EV charging market set to more than double by 2030, but grid and planning bottlenecks risk holding real estate back

The UK’s electric vehicle (EV) charging market is forecast to more than double from around £799m in 2025 to nearly £1.9bn by 2030, creating a significant and growing opportunity for landlords, investors and developers, according to strategic property consultancy Rapleys. However, grid connection delays, an inconsistent and changing local planning system and the lack of a clear national charging strategy continue to constrain supply, and those who engage early with the right advice will be best placed to capitalise.

These were the findings from Rapleys’ latest EV report, ‘Charged Up’, which examines market performance, operator activity, the landlord and investor opportunity, planning and grid connectivity across the UK’s EV charging sector.

Demand for EV charging is now a market reality with measurable consequences for UK property. Fully electric cars took a 23.4% share of new UK registrations in 2025, up from 6.7% five years earlier, and year-to-date share reached 25.6% by the end of August 2026, with August itself touching almost 30%. The UK battery-electric fleet is forecast to grow from around 2.2 million today to 7 million by 2030 and over 22 million by 2040. Critically for real estate, around 80% of charging takes place at home or at the workplace, making private and destination property a central part of the UK’s charging infrastructure. Van electrification is an often-overlooked driver too, with more than 105,000 electric vans now registered and new registrations up 35.5% in 2025, accelerating the need for depot-based charging at industrial and logistics sites. However, the Government’s August consultation on the ZEV Mandate, which includes options that would reduce the 2030 target from 80% to as low as 50%, could materially affect the pace of that demand.

On the supply side, the UK had around 122,724 public chargers across nearly 47,441 locations as of August 2026, including 29,000 rapid and ultra-rapid devices. The fastest growth is at the ultra-rapid end of the market, with 150kW+ chargers up 41% in 2025 and charging hubs up 39% to 972 sites, while monthly charging sessions rose 60% to nearly 4 million over the course of 2025. Yet the network remains heavily concentrated, with around 43% of rapid and ultra-rapid chargers in London and the South East against just 878 in the North East. On-street provision lags further behind, with delays to the £381m Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund pushing much of its rollout into 2026 and 2027. Meeting the Government’s target of 300,000 public chargers by 2030 will require around 180,000 additional units from today’s base.

The operator market is entering a maturation phase, increasingly defined by reliability, consolidation and retail-led charging. Supermarkets are leading the way as they look to increase dwell time and spend whilst consolidation is gathering pace, with Be.EV’s acquisition of Mer’s UK public charging business, Connected Kerb’s purchase of Trojan Energy’s on-street technology and ubitricity’s takeover of FM Conway’s SureCharge all completed in 2026 so far, and new entrants such as Duracell committing £200m to a new charging network.

For landlords and investors, Rapleys identifies three main routes into the market: installing and operating chargers directly, leasing space to a charge point operator on a fixed or profit-linked rent, or providing the passive infrastructure and letting the operator do the rest. Each carries a different balance of return, risk and operational responsibility. Demand is particularly strong where EV charging is paired with a retail or leisure element such as a Drive Thru, although the gap between compressed yields for coffee operators and those for EV components is making overall pricing difficult for lenders and investment committees. Landlords also face practical hurdles, including substations costing upwards of £100,000 for schemes above six bays, grid-related cost overruns of up to 200% on some schemes, technology obsolescence and installation timelines that are routinely underestimated. Nonetheless, landlords hold the most critical and scarce input in the whole value chain – the land and the footfall – and those who start early, engage Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) proactively and choose lease structures carefully stand to benefit most.

Planning remains a key barrier. The Government confirmed a new permitted development right for cross-pavement charging on 11 September 2026, alongside a 45m³ cap on equipment housing in non-domestic car parks, and the new NPPF confirms roadside uses as appropriate development outside settlements for the first time. However, these reforms are not yet in force, many schemes still require full planning permission, and local authorities do not prioritise EV applications despite the national strategy. Rapleys is calling for a nationwide framework with clear guidelines and a potential fast-track, digitised consent process to ensure a consistent approach at local level.

Grid connectivity is arguably the single biggest practical obstacle, with commercial projects facing connection delays of 18 months or more in some regions and working practices varying across the UK’s 14 DNOs. Ofgem’s TMO4+ reforms, which move the connection queue from ‘first come, first served’ to ‘first ready and needed, first connected’, are a meaningful shift for landlords and developers stuck behind stalled applications, though they do not remove the need for early engagement. Rapleys also points to opportunities in repurposing obsolete sites that already have power connections, and recommends that Government mandates a full EV charging strategy, with a sustainability champion in every local authority to support planners and broker issues between DNOs and landowners.

Despite these challenges, the outlook is positive, with a government-mandated transition, rising oil prices and ongoing improvements in vehicle range and cost all supporting continued growth in charging demand.

Joshua Klepper, Associate Partner at Rapleys, said: “Electric vehicles are here to stay, backed structurally by legislation, targets and consumer demand. Some operators have more than doubled their chargers and locations in the past 12 months, and with BEV market share touching 30% in August alone, the question for real estate is no longer whether to engage with EV charging, but how.

“The main issues lie in supply, and this is where Government needs to step in with a clear, cohesive nationwide strategy, a mandate for local authorities to support delivery and clarity on forthcoming legislation for developers and landlords. In the meantime, there is a huge opportunity to add value to existing sites. Retail parks, foodstores, hotels, gyms, leisure attractions and anywhere with dwell time can increase footfall, time spent and spend by including ultra-rapid chargers. The key is to engage early, get grid capacity and planning assessed before committing to a site, choose the right investment route and work with advisers who understand every side of the market, from development and transactions to utilities and operations. Getting that right can save hundreds of thousands of pounds over the lifecycle of an asset.