Regulation

Government drops planning permission for cross-pavement EV chargers and opens two consultations on charging for flats and new buildings

The Department for Transport says homeowners without a driveway no longer need planning permission to run a charging cable under the pavement to a car parked on the street, saving up to £300 on installation. Two consultations on EV charging in tenanted homes and in building regulations are open until 16 December 2026.

21 October 2026 · Source: GOV.UK (Department for Transport)

On 21 October 2026 the Department for Transport announced, through GOV.UK, that homeowners no longer need planning permission for cross-pavement EV chargers: the cable-under-the-pavement kind that lets someone with no driveway charge a car parked on the street outside. The release puts the saving at up to £300 on installation, and says residents without off-street parking could also use cheaper domestic electricity than public charging, with potential running-cost savings of up to £1,750. It describes the changes as taking effect from the day of publication. The release does not say which parts of the UK the planning change covers, so check that before assuming it applies to a Kent address.

The same release says permitted development rights are being changed so that operators can install larger, higher-powered public charging hubs more quickly and cheaply. Separately, two consultations are open until 16 December 2026. One covers amending the building regulations for EV charging infrastructure, including requiring chargers in new and refurbished covered car parks. The other covers expanding EV charging access for tenants and leaseholders, including clearer landlord guidance and possible mandatory requirements that make it harder for a landlord or freeholder to refuse an application.

For our readers the relevance is the charger half of a solar-and-EV plan, not the panels. The release does not mention solar, batteries or home energy systems at all, and nothing in it changes the rules on connecting panels or a battery to the grid. What it does is remove one planning step for households that previously had no easy way to charge at home, which is a different situation from a household with a driveway and its own supply. If you already have panels and a driveway, the practical questions are unchanged: whether the charger is installed by a competent electrician, whether your supply and consumer unit can take the extra load, and whether you want a smart or solar-aware charger so surplus generation is used for the car.

Two things to watch. The planning change covers the cable crossing the pavement, and the release does not address the highway or licence side of that route, so ask the installer what else they need to arrange. And the tenant and leaseholder consultation is only a proposal: until it closes and the government responds, a landlord or freeholder can still refuse. Nothing here is advice, and the figures above are the department's own claims rather than our estimates.

Read the original: GOV.UK (Department for Transport). Commentary is Sandwich Solar's own editorial view; the original reporting is credited to its publisher.

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