How to Install a Home EV Charger Under England's New October 2026 Rules

The UK government removed planning-permission requirements for most home electric vehicle charger installations in England from 21 October 2026, through an amendment to the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO). The change affects two separate situations: chargers fitted on a driveway or garden, and cable channels (commonly called 'gullies') that run under the pavement to reach a car parked on the street.

What the October 2026 Rule Change Covers

The new rules come from the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2026 (SI 2026/1056). For households with a driveway or garden, existing permitted-development rights for wall-mounted chargers (Class D) and free-standing upstands (Class E) were widened so they apply anywhere in a property's curtilage, not only on an existing off-street parking space. For households without a driveway, a new Class F right lets a cross-pavement cable channel be installed without a separate planning application, provided it is done by, on behalf of, or with the authorisation of the local highway authority.

The Department for Transport announced the change on 21 October 2026. Minister for Buses and Local Transport Simon Lightwood said the government was cutting 'unnecessary red tape' on home charging.

Step-by-Step: Installing Your Charger Under the New Rules

1. Work out which category applies to you: a charger on your own driveway or garden (Class D/E rights), or a cross-pavement gully to reach a car parked on the street (new Class F right).
2. Check whether your home is in one of England's roughly 10,000 conservation areas, or near a listed building or scheduled monument. These areas are excluded from the new permitted-development rights and still require a full planning application.
3. For a driveway charger, make sure the unit fits the permitted-development limits: a wall-mounted box (Class D) must be no larger than 0.2 cubic metres, no taller than 1.6 metres, project no more than 0.2 metres from a wall facing a highway, and leave at least 1.5 metres of clear footway; only one qualifying outlet is allowed per dwelling.
4. For a cross-pavement gully, apply to your local highway authority for authorisation under section 178 of the Highways Act 1980 instead of a planning application. The authority checks the proposed route against underground gas, water, electricity and telecoms infrastructure before approving it.
5. Ask your council directly whether it currently allows gullies at all. More than 20 English local authorities, including Ealing, Waltham Forest and Hackney, were still refusing to approve them as of October 2026, citing safety and accessibility concerns.
6. Compare council fees before booking an installer. Reported charges for gully approval range from about £250 in South Gloucestershire to £499 in Surrey and £815 in Redbridge, where a council grant of up to £1,200 can offset part of the cost.
7. Check for ongoing charges. Some councils, including Redbridge and Enfield, bill annual maintenance fees for gullies of £185 and £107 respectively.
8. Once the charger is installed, switch to an off-peak or EV-specific electricity tariff to get the full benefit of cheaper home rates rather than public-charger prices.
9. If you rent your home or live in a flat, watch two Department for Transport consultations open until 16 December 2026, on leaseholder and tenant access to chargepoints and on mandatory charging provision in new housing developments.

What It Costs, With and Without the New Rules

The Department for Transport estimates the removal of planning permission saves up to £300 on installation and that home charging can cost from 2p per mile, producing running-cost savings of up to £1,750 a year compared with petrol or diesel. Separate reporting has compared real household bills: driver Gregg Francis was reported to fully charge his car at home for around £6, against £30 to £63 for an equivalent charge at public chargepoints.

Limits, Exceptions and What Comes Next

The new rights do not apply everywhere. Conservation areas, and land near listed buildings or scheduled monuments, are excluded from the expanded Class D/E rights and from the new Class F cross-pavement right, so homeowners there still need a standard planning application. Even outside those areas, a highway authority can still refuse to authorise a gully, and reporting found that more than 20 councils in England had not approved any cross-pavement gullies as of October 2026.

Motoring organisation the RAC welcomed the change but said it would not solve every problem for drivers without a driveway. RAC head of policy Simon Williams said home electricity is free of VAT while public charging carries 20% VAT, making home charging significantly cheaper, and that the reform alone does not guarantee a resident without a driveway can park close enough to their home to use a cable.

Liberal Democrat peer Caroline Pidgeon, who had campaigned for the change, said approvals for cross-pavement charging had previously taken up to 15 months under the old planning-permission system, and that around one in three English households lack a driveway, according to reporting on the policy.