Without the landlord’s consent it is not possible – a wallbox is a structural change to the rented property. Swiss tenancy law currently grants no statutory right to one; a Federal Council draft for a «right to charge» was in consultation until 12 October 2026, but is not in force. The way forward is therefore a good request: a concrete solution, clarified costs, a clean arrangement for move-out. In practice, requests rarely fail because of a no – but because of a vague request. (As of: October 2026)
Key points in brief
- The wallbox touches the electrical installation and often communal areas – this is a matter for the ownership, not everyday tenancy agreement business.
- An enforceable legal entitlement to a charging station does not exist as things stand today – all the more reason why the quality of the application counts.
- The strongest arguments for the landlord side are economic: charging infrastructure enhances the value of the property and is increasingly becoming a question of rentability.
- Clarify in advance: who pays for installation and electricity, what happens when moving out, what applies to other parties?
- This guide contextualises the practice and does not replace legal advice.
Before buying a car: clarify your charging situation
When is your car parked at home during the day? This determines how well the wallbox and the solar system work together.
- Mostly at home: With your own solar system, the car charges directly with the surplus from the roof. According to SwissEnergy, intelligent control makes up to 90% solar power possible, even without intermediate storage.
- Mostly away: Then the car is not at the house during the sunny hours. A battery storage system can shift solar power from the day into the evening; whether that pays off is a calculation of its own. Storing grid electricity, on the other hand, brings no price advantage under a tariff that does not distinguish between day and night (the EKZ standard tariff 2027, for example, only has quarterly prices). Your grid operator’s tariff sheet shows what applies to you.
Also clarify in advance:
- Rented apartment: Without the landlord’s consent there is no wallbox. The request belongs before the car purchase, not after.
- Grid connection and registration: Have the reserve at the connection checked and register the wallbox with the grid operator.
- Subsidies: They differ by canton and municipality; the overview is in the guide Subsidies for wallboxes.
- Feeding back into the home (V2H): Not every car and every wallbox can do this. Vehicle, wallbox and grid operator must be clarified case by case, and bidirectional charging stations must be registered. More under V2H in Switzerland.
Sources: SwissEnergy (charging an electric car with power from your own roof); Energiepraxis-Seminare Ostschweiz (OST, Canton of Zurich), bidirectional charging; EKZ, electricity tariffs 2027.
What are tenants allowed to do – and what not?
The starting point is sobering: the parking space is rented, the electrical installation belongs to the property, and structural changes to the rented property require the written consent of the landlord. This applies to the wallbox just as much as to any other installation – regardless of who pays for it. An arbitrarily mounted box risks dismantling at your own expense and trouble that goes far beyond the charging issue.
Swiss tenancy law currently grants no statutory right of the kind some other countries have introduced. That sounds more discouraging than it is: it only means that the route runs through persuasion rather than entitlement – and persuasion works considerably more often than the topic’s reputation suggests. Whether this changes depends on the draft law described further below.
Right to charge: what the Federal Council is planning – draft, not yet in force
The picture may change. In June 2025 Parliament adopted Motion 23.3936 «Charging electric cars in tenancies and condominium ownership», against the will of the Federal Council. On 19 June 2026 the Federal Council sent an amendment to the Energy Act out for consultation; the deadline ran until 12 October 2026.
This is what the draft provides, according to the Federal Council’s press release:
- Tenants and condominium owners should be able to require the owners to provide the basic installation for charging – provided it is reasonable.
- The basic installation includes the power line to the parking space concerned, a system for allocating electricity consumption and, where applicable, load management.
- The entitlement applies to people who live in the property and rent the parking space together with the flat from the same landlord; subtenants are included.
- In tenancies, the costs of the basic installation can generally be passed on to the parking-space rent.
- Disputes would be decided by the civil courts.
What is open is whether and when the law enters into force: after the consultation, the Federal Council must submit a message to Parliament, and it names no date. The draft also does not define in more detail what «reasonable» means; according to media reports, property associations reject the bill, while mobility associations support it with requests for clarification.
What this means for you today: The landlord’s consent still applies. Anyone who now submits a good request – with basic installation, load management and consumption metering – proposes exactly the solution the draft describes as the standard, and thereby takes away the landlord’s strongest counter-argument. The variant for whole buildings is covered in the article Wallbox in an apartment building.
Why is a good application worthwhile instead of a vague request?
Because the landlord can hardly react to «Might I perhaps have a wallbox?» in any other way than hesitantly – the request transfers all the clarification work to them. An application that has already done the work turns the situation around:
| Building block of the application | What it answers |
|---|---|
| Quote from an electrical specialist company | What exactly is installed, by whom, at what price? |
| Clarification of feasibility | Is the connection sufficient? What does the specialist company say about the supply line? |
| Assumption of costs | Who pays for installation, box and operation? (usually: the tenant side) |
| Electricity billing | Own measurement – the charging current does not run via general electricity |
| Moving out regulation | Dismantling or takeover by landlord/subsequent tenant – in writing in advance |
| Notification & standards | Registration with the grid operator by the specialist company |
Classification aid, as of: July 2026. The specific agreement should be recorded in writing – if in doubt, with professional or legal support.
