WCS Explained: What £500 Per Socket Covers in 2026

If you run a car park with staff or fleet parking, the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) is the most straightforward EV grant still open in 2026 — and from 1 April 2026 it got more generous. This guide sets out exactly what it covers, what it does not, who qualifies, and why the tax relief sitting behind it is often worth more than the grant itself.

We are an independent, operator-agnostic specialist, so the aim here is to help you decide whether WCS is worth the paperwork for your site — not to sell you a particular charger.

What the Workplace Charging Scheme actually is

The WCS is a voucher-based government contribution towards the up-front cost of installing EV charge points for use by staff and fleet vehicles. You apply on the scheme portal, but the grant itself is claimed by an authorised installer after the work, not by you directly.

As at July 2026, the headline terms are:

• Up to £500 per socket — raised from £350 on 1 April 2026.
• 75% of the total purchase and installation cost of each socket, up to that £500 ceiling.
• A maximum of 40 sockets across all of your sites combined — a total cap of £20,000.
• The scheme is confirmed to run to 31 March 2027.

The two limits work together. You get the lower of £500 or 75% of the installed cost per socket. A £500 grant is only reached when a socket costs about £667 or more installed — which most workplace AC sockets comfortably exceed, so in practice most claims hit the £500 cap per socket.

A quick note on terminology: the grant is quoted per socket, not per charger. The official page does not spell out how a twin-socket unit is counted, so ask your installer how they will count sockets before you rely on a number, because it changes the grant on your bay layout. For a fuller cost picture beyond the grant, see our breakdown of car park charging costs.

Who can use the bays: the rule most guides get wrong

The scheme is open to businesses, charities, public authorities and small accommodation businesses, and the chargepoint bays must be designated to you at premises you own or have landlord consent for. The rules on who may use the bays then differ by applicant type, per the official scheme page:

• Businesses: the chargepoints can only be used by your staff and fleet. You can let local residents use them outside office hours, when staff and fleet are not typically using them. You must be able to show the parking is for staff or fleet, not for customer use, so bays that exist solely for customers are ineligible.
• Public authorities, charities and small accommodation businesses: there is no restriction on who may use the parking: customers, guests, visitors, staff or others. The page does not define “small accommodation business”, so a hotel, B&B or guest house should check the official wording before relying on it.

You may make the chargepoints available to the public, but if you do you must comply with the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 and associated guidance. Bays not designated to you, parking solely for customer use and installations that are a mandatory requirement (for example under Part S or a planning condition) are ineligible.

In practice: a shop, retail park or private operator charging shoppers from customer bays is usually outside WCS, while the staff or fleet corner of the same site can qualify. A council, charity or hotel is in a different position. For public-facing commercial bays the conversation is usually a funded (CPO-owned) or owner-operated model and, for councils, the LEVI Fund. The grants and funding guide covers the full landscape, and the WCS eligibility checker gives an indicative answer for your site.

Education gets a bigger rate

State-funded education institutions — schools, colleges and academies — qualify for an enhanced WCS rate of up to £2,000 per socket, rather than £500. The other conditions (75% of cost, the overall socket cap) still frame the claim, but the higher per-socket ceiling reflects the government’s push to electrify the school and college estate. If you manage a car park attached to a state-funded education site, this is a materially better deal than the standard workplace rate.

What has closed — don’t plan around dead grants

The grant landscape has thinned considerably, and a lot of guidance still floating around online refers to schemes that no longer accept applications. As at 2026, the following are closed and should not form part of your plan:

• The EV infrastructure grant for staff and fleets — closed to new applications on 31 March 2026. This was the larger companion grant to WCS (it funded the wider wiring and groundwork rather than the sockets themselves), and its closure is the main reason the WCS uplift matters more now.
• The commercial landlord grant — closed.
• ORCS (On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme) — closed to new applications in March 2025 and folded into the LEVI Fund.

If your site is a public or council car park, note that public and council bays now reach government money through the LEVI Fund via your local authority, not directly. Residential landlords have their own separate landlord chargepoint grant (up to £500 per socket, max 200 sockets), which is distinct from WCS.

The part worth more than the grant: 100% First-Year Allowance

Here is where the real money often sits. New EV charge-point equipment qualifies for a 100% First-Year Allowance (FYA), extended to 31 March 2027 for Corporation Tax (5 April 2027 for Income Tax). That means the full cost of qualifying new equipment can be written off against taxable profits in the year you install it.

Crucially, WCS and the FYA are not mutually exclusive — you can claim the grant and the capital allowance. You simply deduct the grant from the cost before claiming the allowance on the net figure. For a business paying Corporation Tax, the tax saved on the equipment frequently exceeds the £500-per-socket grant.

