EV charging in a housing association, the whole picture.

Why EV charging in a housing association?

The share of electric cars and plug-in hybrids is growing fast, and for many residents the ability to charge at home is decisive in the choice to change car. For everyday needs, overnight charging with an AC charger is more than enough.

Charging at home is also cheap. Public charging can cost three to four times as much. A charge of around 44 kWh can come to nearly 260 kr at a public rapid charger, against roughly 50–90 kr at home. That is a saving of more than 150 kr every time the car is charged.

For the association, charging bays are also a way to future-proof the property. They raise its appeal, strengthen the sustainability profile and can affect the market value of the apartments. The trend points one way: requirements are tightening step by step and the grants are still there for a while, but not forever.

What does the law say from 2025 onwards?

Is there a requirement to install charging points? The answer depends on the type of property and on whether the case is new build, refurbishment or an existing building.

From 1 January 2025 a rule applies which says that non-residential buildings with more than 20 parking spaces must have at least one charging point. That covers offices, shopping centres and similar commercial premises, but not ordinary housing associations or rental blocks.

For new build and for major renovations of parking areas or electrical systems, however, preparation is required. Ducting, meaning conduit and the like, must then be installed even if the charging points are not put up straight away. The purpose is to avoid expensive rerouting later on.

The rules on charging infrastructure were updated on 1 July 2026 through Boverket's regulations on sustainable mobility (BFS 2026:4), which replaced the earlier rules. The essentials are the same, but it is the sustainable mobility regulations that apply today.

Both the EU and the Swedish authorities have signalled that the requirements will tighten step by step, moving from financial incentives towards binding rules. An association with more than a handful of parking spaces is therefore wise to plan for charging infrastructure now, particularly alongside major refurbishment work.

Ladda bilen: the grant for charging points

There is state support to apply for, which lowers the threshold. Naturvårdsverket's Ladda bilen grant can cover up to 50 percent of the cost of charging points in a housing association, but no more than 15,000 kr per charging point. The grant covers charging for the association's own residents, meaning non-public charging, and the amount is calculated on the whole project cost including materials, labour and design work. (Klimatklivet, which this guide previously referred to, is now aimed at public charging.)

A couple of things are worth knowing. The charging bays do not have to be publicly accessible, and can be private to the residents. Unlike companies, a housing association is not covered by the advance-application requirement in force since 1 February 2026, and can apply to Naturvårdsverket once the installation is complete.

The support is substantial, but it can change or end. Anyone planning to buy their charging solution is wise to factor in the grant in good time.

Buy or take it as a service?

The association can either buy and own a charging solution itself, or take it as a service for a monthly fee. The choice is about tied-up capital and risk.

Buying is a large investment even with the grant. A worked example with 10 charging points comes to over 300,000 kr across eight years once interest and the service contract are included, despite the grant. The association ties up capital and takes on responsibility for operation.

As a service, the association instead pays a fixed fee per charging point. Nordic Propeye offers that from 149 kr per point per month, with installation, operation, warranty and support included. In a comparison with 20 charging points, the service came to a total cost of 286,000 kr across eight years, against over 300,000 kr for buying with the grant and a loan. The association avoids tying up capital and gets a predictable cost, easy to pass on to precisely those residents who actually charge.

Reuse the engine heater posts

Many associations already have an infrastructure of engine heater posts in place. It can often be reused, which brings the cost down. The insert in the post is swapped for a modern socket and the cabling is used where it can be.

Simply replacing old engine heater posts with new sockets without charging capability means, in practice, a one-off cost of 6,000–10,000 kr per bay, and gives a solution with no load balancing, no individual metering and no way to upgrade. Upgrading the same bay to a modern socket instead costs 89 kr per month, and the association can activate full charging capability later for a total of 149 kr per point per month. That way the investment is spread over time, and the installation is future-proof from the start.

The technology behind smart charging

Charging electric cars in a multi-dwelling building draws a lot of electricity, especially when several charge at the same time. How much the property can handle depends on the main fuse and how the electricity is distributed. In older buildings with weak wiring, reinforcement may be needed, which is worth mapping in advance.

Load balancing is the key. The system distributes the available power between the cars in real time, so that the main fuse is not overloaded. That means the association usually avoids an expensive upgrade of its grid subscription.

Charging affects power draw as well as energy. When several cars charge at full power at the same time, peak demand appears, and a growing number of grid companies charge according to the highest power measured during the month, not only according to the energy consumed. With smart charging control the association can move charging to the night when other consumption is low, or reduce the speed automatically at times of high load, and keep the peaks and the charge down that way. It is the same power logic that PropSaver works with for the whole property.

Through the app, both the board and residents can schedule charging, follow consumption and control engine heater sockets. Several models have combined sockets, so the same post can charge the car, charge the e-bike or run the engine heater without separate units.

Fair billing with IMD Electricity

In practice a charging solution only works if the cost split is simple. That is where IMD Electricity comes in. Each charging point is linked to a user, consumption is metered automatically right at the post, and the cost goes onto the resident's ordinary monthly invoice.

For residents that means full insight: each of them follows their own consumption and can schedule charging in the app. For the association it solves the question that is often the board's biggest headache, who should pay for what. Everyone pays for their own charging, no more and no less.

One supplier for the whole property

Charging gets simpler when it does not stand on its own. Nordic Propeye works with energy metering, optimisation and charging infrastructure on the same digital platform, for more than 750 housing associations in Sweden, so that the board has one supplier instead of several points of contact.

The result is a complete service: Swedish-made charging units built for our climate, with an eight-year warranty, installation, support, app, load balancing and finished IMD integration. With the metering and billing already in place, charging is often a natural next step for an association that wants to bring the property's energy together in one system.

Are EV charging points right for your association?

The need is greatest in associations where residents already drive or are considering an electric car, and where parking is in a garage or in the association's own bays. Taking the solution as a service lowers the threshold and moves the cost to those who charge, while buying with the Ladda bilen grant can pay off for associations that want to own the equipment and have capital to tie up.

If you want to see what a charging solution would cost in your own property, we go through the distribution board, the main fuse and any existing engine heater infrastructure and produce a property-specific quote. Read more about our charging stations or fill in the form further down, and we will come back to you at no cost and with no obligation.