down the ROI, this guide covers the lot: eligibility, grant amounts, the application process, tax incentives, and how to squeeze maximum value from your allocation before the window shuts.

What the WCS Actually Covers

The Workplace Charging Scheme is a voucher-based grant administered by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). It covers up to 75% of the cost of buying and installing EV charge points at your workplace—including the hardware, electrical work, and associated cabling.

The scheme applies UK-wide: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. And it’s not limited to big corporate offices. Sole traders with a qualifying premises can apply, as can charities, NHS trusts, universities, and even small B&Bs.

Here’s where the numbers stand right now, and what they’re moving to:

If you applied before April 2026 at the £350 rate, you can actually cancel that application and reapply for the higher £500 rate on the new Find a Grant platform. Your old voucher gets cancelled, but the new one is assessed fresh. Worth doing if your installer hasn’t already claimed.

Key Dates You Need to Know

The transition between the old portal and the new system has some specific cut-off dates. Miss them and you’ll lose funding.

The 180-day voucher window is strict. Both the installation and the grant claim have to be completed within that period. Retrospective applications aren’t accepted—you can’t install first and apply later.

Who Qualifies (And Who Doesn’t)

This is where a lot of businesses either count themselves out too early or assume they’re covered when they’re not. The eligibility criteria are broader than most people expect, but there are a couple of hard requirements around your premises that trip people up.

The premises requirements are non-negotiable. You need off-street parking that’s owned by or associated with your property. On-street bays don’t count, even if they’re right outside your building. And if you’re a tenant, you’ll need written landlord consent before you apply—get this sorted early, because it’s the most common reason applications stall.

One thing that catches people out: the chargers don’t need to be publicly accessible. You can restrict them to staff, visitors, or fleet vehicles. This is a workplace scheme, not a public infrastructure programme.

How to Apply: Step by Step

The process is fairly painless once you know the sequence. The main thing to remember is that everything flows through the voucher—you apply, receive a code, and hand that code to your installer before work begins.

Start by submitting your application through the OZEV portal (or the new Find a Grant platform from April 2026). You’ll need your company details, premises information, and the number of sockets you want. Once approved, you get a voucher code valid for 180 days.

Then—and this bit matters—you must use an OZEV-approved installer. Using anyone else voids your grant. The installer takes your voucher, factors the grant into your quote, completes the installation, and claims the funding directly from government on your behalf. You pay the reduced amount upfront. No claiming refunds afterwards. Clean and simple.

Getting the Most from Your 40-Socket Allocation

Forty sockets at £500 each gives you £20,000 to play with. How you spend that depends on what your employees actually need.

Match Charger Speed to Dwell Time

A 7kW unit will add around 30 miles of range per hour. For someone parked from 9am to 5pm, that’s a full charge on virtually any EV. And 7kW units cost a fraction of a 50kW rapid, so your £500 grant covers a much larger share of the total bill.

A practical mix for most workplaces looks something like this: 7kW chargers for employee bays where vehicles sit all day, 22kW for visitor or shared spaces with higher turnover, and 50kW+ rapid units only where fleet vehicles need quick turnarounds between shifts. If you’re unfamiliar with the different connector types and speeds, our guide to EV charging and connector types breaks it down.

Spread Across Multiple Sites

If your organisation operates from several locations, you can split the 40-socket cap however you like. Don’t just default to head office. Look at where employee demand is highest, where your electrical infrastructure can handle the load without costly upgrades, and where chargers will be most visible to visitors or customers. Prioritising a few sockets at each of four sites could make more business sense than a larger 40-socket rollout in one car park.

Budget for What the Grant Doesn’t Cover

The WCS covers the charge point hardware and standard installation. It doesn’t cover electrical panel upgrades (which older buildings often need), car park resurfacing or groundworks, ongoing maintenance contracts, energy management software, or the electricity itself. Factor these into your overall budget so the grant amount doesn’t create a false sense of the total project cost.

Tax Benefits That Stack on Top of the Grant

The WCS grant is only one part of the financial picture. There are several tax incentives running alongside it that make workplace charging even more attractive from a balance sheet perspective.

100% First-Year Capital Allowances

Businesses can claim a 100% first-year allowance on chargepoint equipment, meaning you can deduct the full cost from taxable profit in the year of purchase. This has been extended to 31 March 2027 for corporation tax and 5 April 2027 for income tax. After those dates, you’d revert to standard annual investment allowances, so there’s a genuine time incentive to act.

Benefit-in-Kind: Still Extremely Competitive

Electric company cars remain by far the most tax-efficient option for employees, even with the BiK rate gradually rising. Here’s the trajectory:

For context, a comparable petrol car sits at 28–37% BiK. Even at 9%, an EV company car is in a different league. That makes workplace charging a practical necessity for any business running a salary sacrifice or company car scheme.

