Longbenton: would local office charging pay its way?

Longbenton has 5 public charging sites listed in the supplied Open Charge Map snapshot [S3]. Your office or community-facing business should check their access and opening hours before adding capacity. Paid charging can produce a positive margin yet take many years to repay, so test low use and site works before selecting funding. Checked October 2026.

Last checked 17 October 2026

How does Longbenton compare with North Tyneside?

North Tyneside recorded 133 public chargers, including 55 rapid, on 1 July 2026 [S4]. Longbenton is part of that wider network in the North East, but a borough-wide total does not describe access near your premises.

The built-up area had 26,882 residents at Census 2021 [S1], [S2]. Its supplied population comparison is roughly 13% of the borough. Keep that settlement geography clear: a local workplace car park serves people arriving at a particular entrance, rather than a proportional slice of all residents.

Is there space for another destination charging site?

The snapshot shows 5 public charging sites listed on Open Charge Map, with 9 devices and 1 rapid site [S3]. Dividing those counts by the built-up population and multiplying by 10,000 gives 1.9 sites and 3.3 devices per 10,000 residents [S1], [S2].

These are community-maintained listings, with fewer points than DfT’s council count, rather than the official total for Longbenton. Check each entry and surrounding streets before drawing a gap on a map. The local charging checker helps you identify nearby alternatives.

The NHS lists the Oxford Centre on West Farm Avenue in Longbenton as a Healthy Start vitamins service location [S11]. AccessAble’s survey identifies Longbenton Library and other facilities within the centre, plus an on-site car park [S12]. Those facts support investigating community visits and longer appointments separately from brief shopping stops. They do not show charger usage at the centre or imply it is offering parking to another business.

Does the A191 provide a useful customer route?

The supplied road snapshot identifies the A191 as Longbenton’s busiest counted major road, averaging 20,219 vehicles a day in 2025 [S5]. An annual daily traffic average describes a road count point. It cannot establish the number of drivers entering your forecourt.

For a community-facing office, record appointments, staff shifts and empty parking periods. Trace the route from the main road and check whether visitors can see the entrance without circling residential streets. Ask for a supply assessment from the distribution network operator (DNO) and protect pedestrian access when marking charging bays. The site suitability check can hold those observations together.

What would paid charging earn at a local office?

Consider a hypothetical office near community services with one staff and visitor charger. Kilowatts (kW) measure power; kilowatt-hours (kWh) measure energy sold. This 7 kW alternating-current (AC) example is an illustration, not a quote.

The installation band excludes extra groundworks, cable runs and connection. The £2,000 allowance must be replaced by surveyed costs; request an itemised infrastructure quotation [S7]. Tariff, utilisation, maintenance and revenue shares are illustrative inputs, not observed terms available to a Longbenton host.

Calculate annual energy as sessions × 10 × 365. Sales are energy × £0.45. Operating net is energy × (£0.45 − £0.25) − £300.

The fully funded provider finances, installs, owns and operates the charger, with no host capital in this illustration. Under part funded, host capital is £2,000 and income is 60% of operating net. Under self funded, host capital is £4,000 and income is the whole operating net.

Simple return on investment (ROI) = annual host net ÷ capital paid by the host × 100. Payback years = host capital ÷ annual host net, using unrounded figures. The long low-use paybacks warn against assuming positive income means a sensible purchase. These results exclude grants, tax, finance, VAT effects, replacement and lost parking income. Change the inputs with the income calculator.

Have an offer state electricity liability, fault response, insurance, rates, reserved bays and term length. Ask your solicitor about break clauses, future redevelopment and removal costs; do not infer those protections from a funding label.

Which grants and rules apply to these bays?

Eligible WCS installations can receive up to £500 per socket until 31 March 2027 [S8]. Check the actual staff and fleet arrangements rather than assume public visitor parking qualifies.

Capital allowances are separate from grant cash; check qualifying expenditure with your accountant [S9]. If drivers can use the charger publicly, specify compliance with the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 [S10]. Ask the council about planning and have your solicitor review land permissions before any agreement reserves parking space.

What is the next step for your premises?

The office charging guidance can help you separate staff use from visitor charging.

Use an appointment diary, bay plan and electricity bill to get matched with an installer that covers your area.

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