Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending Building Regulations Approved Document S to require (a) landlords and (b) management agents to install electric vehicle charging stations at existing (i) flats and (ii) multi-dwelling units.

The Building Regulation set functional requirements and apply to new building work; they are primarily intended to protect people’s safety, health, and welfare. Building Regulations are not retrospective and thus are not an effective mechanism to encourage action in relation to existing buildings. Building Regulations Schedule 1 Part S sets requirements for infrastructure for charging electric vehicles and applies when new residential buildings are built or if dwellings result from a material change of use; and when residential buildings undergoing major renovation. Government is required to carry out a post implementation review before June 2027 looking at the effectiveness of the Approved Document S as published in 2021, which will assess how the objectives of Part S are working and whether they are still appropriate.