Alex Robbins is contributing editor at Telegraph Cars where, as well as responding to readers’ queries, he also contributes reviews of new and used cars, together with articles on buying and selling. 

His knowledge of the used car market informs his many buying guides relating to the best buys in particular sectors, with an emphasis on value for money.  Every week he will answer your questions on buying and selling, as well as solving your car problems, whether consumer or mechanical.

Do you have a motoring dilemma you’d like our expert to solve?  For consumer and used car advice, or car faults, email CarsAdvice@telegraph.co.uk and include your subscriber number. This week’s question…

Dear MH, 

I have a ground floor flat in a seven-storey block which has eight dedicated private parking places. The other occupiers use on-street parking. I am thinking about buying an EV and getting permission to fix a charger to my flat wall. However, it would seem a good idea to make this facility potentially available to occupiers of other flats. What would the pros and cons of this? 

– MH

Dear MH,

Getting a charger installed at your block of flats is a sound plan if you’re able to; it isn’t always as hard as you might think. Many leaseholders are coming around to the idea now, as more and more people make the switch and home charging becomes more mainstream. 

What’s more, a charging point will always add to the desirability of your property when the time comes to sell it – at the moment, flats with charging points are especially rare, so if you’ve already had one installed it’ll be a real plus point for EV-driving buyers. 

Offering use of the charger to your neighbours is a kind and refreshingly altruistic idea, but there are a few things to keep in mind. 

For one thing, your charger will be connected to your electricity supply, so you’ll be paying the bill. With that in mind, you’ll have to agree with neighbours that they will pay you for using your charger. You’ll therefore have to keep tabs on which neighbours are using it at what times, and how much their charges are costing you.

For another, any charger you get will only have one socket, meaning it can be used for just one car at a time. That means you might find yourself unable to use your parking space while your neighbour charges their car and if they need to charge overnight you might have to park your car on the street. If your car is insured as being parked in a private car park, your insurer might take issue if it gets broken into or damaged.

One way of getting around that could be to install a charger with two sockets, such as the popular Rolec wall-mounted models or a post-mounted equivalent like the Pod Point Twin Charger. You could also have a look at the Easee One; up to three of these single chargers can be “daisy chained” on one circuit, with power shared evenly between the three of them.

Of course, all of this will cost more than just a single charger. The other downside is that when both (or all three) sockets are in use, the supply will be split between them, meaning charging times will double (or treble) for all the cars. 

In other words, if you plug in your car hoping for it to charge in a couple of hours but someone else plugs in theirs shortly afterwards, you might find your car has nowhere near as much charge as you’d expected. 

A good way forward might be to install a single Easee charger at first and see how you go. It’s a good charger, with app-based control, sleek design and a clever locking mechanism that allows you to leave your charging cable in place without fear of it getting stolen. 

Then, if you decide you want to extend the facility to your neighbours, you can add a couple more of these chargers to the circuit with your leaseholder’s permission. 

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