How to charge an electric car at home without a driveway
Where you park. 5 minute read
With only street parking, charging from your own supply means a council approved channel set into the pavement. Council fees and licence conditions, the street parking grant, the parking catch, and what to do where no channel is allowed.
On 21 October 2026 a new planning order takes effect in England that changes this subject. Under SI 2026/1056, a charger on the front wall of a house with no driveway becomes permitted development, so long as the cable reaches the car through a cross pavement channel that the highway authority has authorised. Until then, councils running channel schemes, such as Oxfordshire, have asked residents for planning permission from the district council as well.
The planning change removes one of up to three permissions. The highway consent and the council's own scheme rules still apply.
Why a cable on the pavement is not an option
The Highways Act 1980 says nobody may place a cable "along or across a highway" without the highway authority's consent (section 178). Leaving something on the highway that injures or endangers a passer by is a separate offence under section 161. The Department for Transport's guidance on cross pavement solutions describes trailing cables as a trip hazard. Cable covers and mats do not count as a solution for the grant either.
A cross pavement channel is a narrow slot set into the footway with a lid. The charging cable sits in it while the car charges and comes out afterwards.
What some councils charge and ask for
These are the terms published on each council's site, read in October 2026. Schemes differ widely. Buckinghamshire and Kent, for example, had no published scheme we could find.
| Council | What it costs the resident | Conditions worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Oxfordshire | £300 upfront for installation and two years' licence, then around £100 a year | Pavement 2 metres wide or less, no verge or trees, £5 million third party cover, annual electrical check, a 500 channel pilot |
| Cambridgeshire | £190 for a two year section 178 licence | £5 million public liability cover, a professionally installed charger with built in PEN fault protection |
| Hertfordshire | £200 assessment fee; installation normally £1,200 after a grant subsidy | St Albans postcodes AL1 to AL5 only, no dropped kerb or off-street parking |
| Bracknell Forest | A typical installation is £1,650, with £1,200 from the council | The installer gets the section 178 licence; car insurance must include cable trip cover |
| Richmond upon Thames | Fees not published | Three year licence; no channel for a house that already has a dropped kerb |
The charger itself is extra in every case, and it has to be fitted by an electrician.
The grant for households that park on the street
OZEV's on-street parking grant covers three quarters of the price of a chargepoint socket and its installation, to a maximum of £500, for owners and renters with no private off-street parking. It needs the highway authority's consent for a permanent channel and closes on 31 March 2027. The grant page talks about the socket, and it is not clear that it pays for the channel; ask the council and the installer how the two costs are split before applying. More on eligibility is in our grant guide.
Take-up has been small. Government statistics to 1 July 2026 record 59 sockets funded through this grant since it opened in March 2024.
The rules from 21 October 2026, in brief
- One outlet per house or block of flats under the new rights, no higher than 1.6 metres.
- Not in a conservation area, and not within the curtilage of a listed building or on a scheduled monument.
- On a wall that adjoins the highway, the outlet can stick out no more than 0.2 metres and must leave at least 1.5 metres of footway.
- Whenever a footway lies between the charger and the car, the cable must cross it through an authorised cross pavement solution.
The order covers England only. Work allowed under the old wording can still go ahead until 20 October 2027.
The catch with a channel
The channel gives you no claim on the space outside your house. Cambridgeshire's licence says it "does not give the Licensee the right to reserved parking on the public highway", and Richmond and the DfT say the same. If a neighbour's car is in front of your channel when you get home, you cannot charge that night. On a street where parking is tight, that is the question to settle before paying anything.
Neighbours can also rule each other out. OZEV's installation specification asks for electrical equipment of different systems to be at least 2.5 metres apart, which can stop two adjoining houses both having a channel.
If no channel is possible
Ask the council for a chargepoint in your street. The On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme closed to new applications in March 2024. Its successor, the Local EV Infrastructure fund, pays county and unitary councils in England to plan and install chargers for residents without off-street parking. There is no national form to request one, so the route is your council's transport or highways team.
Charge at work. Employers can still claim the Workplace Charging Scheme until March 2027. Our workplace charging page lists installers who fit them.
Look at Scotland's pilot. Transport Scotland has funded cross pavement grants of up to £3,500 per household in East Lothian, Renfrewshire and Perth and Kinross, delivered by the Energy Saving Trust.
Wales has its own planning rules and is not covered by the English order.
Before getting a charger quoted, phone the council and ask three things: does it run a cross pavement scheme on your street, who installs the channel, and what licence and insurance it asks for. The answers decide whether a charger quote is worth having.
When the council says yes, installers who fit home chargers can quote the charger and the wiring to the front wall. On the quote form, choose "On the street only" under where you park, so installers know a channel is involved.