EV Charging in Strata: What's Changing, and What to Check Before You Buy

In March 2026, a new apartment complex in Hawthorn, Melbourne became the largest EV-enabled building in Australia. Sierra Hawthorn has 241 residential apartments, and every one of them has a dedicated EV charging point in its allocated parking space, 251 chargers in total across the building. Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen attended the launch.

For most strata buildings in Australia, that level of infrastructure is still a long way off. But the pressure is building, and the rules around how committees can respond have shifted significantly.

What Changed in NSW on 1 July 2025

The Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (NSW) brought in sustainability-related reforms that took effect on 1 July 2025. Several of them directly affect EV charging.

The most significant change is to how EV charger installations are voted on. Previously, installing charging infrastructure on common property required a special resolution, meaning no more than 25 percent of the value of votes cast could be against the motion. That was a high bar in many buildings.

From 1 July 2025, EV charging is classified as sustainability infrastructure. A sustainability infrastructure resolution passes with a simple majority, when more than 50 percent of eligible votes are in favour. That is a materially lower threshold than before.

A second change affects by-laws. Before the reform, a building by-law could prohibit EV charger installation if the committee could argue it would affect the building's external appearance. That restriction is now invalid, except for buildings that are heritage-listed or in a heritage conservation area.

Owners corporations also have new obligations. Since 1 July 2025, every AGM must include environmental sustainability on its agenda, covering the common property's energy and water consumption. And sustainability infrastructure costs, including EV charging, must be factored into capital works fund estimates.

What Buyers Should Look For in a Strata Report

If EV access matters to you, the strata report is the right place to start, but it will not tell you everything on its own.

**Existing infrastructure.** Some buildings have already installed shared charging points in the visitor or common parking area. Others have had conduit or cabling roughed in during a recent renovation, which makes future installation cheaper. Neither will necessarily be obvious from the strata report itself, but the committee minutes may reference works that have been done or budgeted.

**Electrical capacity.** This is the most common barrier in existing buildings. A building with limited spare electrical capacity from the grid connection cannot simply add dozens of chargers without an upgrade. Check the capital works plan for any references to electrical infrastructure or grid capacity. If the building has an embedded network (where an external operator manages the electricity supply), there is an additional approval layer with the network operator before any charger can be connected.

**Pending requests in the minutes.** If other owners have already raised EV charging at committee meetings, those discussions will typically appear in the meeting minutes included in the strata report. Multiple unresolved requests can signal either that the committee is receptive but working through the logistics, or that there is active resistance.

**By-law restrictions.** Older by-laws may still contain restrictions that have since become unenforceable under the new NSW law. It is worth noting what the by-laws say, and whether the committee has taken any steps to update them since 1 July 2025.

**Insurance notes.** Some strata insurers have begun raising requirements around buildings where EV charging is installed or proposed, in some cases requiring specific fire safety conditions. If the insurer has raised any requirements in recent correspondence, that may appear in the AGM papers.

Clarity by BRXiQ extracts and highlights relevant items from meeting minutes, capital works plans, and by-laws when analysing a strata report. It does not replace a professional review, but it can help you spot threads worth following up before you commit.

What Committees Are Dealing With

From the committee side, EV charging requests are arriving faster than most buildings were prepared for.

The typical path for an individual owner who wants to install a charger in their own parking space involves applying to the owners corporation, getting committee approval, and organising a licensed electrician. In NSW, works over $20,000 also require home building insurance from the installer. The 1 July 2025 reforms lowered the vote threshold, but they did not remove the approval process.

For buildings that want to install shared chargers in common parking or visitor spaces, the logistical complexity is higher. Grid capacity, cost allocation between users, metering, billing, and ongoing maintenance all need to be worked through. This is the kind of project that can stall in a committee for years without a clear framework.

The NSW Government's EV Ready Buildings Grant has been one route for existing strata buildings to get moving. The programme co-funded feasibility assessments and offered up to $80,000 per building (covering 80 percent of eligible infrastructure costs) for Stage 2 installation works. The programme is not currently accepting new applications; future funding rounds have not been confirmed at the time of publication. Committees interested in the grant should check the NSW Government website for updates.

For new builds, Sierra Hawthorn shows what is possible when EV infrastructure is designed in from the start rather than retrofitted. The NOX Energy installation across the building was backed by a $1.51 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency's Driving the Nation programme, as part of a broader $4.78 million initiative to deploy nearly 2,000 chargers across at least 16 strata buildings nationally. Sierra Hawthorn is the largest single building in that programme.

The deeper challenge for existing buildings is electrical capacity. Buildings constructed before EV charging was a consideration were not designed with the load in mind. Upgrading the building's grid connection or internal switchboard can cost significantly more than the chargers themselves, and that cost typically falls on the owners corporation through the capital works fund.

The Bigger Picture

The pattern we are seeing is that EV charging is moving from a niche owner request to a mainstream planning question, both for buyers and committees. The NSW reforms have removed some of the formal barriers, but the practical ones, electrical capacity, cost allocation, and insurance, remain.

For buyers, the strata report is a useful starting point for understanding where a building sits. For committees, the question is increasingly not whether to address EV charging, but how to do it in a way that is fair, funded, and defensible at the AGM.

This is informational only. Not financial, legal, or compliance advice. Rules vary by state. For advice specific to your building or situation, consult a qualified strata lawyer or energy consultant.