The NSW government has given EV owners who live in apartments a big leg-up by passing a new law giving them the right to install home charging equipment without fear of being turned down by their strata committee on unreasonable grounds.

Passed by NSW Parliament on October 15, the Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Bill) 2025 allows owners to add charging stations to their own lots regardless of whether the work involved means changes have to be made to the common property.

2

The changes under the home-charging section of the Act will still apply even if other provisions of the new laws conflict with it. So in other words, the new rules for EV owners will take precedence.

According to the new laws, owners who want to install home charging equipment will need to begin by sending an installation notice to their strata committee. The committee then has a maximum of three months to either formally say it has no objection, or explain its objections in written form.

If the committee doesn’t respond in that timeframe, that will be viewed as a no-objection notice. If there is a formal objection, the law says it must not be unreasonable. The owner can choose to dispute it by applying to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which can order its own no-objection notice and override the strata committee.

The cost of the charging equipment installation is paid by the owner, who also has to compensate the owners’ corporation for the costs of maintaining the equipment, and for any damage to common property as a result of installing and/or operating the charger.

At the time of writing, there is no commencement date for the new laws, and there hasn’t been confirmation of what constitutes EV charging equipment under the legislation, which could define it as anything from a single powerpoint to a dedicated wall charger.

“Owners and residents want clearer rules, greater transparency and stronger protections, and this legislation delivers through stronger oversight, better consumer protections and greater support for those experiencing financial hardship,” NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong said of the new laws, which also cover a wide range of strata issues.