EV chargers — Surrey
EV Charger Installation Farnham
Home EV chargers for Farnham driveways, garages and, where the council allows it, on-street homes, with the supply check, the grant position and the solar pairing explained before anything is fitted.
EV charger installation in Farnham is usually a driveway job: across Waverley, 40.4% of households live in detached houses and 71.8% own their home (Census 2021), so most decisions rest with the person reading this. The exceptions are in the Georgian centre, where the conservation-area appraisal counted 388 listed buildings and parking is often on the street. DVLA counts 5,670 privately kept plug-in vehicles across Waverley at the end of June 2026, up from 4,375 a year earlier. The charger itself is on our home EV charger installation page.
From Badshot Lea and Heath End to Wrecclesham and Rowledge, this page covers where a charger goes in Farnham homes, the SSEN paperwork, and how a car fits with panels and storage; see solar panels in Farnham and battery storage in Farnham for those. If a charger would not suit where you park, we will tell you.
Quick answer
EV charger installation in Farnham:
- Speed: a 7 kW home charger adds roughly 7 kWh an hour, so a typical day's driving is back in the battery well inside an overnight window.
- Supply: a 7 kW charger draws about 32 A continuously; the survey checks your main fuse and consumer unit first, and load management is the usual answer on a smaller supply.
- Grid: central Farnham is on SSEN Distribution's Southern Electric Power Distribution network; the charger is notified to the operator as part of the job.
- Local uptake: DVLA records about 5,670 privately kept plug-in vehicles across Waverley (2026 Q2), up from 4,375 a year earlier.
- Grants: up to £500 for eligible flat owner-occupiers and renters, and a £500 cross-pavement route for on-street parking, both to 31 March 2027; claims must be made through an OZEV-authorised installer, so tell us your situation at the quote stage.
- Who fits it: HCE is a NAPIT member (73495) and a HIES Consumer Code member; the charger in our own job photos is the EnSmart SmartBee-M.
Figures: GOV.UK (OZEV chargepoint grants, to 31 March 2027) · Department for Transport and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, VEH0142 (2026 Q2) · PVGIS 5.3 (European Commission Joint Research Centre). Eligibility depends on your circumstances.
How an EV charger gets fitted in Farnham
Four steps from first call to switch-on. No pressure at any stage, and a straight answer if it would not pay its way.
- Step 1
Supply and parking check
Your main fuse, consumer unit and earthing, and where you park in Farnham: a driveway or garage, or an on-street space that needs the council's say-so.
- Step 2
A written quote
Charger position, cable route and any fuse or supply work, itemised. A 7 kW charger draws about 32 A, so the survey checks the supply before anything is promised.
- Step 3
Installation
Fitting, testing and smart-charging set-up, with Southern Electric Power Distribution told about the charger where the rules require it.
- Step 4
Handover
Off-peak and solar-matched charging explained, the app set up with you, and the certificates and warranty left with you.
Where a charger goes in Farnham's homes
With 40.4% of Waverley homes detached and 27.5% semi-detached (ONS Census 2021, TS044), the typical Farnham installation is a charger on a garage or side wall beside the drive, especially in the 20th-century streets of Hale, Weybourne and Heath End. A long drive or a detached garage lengthens the cable route, and the route is the item that most often separates two quotes. In the town centre many homes have no off-street parking. Surrey County Council does not allow a cable trailed over the pavement; it offers a cable gully instead, where the footway is publicly maintained and fully paved up to the kerb, and a charger at a home without off-street parking may also need planning permission from Waverley Borough Council.
Terraces are 14.2% and purpose-built flats 13.2% of Waverley’s homes, and 14.7% of households rent privately (Census 2021, TS054). Flat owners need the freeholder’s consent before a charger or cable goes on the building, and tenants need the landlord’s. On a listed house in the town centre, or a home in Great Austins or another of Farnham’s six conservation areas, ask Waverley whether a wall-mounted charger needs consent before anyone drills. Flat owner-occupiers and renters with private off-street or allocated parking can claim 75% of the cost, up to £500 per socket, until 31 March 2027; owner-occupiers of houses cannot. The claim must be made through an OZEV-authorised installer; tell us your situation at the quote stage.
