How Long Does an OZEV Grant Approval Take in 2026?
Last checked: Thu Aug 13 2026 01:00:00 GMT+0100 (British Summer Time)
If you’ve ordered a new EV and started looking into the home charger grant, there’s one rule change that catches more people out than anything else: you can no longer get the grant sorted after the fact. Approval has to come through before the physical installation starts, and that single sequencing change is what drives most of the frustration around timing.
The rule that changed
Certified installers used to be able to handle the grant application on a customer’s behalf, often after the work was already scheduled or even completed. That’s no longer allowed. The individual applying for the grant now has to go through the government portal themselves and receive approval before any installation work begins. It’s a small procedural change with a large practical consequence: you can’t just book an installer for next week and assume the grant will catch up.
What “realistic” actually looks like
Government guidance doesn’t always reflect what people experience in practice. Based on the volume of complaints and delayed-approval discussions circulating in owner communities, a wait of 30 days or more for approval is common, not exceptional. If you’re working to a fixed date - a new car arriving, a house move, a lease start - that’s the number to plan around, not an optimistic best case.
What to do about the gap
- Apply as early as you possibly can - ideally as soon as you know you’ll need a charger, not once the car is confirmed for delivery. There’s no penalty for applying before you’ve chosen an installer; the approval and the installation are separate steps.
- Don’t book installation work until approval has actually come through. Scheduling ahead of approval risks either the work happening in a way that invalidates the claim, or the installer being unable to proceed on the date you’d planned.
- Plan for an interim charging method. If your car is likely to arrive before approval clears, a standard three-pin “granny charger” - slow, but functional - is the realistic fallback for the gap period. It’s not efficient, but it keeps you moving while the paperwork catches up.
- Keep a record of your application date and any correspondence. If your timeline slips well past what you were told to expect, having a clear paper trail makes it easier to chase.
Why the delay exists
Some of it is simple administrative volume - the portal handles applications nationally, and demand has grown faster than the process has been streamlined. It’s not a reflection of your specific application being flagged or unusual; long waits appear to be the norm across the board right now, not an edge case.
The practical takeaway is to treat the grant timeline as its own project, separate from choosing a charger or an installer, and to start it first.