New homes to have electric vehicle chargers by law from 2022

Every new home, supermarket and office building in England will have to come equipped with electric car charging points from next year, the Government has announced.

The new law will also apply to existing buildings undergoing a large-scale renovation if it includes 10 or more parking spaces. The full definition of a 'large-scale renovation' for the purposes of the rules has not yet been revealed.

The announcement comes as the Government aims to increase the number of charging points across the country in the lead up to the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. 

It hopes the new law will add around 145,000 extra charge points to the network each year, while also encouraging buyers of new-build homes to make the switch to electric cars. That's on top of the 250,000 home and workplace chargers the Government has supported to date.

The uptake of fully-electric cars has increased dramatically in 2021, with 141,296 fully electric cars sold this year to the end of October. That's an increase of 86% compared with the same period in 2020, where 75,946 were sold. 

Plug-in hybrid sales have also risen significantly in 2021, with 95,422 sold so far to October. That's an increase of 89.8% compared to sales in 2020, when 50,277 were sold. 

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced the plans at the annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), saying: “We have to adapt our economy to the green revolution.”

The RAC's Director of EVs (electric vehicles), Sarah Winward-Kotecha, welcomed the move, but said more focus was needed on electric car charging in urban areas.

She said: "It’s important to remember that a lot of new housing stock – especially in cities – doesn’t even come with any car parking at all, let alone provision for electric charge points. It’s for this reason that the RAC continues to call for the installation of rapid charging hubs to also be a priority."

The news also follows an announcement earlier this year as part of the Government’s Net Zero Strategy. It pledged £350million in funding for the electrification of UK vehicles and their supply chains, and £620million for EV grants and infrastructure.

Along with the announcement for new chargers, the Government announced a £9.4million investment in a new hydrogen project at the UK’s largest onshore wind farm near Glasgow. 

The funding will be put towards developing the UK’s largest electrolyser – a system which converts water into hydrogen gas. The aim of the investment is to help improve the supply of zero-carbon fuel to local transport providers, such as those who use hydrogen-powered buses. 

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