Selling a home with an EV charger: what to sort out as a seller

If you are selling a home with an EV charger, buyers will increasingly ask you the same questions. Does the charger stay with the house? Has it been inspected? Can the connection handle an electric car without tripping the fuses? And who actually owns it, if it came through your employer? If you have those answers ready in advance, the charger becomes a selling point instead of a point of discussion. Below you can read what to sort out as a seller.

Do you also have solar panels or a home battery? The rules for those installations are covered in our article on selling a home with solar panels. This article is specifically about the EV charger.

Does the EV charger stay with the sale?

A charger that is fixed to a wall or mounted on a post and connected to the electrical installation through its own circuit is, as a rule, considered part of the building. Unless you agree otherwise, it therefore goes to the buyer, just like the boiler or the kitchen units.

If you want to take the charger with you to your next home, that has to be stated explicitly in the sales agreement (compromis). Expect the buyer to ask what will be left behind: a loose cable, an empty circuit in the fuse box, holes in the wall. Agree on who pays for removing it and in what condition you leave the connection.

A portable charger that you simply plug into a socket is movable property. You take it with you unless you agree otherwise. Because the difference is not always clear to a buyer, it is best to note in the sales agreement what is and is not included. That avoids an unpleasant surprise on the day the keys are handed over.

Is the charger yours? Company cars and leasing

Many chargers on Belgian driveways arrived with a company car. In that case it is not a given that the charger belongs to you. Sometimes the employer paid for it and remains the owner, sometimes the employer rents or leases it from a charging operator, and sometimes you bought it yourself and the employer only reimburses the electricity. Each of these situations has consequences for the sale.

Look up the agreement and check who the owner is and what happens when you move. Some contracts provide for the charger to move to your new address, others allow the buyer to take it over or require a buyout fee. If the charger is not yours, you cannot sell it either. In that case, say so clearly, so the buyer does not assume it is included in the price.

Also watch out for running subscriptions or management contracts for the charging card, the app or the maintenance. They are usually in your name and do not transfer to the buyer automatically. Cancel them in time or agree with the buyer that they take them over, if the operator allows it.

Inspection and the electrical installation

When you sell a home, an inspection of the electrical installation is mandatory. The charger's circuit is part of that installation. A charger that was installed correctly and inspected at the time by an accredited inspection body normally causes no problems. A charger that was connected by the owner without an inspection can, however, lead to remarks in the report.

So gather the inspection report from the installation, the installer's invoice and the single-line diagram showing the charger's circuit. How the sale inspection itself works and what happens after a negative report is explained in our article on the electrical inspection when selling.

A negative report does not block the sale. The buyer does get a deadline to have the defects fixed, and will usually factor those costs into their offer. A charger that has been put in order beforehand takes that argument off the table.

Does an EV charger raise the sale price?

For some buyers a charger is a clear plus, but it is rarely an amount you can add to the price on its own. Buyers who already drive electric, or plan to soon, are spared the search for an installer and the waiting time. For buyers without an electric car it is a neutral detail.

What often matters more than the charger itself is the connection. A home with a three-phase connection and enough capacity allows faster charging without straining the rest of the house. So in your listing, mention not only that there is a charger, but also the charging power, the type of connection and whether the charger supports smart charging. In Flanders that last point matters, because the capacity tariff links grid costs to your highest monthly peak.

Have the value of your home assessed as a whole, with the charger as one of the elements. Our free online valuation gives you a first indication. A local estate agent can refine it based on what buyers in your area pay for comparable homes.

EPC, grants and documents for the buyer

An EV charger does not count towards the EPC calculation. That certificate covers the energy performance of the building itself: insulation, heating, domestic hot water, ventilation and any solar panels. A charger therefore does not improve your score, but it does not make it worse either.

If you received a grant or a tax benefit when the charger was installed, it was tied to you as the owner or to your employer. Such benefits do not transfer to the buyer. So do not promise a buyer anything about support you are not sure of yourself. The current rules are available from the Flemish government, the FPS Finance or your grid operator.

Prepare a short file with:

• the invoice and the technical data sheet of the charger;
• the inspection report from the installation;
• the single-line diagram and layout plan showing the charger's circuit;
• any contracts with an employer or charging operator;
• the warranty terms and the installer's details.

That way the buyer or their notary can quickly check what they are taking over.

How to prepare the sale

Start with the question of ownership. Does the charger belong to you, your employer or an operator? Then decide whether it stays with the sale and record that in the sales agreement. Make sure the electrical installation is in order for the sale inspection and gather the file above. In the listing, mention the charger factually, with its power and connection, without making more of it than it is.

An estate agent who regularly sells homes with installations like this knows which questions buyers ask and how to work the charger into the presentation. ImmoMakelaarVergelijker.be puts you in touch with up to three BIV-registered estate agents in your region, free and without obligation. Compare estate agents in your area and look at their valuation, their approach and their fees before you choose.

Final thoughts

An EV charger makes your home more attractive to a growing group of buyers, provided the paperwork is in order. Check who owns it, agree in the sales agreement whether the charger stays, make sure the installation has been inspected and give buyers clear information about power and connection. Want to know how estate agents in your region value your home? Compare up to three registered estate agents for free and choose the one that best suits your sale.