A worked comparison for a single £4,000 (net of VAT) installed twin-socket 22kW unit — two sockets — makes the point:

Item	With WCS only	With WCS + 100% FYA
Installed cost (2 sockets)	£4,000	£4,000
WCS grant (£500 × 2 sockets)	−£1,000	−£1,000
Net cost after grant	£3,000	£3,000
100% FYA on £3,000 @ 25% CT	—	−£750 tax saved
Effective net cost	£3,000	£2,250

The £750 in this example is illustrative and depends on your tax position — second-hand or mixed private/business-use equipment falls back to the Annual Investment Allowance rather than the 100% FYA, and rates change. Take your own tax advice before relying on any figure. But the principle is robust: the tax relief is a bigger lever than the grant for most profitable businesses. All figures here are indicative market ranges as at 2026.

Who qualifies for WCS

To claim the standard workplace rate you broadly need:

• To be a business, charity, public authority or small accommodation business. State-funded education institutions use the separate education version.
• Dedicated off-road parking with the charge point bays designated to you, at premises you own or have the landlord’s consent for.
• For a business, evidence that the parking is for staff or fleet, not for customer use.
• An authorised installer to redeem the voucher and claim the grant. The official page links to the installer list.
• A voluntary installation. Installs that are a mandatory requirement, for example under Building Regulations Part S or a planning condition, are excluded.

The qualifying line to keep front of mind is who the bays are for. A business has to show staff and fleet use; the other applicant types have no restriction on who parks.

How to apply — the process in five steps

You apply, then an installer does the work and claims the grant:

1. Confirm eligibility — check the bays are designated to you, the site is yours or you have the landlord’s consent, and you sit within the 40-socket limit across all your sites.
2. Apply on the scheme portal. If you are successful you receive a voucher code by email; the official page says within 5 working days.
3. Give the code to an authorised installer. The voucher is valid for 180 days from issue and cannot be transferred.
4. The installer completes the work and claims the grant after installation.
5. Keep the paperwork for your accountant so the net cost feeds correctly into any capital-allowance claim.

Is it worth it for your site?

For genuine staff and fleet bays, WCS plus the FYA meaningfully de-risks the up-front cost, and for education sites the £2,000-per-socket rate is compelling. For public-facing bays — the customer-parking that most retail, hotel and leisure operators actually care about — WCS is the wrong tool, and the better question is which commercial model gives you the yield and the least capital exposure. That is the subject of our guide on whether car park EV charging is worth it, and it is particularly relevant if you manage a workplace or office car park with a mix of staff and visitor demand.

If you’d like a straight answer on how much WCS could contribute, what falls outside it, and what a sensible funded-versus-owned split looks like for your specific bays, send a free enquiry. Tell us your site, your split of staff versus public bays, and your rough vehicle numbers, and an indicative, operator-agnostic view can come back — no obligation, and no sales call unless you ask for one.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the Workplace Charging Scheme worth per socket in 2026?

From 1 April 2026 the WCS is worth up to £500 per socket, covering 75% of the purchase and installation cost, whichever is lower. You can claim across a maximum of 40 sockets in total, giving an overall cap of £20,000. The scheme is confirmed to run to 31 March 2027. State-funded education institutions get an enhanced rate of up to £2,000 per socket.

Can I use the Workplace Charging Scheme for public or customer car park charging?

It depends who you are. A business can only use WCS for chargers used by its staff and fleet (local residents may use them out of hours), and bays solely for customer use are ineligible. Public authorities, charities and small accommodation businesses face no restriction on who uses the parking. Any chargers you open to the public must comply with the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023. A retailer that wants to charge shoppers will usually need a funded (CPO-owned) or owner-operated model instead.

Can I claim both the WCS grant and the 100% First-Year Allowance?

The two are separate: the grant is paid to the installer against your voucher, and the allowance is claimed through your tax return. How a grant affects the qualifying expenditure is a tax question. New EV charge-point equipment qualifies for the FYA to 31 March 2027 (Corporation Tax). For most profitable businesses the tax relief is worth more than the grant itself, though second-hand or mixed-use kit falls back to the Annual Investment Allowance. Take your own tax advice.

Which EV charging grants have closed?

As at 2026, the EV infrastructure grant for staff and fleets closed on 31 March 2026, the commercial landlord grant has closed, and ORCS closed to new applications in March 2025 (folded into the LEVI Fund). Public and council car parks now access government funding through the LEVI Fund via their local authority rather than directly. The WCS and the residential landlord chargepoint grant remain open.

How do I apply for the Workplace Charging Scheme?

You apply on the scheme portal, receive a voucher code by email, give it to an authorised installer within 180 days, and the installer claims the grant after installation. Confirm first that the bays are designated to you and, if you are a business, used by staff or fleet. Keep the paperwork so the net cost feeds your capital-allowance claim.

Official sources

• Workplace Charging Scheme (gov.uk / Find a grant)
• Changes to EV chargepoint grant schemes from 1 April 2026 (gov.uk)