With such a dossier, the request becomes a project with completed homework. And it also answers the unspoken core question of every ownership at the same time: «What am I letting myself in for?» – Answer: little.
Incentives as an argument – over in Zurich: the cantonal Zurich programme, which paid CHF 500 per equipped parking space until October 2026, is exhausted; new applications are no longer possible. In any case, only the owner could apply for it, not the tenant. In Basel-Stadt there is still a contribution towards the basic installation (60 per cent, at most CHF 1’300 per private charging point, until the end of 2030) – it also goes to the owner. For your request, this means: where it exists, the incentive is an argument for the landlord, not money that you collect yourself. What currently applies: Wallbox incentives.
Which arguments convince the landlord?
The economic ones. Charging infrastructure is on the way from being an extra to basic equipment: anyone who is looking for an apartment with a parking space today and drives electrically asks about the charging option just like about the cellar compartment. A property that can offer this is easier to rent out – and the installation that a renting party initiates and pays for enhances the value of the object without burdening the ownership.
The second argument is the expansion idea: instead of an individual solution for one parking space, the ownership can take the request as an opportunity to examine the basic installation for all spaces – once planned, the system grows with every additional electric car. Some landlords then invest themselves and pass the costs on to the users; for the requesting renting party, this is often the best result: charging without their own investment.
Which variants have proven themselves?
Three models cover most cases. Tenant investment model: You pay for installation and box, the agreement regulates moving out and any compensation for the residual value. Advantage: fast; disadvantage: you are investing in someone else's property – the moving out regulation is therefore the most important sentence of the agreement. Landlord investment model: The ownership builds (often the basic installation straight away) and bills via rent or ancillary costs. Contracting model: A service provider builds and operates the charging infrastructure, billing is per charge – widespread in larger properties where operation is to run professionally (for large objects the usual pattern).
For charging itself, the same applies as everywhere: 11 kW is sufficient in everyday life, because the car is stationary for hours anyway – this also keeps the connection discussion with the ownership small.
What if the answer is still no?
First understand, then react. A no usually has a concrete reason – concern about the electrics, unclear precedent for other parties, bad experiences – and many of these reasons can be eliminated with an improved application: attach a load management concept, assure dismantling, involve the administration. Patience with a deadline is also helpful: the request to treat the topic as an agenda item at the next owners' meeting.
If it remains a no, the alternatives carry further than many think: charging at the employer, public charging points in the neighbourhood and fast charging for the exception. It is not as comfortable as your own box – but it bridges the gap until the property follows suit. And according to our observation, they do follow suit: the question is usually not whether, but when.
The successful tenant requests that we accompany have a common pattern: they come with a quote, billing solution and moving out regulation – the landlord only has to say yes. More than once, an individual request became a project of the ownership: if a specialist company is looking at the supply line anyway, the basic installation for all spaces suddenly seems obvious. Vague requests without documents, on the other hand, peter out – often not because of a lack of will, but because of the open work that nobody wants to take on.
Frequently asked questions
May I temporarily charge at the normal socket in the garage?
Only with consent and clean billing – and as a permanent solution, the household socket is unsuitable for the car anyway: it is not built for hours of full load, and the electricity often runs via the general meter.
Who pays for the wallbox – tenant or landlord?
A matter of negotiation. It is usual that the requesting tenant bears the cost of the installation and box; if the ownership invests, it charges this via rent or ancillary costs. It is crucial that this is regulated in writing in advance – including moving out.
What happens to my wallbox when moving out?
What the agreement says: dismantling at your expense, takeover by the ownership against compensation or passing on to the subsequent tenants. Without regulation, dismantling applies in case of doubt – which is why this point belongs in every agreement.
Will I soon get a statutory right to a charging station?
Not yet. On 19 June 2026 the Federal Council sent a draft law out for consultation under which tenants and condominium owners could require the basic installation (power line to the parking space, consumption allocation, where applicable load management), provided it is reasonable. The draft is not in force; whether and when it will be is open. Until then: without the landlord’s consent it is not possible.
Can the administration simply ignore my request?
There is no obligation to approve, but you may expect an answer. Proven: submit the request in writing and ask for it to be dealt with at the next condominium owners' meeting – this way it ends up on an agenda instead of in a mailbox.
Does the wallbox increase my rent?
Only if the ownership invests and passes this on – the modalities are based on tenancy law and the agreement. If you pay yourself, nothing changes in the rent; moving out must then be regulated.
Free initial consultation
We make your request ready for a decision.
Feasibility check, quote and the documents with which your landlord only has to say yes – from a single source, requested free of charge and without obligation.
Prefer to talk? +41 78 830 83 35
Charging station from a specialist company in Zurich →
Swissolar member and Solarprofi · ESTI installation authorisation (Art. 14 NIV) · in Zurich since 2017 · over 150 systems completed · a personal answer from the specialist company, no call centre
Further guides
Wallbox im Mehrfamilienhaus
Wallbox basics
E-Auto mit Solarstrom laden
Ladeinfrastruktur für FirmenSources: SwissEnergy, Swiss eMobility, tenancy law basics: relevant advisory bodies (tenants’ and homeowners’ associations); Federal Council, press release of 19 June 2026 (consultation on the Energy Act, Motion 23.3936).
Last updated: 12 November 2026 · Author: ecoEn Redaktion
