UK scraps EV charging planning rule for 8M households without driveways

For the 8 million UK households without driveways, the removal of planning permission for cross-pavement EV charging removes a structural barrier to electrifying transport. Yet the reform hinges on whether local highway authorities can approve safe cable routes consistently — without that, the climate benefit of broader home charging may be unevenly distributed.

The UK government has removed a long-standing planning barrier that prevented many households without driveways from installing home electric vehicle (EV) chargers across public pavements. According to reporting published on 27 September 2026 by the Coventry Telegraph and Chronicle Live, the change ends the requirement for a separate planning application for homes that need access to an EV charger but do not have off-street parking. The decision is intended to benefit approximately eight million households living in terraced housing or flats, a large share of the UK housing stock that has historically been locked out of cheap, home-based charging. The rule change is a significant deregulatory step, but its practical impact now depends on how local authorities implement cross-pavement charging approvals.

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Daniel Briggs, CEO of Motorfinity, a car discount company focused on frontline workers, called the reform an 'overdue win for fair access to EV charging' that makes it easier for people to switch from petrol to electric vehicles.

Daniel Briggs, CEO of Motorfinity, a car discount company focused on frontline workers, called the reform an 'overdue win for fair access to EV charging' that makes it easier for people to switch from petrol to electric vehicles. But he warned that the bottleneck has not entirely vanished. The decision shifts parking planning permission approval to local highway authorities, which could create a 'postcode lottery' of enforcement. Without a national standard for what counts as a safe way to run a cable across a pavement, approval could be quick in one area and very slow in the next. Those wanting to apply for cross-pavement charging will likely face inconsistent approval timelines depending on where they live.

The safety implications are central. Running a charging cable across or under a public walkway creates potential trip hazards, and Briggs said this cannot be an afterthought. Local authorities will need to weigh liability, accessibility, street clutter, and pavement durability when approving cable routes. In the absence of a national technical specification, there is a risk that councils adopt wildly different conditions, including mandatory covered channels, dropped kerbs, or minimum depths for under-pavement conduits. That variation could add cost and delay, particularly in older urban areas with narrow footways, listed building constraints, or high footfall. Residents may still need additional consents from landlords, housing associations, or freeholders, so the planning change alone does not guarantee charger installation.

From an EV adoption perspective, the reform could be a catalyst. Home charging is consistently cheaper and more convenient than public rapid charging, and for many drivers it determines whether an EV is practical. Eight million households without driveways represents a major potential market segment; removing planning red tape should expand the addressable market for home charger installers, cable-protection products, and smart-charging platforms. However, if permission outcomes remain unpredictable, installers may struggle to standardize quotes, and some households may continue to rely on the public network, undermining the policy objective.