Workplace Charging Is Tax-Exempt for Employees

When an employer provides charging at or near the workplace and makes it available to all employees, there’s no taxable benefit-in-kind. Electricity isn’t treated as “fuel” under the car fuel benefit rules. That’s a significant perk you can offer at zero tax cost to your staff—though the charging must be genuinely available to all employees at that location, not restricted to directors.

The Business Case Beyond the Numbers

Grant funding and tax relief make the financial case fairly straightforward. But workplace charging delivers value in ways that don’t always show up on a spreadsheet.

Recruitment is the obvious one. EV ownership is growing fast—one in four new cars registered in the UK during 2025 was fully electric. Employees who drive electric (or are thinking about it) will factor workplace charging into where they choose to work. It’s the kind of benefit that costs relatively little but signals a lot about your organisation.

Salary sacrifice EV schemes are increasingly popular, and they’re significantly more attractive when employees know they can charge at work. Without on-site charging, you’re asking staff to rely entirely on the public charging network or home charging—which isn’t an option for everyone, particularly those without off-street parking at home.

For organisations with customer-facing premises—retail, hospitality, leisure—charging infrastructure pulls in visitors and extends dwell time. Someone plugging in for 45 minutes while they shop or eat is spending more time (and money) with you. That’s a measurable return on a relatively small investment.

And then there’s the ESG angle. If your organisation reports on sustainability targets, chargepoint installation is a concrete, measurable action. It’s not a pledge or an ambition—it’s infrastructure in the ground.

Stacking the WCS With Other Funding

The WCS doesn’t exist in isolation. Depending on your organisation type and location, there are several complementary schemes you can layer on top.

The EV Infrastructure Grant for Staff and Fleets provides up to £15,000 towards wider electrical infrastructure—things like wiring, power upgrades, and groundworks that the WCS itself doesn’t cover. If your site needs panel upgrades or significant cabling runs, this is the one to look at alongside your WCS application.

Some local authorities also offer additional business charging grants, particularly in areas with Clean Air Zones or air quality improvement plans. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland each run supplementary programmes that can complement the UK-wide WCS funding.

Don’t overlook the enhanced capital allowances either. Combined with the WCS grant, the 100% first-year allowance effectively means the government is subsidising your chargepoint installation twice: once through the grant and once through the tax deduction. For a business paying corporation tax at the main rate, that’s a significant reduction in the net cost of each socket.

Choosing the Right Installation Partner

The single most important requirement is that your installer is OZEV-approved. Without that, your grant is void. But beyond that baseline, the right partner should make the entire process feel straightforward rather than like another item on an already full to-do list.

Look for providers who offer end-to-end delivery: site survey, electrical design, installation, commissioning, and ongoing maintenance. Organisations that treat the chargepoint as just one piece of a broader workplace charging strategy—factoring in energy management, payment systems, and future expansion—will save you time and rework down the line.

Common Questions

Can tenants apply?

Yes, but you need written landlord consent before submitting your application.

Do the chargers need to be open to the public?

No. Workplace chargers funded through the WCS can be restricted to employees, visitors, or fleet vehicles. There’s no public access requirement.

Can I charge employees to use the chargers?

That’s entirely your call. You can offer charging for free, subsidise it, or charge at cost. Some organisations start with free charging and move to a small per-kWh fee as usage grows. Our guide for first-time EV charger users covers the driver experience if you’re thinking about how to roll this out to staff.

What’s the minimum charger spec?

The WCS covers chargepoints rated at 3.5kW and above. There’s no upper limit on power rating, though bear in mind that faster chargers cost more, so the fixed £500 grant covers a smaller percentage of the total. For most workplace applications, 7–22kW units offer the best balance of cost and utility.

What if I don’t use all 40 sockets?

You can apply for additional vouchers up to the 40-socket cap. Each voucher has its own 180-day validity, so you could phase your installations across multiple rounds if that suits your budget or building schedule.

What happens if the scheme closes early?

GOV.UK states the government reserves the right to end or change the scheme. If the WCS ends or grant amounts change, they’ve committed to giving advance notice. But waiting carries risk—the scheme has been confirmed as ending in March 2027, so the safest approach is to apply sooner rather than later.

The Clock’s Running

The WCS has been extended, the grant has been increased, and the scheme has a confirmed end date.

If you’ve been putting off workplace charging because the numbers didn’t quite stack up at £350 per socket, the move to £500 changes the equation. Combined with 100% capital allowances, tax-exempt employee charging, and favourable BiK rates, there probably won’t be a better financial window than the next twelve months.

The practical next steps: survey your sites, gauge employee demand, and talk to an OZEV-approved installer about costs and timescales. The grant application itself takes about 20 minutes.