Your supply, the grid and smart charging in Farnham
Farnham is well inside SSEN Distribution’s Southern Electric Power Distribution licence area, about 10 km from the nearest other network, so SSEN is the operator for a Farnham charger. Its rule: where the property’s total demand is 60 A or less with no safety concerns, the installer connects and notifies SSEN within 28 days; otherwise the installer applies and waits for approval, and a looped supply shared with a neighbour is checked before installation. A 7 kW charger draws 32 A continuously, and most homes have a 60 A, 80 A or 100 A main fuse. In a large Farnham house with an electric shower and a busy kitchen, load management, which turns the charger down while the house is drawing heavily, is often what keeps the existing supply.
Every new home chargepoint sold in Great Britain has had to be smart since 30 June 2022, so the SmartBee-M can be scheduled for off-peak hours. With panels and a compatible setup, surplus solar can go into the car instead. PVGIS puts a 4 kWp south-facing array in Farnham at about 482 kWh in June, roughly 16.1 kWh a day, and about 137 kWh in December, roughly 4.4 kWh a day (our arithmetic). An average June day’s output is over two hours at 7 kW if nothing else used it; in December the car in a Rowledge or Badshot Lea drive charges off-peak instead.
Can a Farnham roof charge the car?
We ran the European Commission's PVGIS 5.3 (European Commission Joint Research Centre) for Farnham for a 4 kWp array at 35° facing due south. It estimates about 482 kWh in June and about 137 kWh in December, 3,968 kWh across the year.
Our arithmetic on those figures: June works out at roughly 16 kWh a day and December at roughly 4.4 kWh a day, before the house takes its share. In summer a solar-matched charger can put a useful part of a commute back into the car from the roof; in midwinter it will mostly charge on a cheap overnight rate instead. A smart charger handles both, which is why we set the schedule around your tariff, not around the sunniest month.
Method: PVGIS 5.3 (European Commission Joint Research Centre), 4 kWp, 35° tilt, due south, 14% system losses, building-mounted, PVGIS-SARAH3, 2005–2023. Daily figures are our own division of the monthly estimate, not a survey result.
Local facts, sourced
Farnham and home EV charging in numbers
Every figure below comes from a named public source.
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Waverley had 5,670 privately kept plug-in vehicles at the end of June 2026, against 4,375 a year earlier: 1,295 more, about 30% up.
Source: DfT and DVLA, VEH0142 licensed plug-in vehicles by local authority, private keepers, 2026 Q2 against 2025 Q2 (published 23 September 2026); the change is our arithmetic
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Waverley’s 52,447 households are 40.4% detached, 27.5% semi-detached, 14.2% terraced and 13.2% in purpose-built flats.
Source: ONS Census 2021, TS044 accommodation type (Waverley, E07000216), via Nomis
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71.8% of Waverley households own their home and 14.7% rent privately, so most charger decisions here rest with the occupier.
Source: ONS Census 2021, TS054 tenure (Waverley, E07000216), via Nomis
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Farnham is in SSEN Distribution’s Southern Electric Power Distribution licence area, with the town centre about 10 km from the nearest other network.
Source: NESO GB DNO licence areas (May 2024); SSEN Distribution, Who we are
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SSEN lets an installer connect a home charger and notify it within 28 days where the property’s total demand is 60 A or less with no safety concerns; otherwise, or on a looped supply, the installer applies and waits for approval first.
Source: SSEN Distribution, EV Connections (ssen.co.uk/our-services/new-supplies/ev-connections/), read 19 October 2026
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PVGIS puts a 4 kWp south-facing array in Farnham at about 482 kWh in June and about 137 kWh in December: roughly 16.1 kWh a day against 4.4 kWh a day.
