Tenants can apply for the €300 home charger grant: SEAI says homeowners and residents can apply, and a charger can be at rented accommodation. The catch is parking. The home needs its own private off-street driveway inside the property boundary (SEAI). Apartments with a shared car park go through a separate SEAI scheme run by the management company (SEAI).
Key points
SEAI's conditions don't require you to own the home. Its page says homeowners and residents can apply, whether or not they own an EV, and that the charge point can be used at rented accommodation (SEAI). The other conditions are the same for everyone: private off-street parking within the boundary, no earlier grant at the address, one charger per MPRN, a charger from the Smart Charger Register and a Safe Electric registered electrician.
A charger is fixed to someone else's wall, so get the landlord's agreement in writing before you apply, and agree who owns the charger when you move out. SEAI's page doesn't cover that, so it's between you and the landlord.
SEAI says the grant is only approved where the beneficiary is a private individual, and that companies can apply as third parties on a resident's behalf (SEAI). A landlord who owns a house in their own name and is the resident's landlord isn't described separately on SEAI's page, so ask SEAI before you rely on it. One rule matters for landlords in particular: once a property has had the grant, it can't get it again, so a charger claimed by one tenant uses up the grant for that address.
Apartments are covered by SEAI's apartment charging grant, not the home grant. It's applied for by the building's management company, not by individual owners (SEAI).
| Who applies | Share of eligible costs |
|---|---|
| Local authorities and approved housing bodies | 90% |
| Owners' management companies | 80% |
| Build-to-rent management companies | 60% |
Where a development has no charging network yet, SEAI says it will fund up to 80% of infrastructure costs for the management company and pay €600 per charge point installed, or the cost of the unit if that's lower. The grant is capped at the lower of €5,000 per dwelling or €100,000 for the development. It covers cabling, infrastructure, labour and construction, plus electrical connections, communications and the charging units. If the management company can't recover VAT, the VAT is included in the award.
The management company partners with an SEAI-registered charge point operator, ideally after three quotes, and the operator coordinates the works, billing and maintenance. Private and commercial landlords can only apply for a bulk installation of chargers.
SEAI says multi-unit developments that took part in its apartment scheme may be exempt from the requirement that the charger sits inside your own property boundary (SEAI).
Running a cable across a footpath isn't the answer. SEAI says that if you don't have off-street parking and want a charger arm or a similar solution, you need either a declaration of exempted development under Section 5 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, or full planning permission (SEAI). Talk to your council before you buy anything.
Tell us where you are and what the parking is like. We come back with a fixed written price, or tell you plainly if the home grant doesn't fit.
No cost, no obligation. We price the job and introduce you to a Safe Electric registered electrical contractor. We are not an electrical contractor ourselves.
Yes, if the home has private off-street parking inside the boundary. SEAI says homeowners and residents can apply, and a charger can be at rented accommodation (SEAI). Get the landlord's written agreement first.
Not the home grant on its own, unless the development has a charging network you can join. Apartment car parks go through SEAI's apartment charging grant, which the management company applies for.
80% of eligible costs for an owners' management company, 90% for local authorities and approved housing bodies, and 60% for build-to-rent companies, plus €600 per charge point, capped at €5,000 per dwelling or €100,000 per development.
SEAI says the grant is only approved where the beneficiary is a private individual, and companies can apply on a resident's behalf. Ask SEAI about your own case before relying on it.
Not under the normal home grant. A charger arm or similar needs a Section 5 declaration of exempted development or full planning permission, according to SEAI.
