EV Charger Installation in North West London

Do you need off-street parking for a home charger?

Yes, in practice you need a driveway, garage or private bay that you control. The charger has to sit where the cable reaches the car without crossing land you do not own or have rights over. The common problem in Harrow and Brent terraces is a car parked on the road outside. A cable trailed across the footway is not a home charging solution. Under section 178 of the Highways Act 1980, placing a cable across a highway without the highway authority's consent is an offence.

Harrow Council's EV page says residents must not run charging cables across public pavements, and that it is still writing a home charging policy, with pavement gully channels one option being tested. Brent announced a gully channel trial in March 2026 and said details on costs and how to sign up would follow. If you have no driveway, ask your council before buying a charger.

• Driveway or garage you own: the usual case, and the simplest
• Allocated bay in a block car park: possible, but you need the freeholder's or managing agent's consent, and the cable route to the bay is usually the hard part
• Street parking only: wait for your council's scheme; we will not install a charger that relies on a trailing cable

Is your electricity supply big enough?

Most houses can take a 7kW charger, but the main fuse decides it, not the age of the house. A typical charger draws about 32 amps for hours at a time. Add an electric shower, an oven and a heat pump and a 60 or 80 amp main fuse can run close to its limit. At the survey we look at four things. The rating of the main fuse, which is usually marked on the cut-out. Whether the supply is looped, meaning shared with next door through one cable, which is still found in older semis and terraces.

The size of the meter tails. And the free space in the consumer unit. A looped supply or an undersized fuse needs the network operator to act before we can connect, and we tell you that at the start rather than on the fitting day. Where the fuse is tight but adequate, the charger can be set up with load management. A clamp on the meter tails tells the charger how much the house is using, and the charger turns itself down so the total stays under the fuse rating.

What is a PEN fault, and why does the earthing matter?

A PEN fault is a break in the combined neutral and earth conductor of a PME supply, and it can make the car's metal body live. Many London homes have a PME supply, where the neutral and earth are combined in the network cable. If that conductor breaks, metalwork connected to the house earth, including a car on charge outdoors, can rise to a dangerous voltage. BS 7671 regulation 722.411.4.1 deals with this for EV charging points. The older answer was a separate earth rod for the charger, but the IET has warned that this TT arrangement was often installed in ways that did not improve safety, for example where the car could be touched at the same time as other earthed metalwork.

Many chargers now include an open PEN detection device that disconnects the car if the supply voltage goes outside safe limits. We check which approach your charger uses and that it suits a single-phase or three-phase supply, and we record it on the certificate.

What the smart charging rules mean for your charger

Since 30 June 2022, home and workplace chargers sold in Great Britain must be smart. The Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021 cover chargers for cars and vans, but not public chargers or rapid chargers of 50kW and above. The charger must be able to connect to the internet and respond to signals, so it can charge when demand or prices are low. It must come with default charging hours outside peak times, which the regulations define as 8am to 11am and 4pm to 10pm on weekdays; you can override them.

And it must apply a randomised delay of up to 600 seconds at the start or end of a charge, so thousands of chargers do not switch on at once. The regulations also set security requirements for the charger's software. We only supply chargers that comply, and we show you how to change the schedule if it does not suit your tariff.

Who tells the network operator and Building Control?

We do both. A charger needs a new circuit, and under the Building Regulations a new circuit in a home is notifiable work. It is certified by the installer and notified to Building Control through a competent person scheme, or approved by Building Control directly. Separately, GOV.UK says EV charge points must be registered with your local Distribution Network Operator.

In this part of London that is UK Power Networks. Where the existing supply can take the load, this is a notification. Where it cannot, the operator may need to upgrade the supply or unloop it first, and that is their work on their timescale. We make the submission and tell you if it has been referred.

Can you get a government grant for a home charger?

Possibly, if you rent, own a flat, or are a landlord, but not usually if you own the house you live in. As of October 2026, GOV.UK lists chargepoint grants open until 31 March 2027. Each pays 75% of the cost of buying and installing a socket, up to £500, and the installer deducts it from the invoice.