Source: PVGIS 5.3, European Commission Joint Research Centre (PVGIS-SARAH3), 4 kWp, 35°, due south, 14% losses, run 15 October 2026; daily averages and charging times are our arithmetic
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DESNZ records 4,325 solar PV installations of all sizes across Waverley at the end of 2025, with 22.57 MW of capacity between them.
Source: DESNZ, Renewable electricity by local authority 2014 to 2025, Solar PV sites and capacity (published 29 September 2026, end-of-2025 figures as first published)
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Farnham’s town-centre conservation-area appraisal counted 388 listed buildings, and the town has six conservation areas, from the Town Centre (1970) to Shepherd and Flock (2021).
Source: IHBC South East; The Farnham Society
Data last reviewed: October 2026
EV charger grants and cost in Farnham
Grant funding is narrower than many older articles suggest. On GOV.UK, renters and flat owner-occupiers with private off-street parking can get up to £500 (or 75% of the cost, whichever is lower) towards a chargepoint, and households with on-street parking only have a separate route of up to £500 for a charger installed with an approved cross-pavement solution. Both run until 31 March 2027. Homeowners in houses with driveways do not qualify.
Grant claims must be made through an OZEV-authorised installer, so tell us your situation at the quote stage and we will say plainly whether a grant applies before any figures are agreed. Chargepoints carry VAT at the standard rate. The price itself is built from the charger, a dedicated circuit, the cable route to where you park, any load-management device and the network notification; our EV charger installation cost guide sets those items out, and our quote for your Farnham home arrives itemised after a survey.
More for Farnham homes
A charger pairs naturally with panels, so see what solar panels in Farnham would generate on your roof, and whether battery storage in Farnham would let you charge from stored daytime power. For the products, speeds and the full grant position, see our main EV chargers guide, or how we approach homes across Surrey. For a longer local read, see Siting an EV charger at a Farnham home: wall, post or garage.
We also cover EV charger installation in Aldershot, home chargers in Farnborough and Fleet EV charging advice.
Farnham EV charger questions
Can I have a charger on a listed Farnham house?
It can be possible, but ask Waverley first. Farnham’s town-centre appraisal counted 388 listed buildings, and fixing a charger to the fabric of a listed building may need listed building consent. A garage, outbuilding or rear wall is usually less sensitive than a street-facing elevation, particularly in the six conservation areas. Many town-centre homes also have no off-street parking, and Surrey County Council does not allow a cable trailed across the pavement, so parking is often the first question.
Will my Farnham fuse take a 7 kW charger?
Usually. A 7 kW charger draws 32 A continuously and most homes have a 60 A, 80 A or 100 A main fuse; load management lets it take only the spare headroom. Farnham is on SSEN’s network, where an installer can connect and notify within 28 days if the property’s total demand is 60 A or less with no safety concerns. Above that, or on a supply looped with a neighbour’s, the installer applies first and SSEN arranges any upgrade or unlooping before installation.
Can solar charge my car in Farnham in winter?
Not much. PVGIS puts a 4 kWp south-facing Farnham array at about 137 kWh in December, roughly 4.4 kWh a day, or under 40 minutes at 7 kW before the house uses any (our arithmetic). In June it is about 16.1 kWh a day. So winter charging is an off-peak tariff job; summer surplus can go into the car with a compatible setup.
Is there a grant for a charger in Waverley?
Only for some households. With 71.8% of Waverley households owning their home and 40.4% in detached houses (Census 2021), most Farnham homeowners will not qualify, because owner-occupiers of houses have had no grant since April 2022. Flat owner-occupiers and renters with private off-street or allocated parking can claim 75% of the cost, up to £500 per socket, until 31 March 2027, through an OZEV-authorised installer; tell us your situation at the quote stage. A home charger is standard-rated for VAT at 20%.