Electric Charge Point - Flat - Allocated Parking outside

MrFrugalFever

Hi,

I have an allocated parking space outside my block of flats (6 in total, over 3 floors, 2 on each floor), which is leasehold. I have enquired about the possibility of an electric charge point being installed at the end of my parking space (which I own on the deeds), to which I have been told I do not have the right to have cables installed or a charger installed under the terms of the lease. 

With the ZEV mandate in place and petrol/diesel cars being banned from sale from 2030, I cannot understand why management agents / terms of lease aren't considering the impact of this and the necessity of a charging station.

Would I need to go legal with this and try for a variation of lease?

user1977

On what legal basis would you be "going legal"? Do you think your lease gives you such rights?

DE_612183

A separate charging point I would assume would require a new supply, a separate meter etc - may be quite costly as well as an inconvenience to others if the ground has to be dug up.

Have they said anything about the reasons why other that you don't have the right?

Have you had an estimate / costing for such an installation - bearing in mind the location of the inbound supply of electricity?

HelpfulLittleHelper

I cannot understand why management agents / terms of lease aren't considering the impact of this and the necessity of a charging station.

I know exactly why, because if they wait until it's super critical all of a sudden they can charge a big fat premium for any changes and you are stuck with it because you have to get it installed anyway.

Brie

HelpfulLittleHelper said:

I cannot understand why management agents / terms of lease aren't considering the impact of this and the necessity of a charging station.

I know exactly why, because if they wait until it's super critical all of a sudden they can charge a big fat premium for any changes and you are stuck with it because you have to get it installed anyway.

well I doubt it will ever be considered politically super critical (ignoring any environmental impact of course).  The same as the government supposedly pushing for all of us to have EVs but not setting up anything for the huge number of car owners who can never have their own charge point.  Net result will be "oh I guess we have to continue to have petrol/diesel/hamster power instead".

Section62

HelpfulLittleHelper said:

I cannot understand why management agents / terms of lease aren't considering the impact of this and the necessity of a charging station.

I know exactly why, because if they wait until it's super critical all of a sudden they can charge a big fat premium for any changes and you are stuck with it because you have to get it installed anyway.

They would probably argue the OP could get their EV charged elsewhere... after all, the OP presumably doesn't have a petrol/diesel pump next to their parking space.

I agree with DE_612183 that this is likely to be a lot more complicated than just installing a charging point and hooking it up to the flat.  There's likely to be issues with liability and insurance, on top of any other practical issues.

user1977

Section62 said:

HelpfulLittleHelper said:

I cannot understand why management agents / terms of lease aren't considering the impact of this and the necessity of a charging station.

I know exactly why, because if they wait until it's super critical all of a sudden they can charge a big fat premium for any changes and you are stuck with it because you have to get it installed anyway.

They would probably argue the OP could get their EV charged elsewhere... after all, the OP presumably doesn't have a petrol/diesel pump next to their parking space.

I agree with DE_612183 that this is likely to be a lot more complicated than just installing a charging point and hooking it up to the flat.  There's likely to be issues with liability and insurance, on top of any other practical issues.

Yes, not really a "necessity" at all, just more convenient and probably cheaper (well, eventually, depending on how much installation costs).

And if the OP gets one, presumably then everyone will want one - their own cables snaking down via their flats, or a completely separate bunch of meters, etc?

born_again

user1977 said:

Section62 said:

HelpfulLittleHelper said:

I cannot understand why management agents / terms of lease aren't considering the impact of this and the necessity of a charging station.

I know exactly why, because if they wait until it's super critical all of a sudden they can charge a big fat premium for any changes and you are stuck with it because you have to get it installed anyway.

They would probably argue the OP could get their EV charged elsewhere... after all, the OP presumably doesn't have a petrol/diesel pump next to their parking space.

I agree with DE_612183 that this is likely to be a lot more complicated than just installing a charging point and hooking it up to the flat.  There's likely to be issues with liability and insurance, on top of any other practical issues.

Yes, not really a "necessity" at all, just more convenient and probably cheaper (well, eventually, depending on how much installation costs).

And if the OP gets one, presumably then everyone will want one - their own cables snaking down via their flats, or a completely separate bunch of meters, etc?

So management agents should be looking at this at starting the process to install charge points on all spaces. There are companies that do the installation for them & then charge a % of the charge costs via app use.

Just think how that would help sell flats with people looking at the flats knowing that a charge point is there.
Even our local council has started to install them in their high rise car parks.

But as we know far too much short sighted, short term profit focus.

MrFrugalFever

user1977 said:

On what legal basis would you be "going legal"? Do you think your lease gives you such rights?

I don't know which is why I have posted here...never been in this situation before. 

MrFrugalFever

DE_612183 said:

A separate charging point I would assume would require a new supply, a separate meter etc - may be quite costly as well as an inconvenience to others if the ground has to be dug up.

Have they said anything about the reasons why other that you don't have the right?

Have you had an estimate / costing for such an installation - bearing in mind the location of the inbound supply of electricity?

They haven't provided any specifics other than telling me this is a complex issue and they are looking in to it, however, from the initial checks they've made they do not believe my lease enables me to have a charging point installed due to cabling. 

It won't cause me sleepless nights but it would be incredibly useful if I could have a charging facility installed as whether we like it or not that appears to be the direction we are being 'dragged' in. Other than disruption to my neighbours whom I get on well with whilst installation is taking place, there should be no long term disruption to the location of installation or any meter's. There is a communal understairs cupboard right by the door entrance (my bottom flat neighbour uses this to store his fishing gear which isn't technically allowed but it doesn't affect me or anyone else!) and the end of my parking space closest to the flats is a large shrub/bush which could be trimmed back slightly to allow for the positioning of the standalone charger.

Section62

Brie said:

HelpfulLittleHelper said:

I cannot understand why management agents / terms of lease aren't considering the impact of this and the necessity of a charging station.

I know exactly why, because if they wait until it's super critical all of a sudden they can charge a big fat premium for any changes and you are stuck with it because you have to get it installed anyway.

well I doubt it will ever be considered politically super critical (ignoring any environmental impact of course).  The same as the government supposedly pushing for all of us to have EVs but not setting up anything for the huge number of car owners who can never have their own charge point.  Net result will be "oh I guess we have to continue to have petrol/diesel/hamster power instead".

Save the Hamsters!

Not so long ago National planning policy limited off-street parking and encouraged car free development.  Having lived in an area developed before car use took off, I did all I could to point out how shortsighted the policy was if we resolved the pollution issue of the private motor car by switching to EVs.  Retrofitting parking into residential developments is not easy, and much harder if you need to wire the parking up to the electricity grid.  Unfortunately some councils still see restrictions on parking in residential development as a good thing...