• Renters and flat owners: you must live in the property and have private off-street parking that you are entitled to use
• Households with on-street parking: only with an approved cross-pavement channel, with consent from the highway authority; cable covers and mats do not qualify
• Residential landlords: up to £500 per socket for parking let with the property, up to 200 sockets a year; the landlord must be registered at Companies House or for VAT
• Not eligible: most owner-occupied houses, installations required by Building Regulations Part S or a planning condition, and any charger fitted before OZEV confirms eligibility

Grants need an OZEV-authorised installer

Every one of these grants must be claimed by an OZEV-authorised installer using a charger from OZEV's eligible list. If you are applying for a grant, tell us at the first call. We will tell you upfront whether the grant can apply to your installation and how it would be claimed, before you commit to anything. Grant rules change, so check current eligibility on GOV.UK before you rely on one.

Part S, new builds and landlords

Approved Document S applies to new homes, buildings converted into dwellings, and major renovations. It does not apply when you add a charger to an existing house. If you are building or converting, the requirement sits with the developer and the building control body, and the landlord grant cannot be used for it. For landlords, a tenant's request for a charger is worth taking seriously, and it is a property improvement you control.

The new circuit is inspected at your next EICR, so keep the installation certificate with your compliance file. Agree in writing who owns the charger, who pays for the app or tariff, and what happens at the end of the tenancy. In a block, you need the freeholder's consent before anything is drilled.

What affects the price?

The distance from the consumer unit to the parking space, and how the cable gets there. A charger on the outside wall beside an integral garage is a short run. A charger at the end of a long drive, with the board at the back of the house, means more cable, more drilling and sometimes a trench.

The charger model, whether load management is needed, and whether the consumer unit has a free way or needs work also change the figure. Any network operator upgrade is quoted and charged by them, not us.

Certificates and defined jobs are a fixed price confirmed before we attend; repairs are charged by the hour, with the rate and an estimate confirmed before we attend.

Where we install home chargers

We fit home chargers across Harrow, Kenton, Stanmore and Edgware, and in Pinner, Hatch End, Mill Hill, Northwood and the nearby areas. Driveways are common on the 1930s semis of Kenton, Queensbury and Stanmore, which makes those the straightforward jobs. Terraces around Wealdstone, Harrow town centre and Wembley often have no off-street parking, and there the answer depends on council policy rather than on us.

Electricians by area: Electrical work in Harrow, Electrical work in Kenton, Electrical work in Stanmore, Electrical work in Edgware, Electrical work in Bushey, Electrical work in Colindale, Electrical work in Hendon, Electrical work in Mill Hill, Electrical work in Northolt, Electrical work in Northwood, Electrical work in Pinner, Electrical work in Ruislip and Electrical work in Wembley.

What we will not do

We will not fit a charger that relies on a cable trailed across the pavement, or install before the network operator has approved a supply that needs upgrading. We do not claim grants unless the installation qualifies. Rapid chargers and commercial car park schemes need a specialist. Unlooping or upgrading the supply is the network operator's work, and we arrange it rather than do it.

Why people trust us

• Work by registered electricians, certified, and notified to Building Control where the job requires it
• A walk-in office on Kenton Lane, not a serviced address
• The fault found and the options explained before we go further
• A time slot rather than a morning-or-afternoon window
• Work photographed before and after, and reported
• We tell you when you do not need something we sell

We are building a review profile under this name and would rather show you none than borrow someone else's. Ask us for references from landlords and we will put you in touch.

Official sources

• legislation.gov.uk: The Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021
• GOV.UK: Government grants for low-emission vehicles (chargepoint grants to 31 March 2027)
• GOV.UK Find a grant: EV chargepoint grant for renters and flat owners
• GOV.UK: Register energy devices with your Distribution Network Operator
• Harrow Council: Electric vehicle charging in Harrow
• IET Wiring Matters (May 2020): Code of Practice for EV charging, open PEN detection

Last reviewed October 2026 by EliteShires Property Services.