Electric vehicle charge points and the front garden

An EV charge point at home usually needs no planning permission. Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015 covers both a wall mounted unit and a free standing upstand within the curtilage of a house, subject to size and siting limits. The problems start at the boundary. Getting electricity from a house to a car parked on the street is a highways question rather than a planning one, and that is where most front garden installations run into trouble.

Part 2 has been amended more than once as charging technology has moved, so read the current consolidated text of the Order before relying on any single figure quoted online.

What the charging classes permit

Two classes matter for a house. One covers an electrical outlet mounted on a wall of the dwellinghouse, or on a building within its curtilage such as a garage. The other covers an upstand, meaning a free standing charging post within the curtilage.

Both are subject to a condition that the equipment is removed as soon as reasonably practicable when it is no longer needed for charging vehicles. That condition survives the installation, so a redundant unit left on a wall after the charging equipment has been taken out of service is not covered by the right.

Neither class applies where the building is within the curtilage of a listed building, or where the site is a scheduled monument. The listed building point catches a lot of people, because it extends to a garage or outbuilding in the grounds as well as to the listed house itself.

Wall mounted units and the size limit

The wall mounted class carries a volume limit for equipment on a wall that fronts a highway. A domestic wall box is a small appliance, so the limit is generous for a single charger and tight for a cabinet housing a battery, an isolator and a meter alongside it.

Measure the whole assembly rather than the charger alone. A unit on a bracket, with a cable holster and an enclosure around the isolator, adds up faster than the product brochure suggests.

Where the house has no wall facing the parking space, the practical answer is a post rather than an application. Where the wall faces the highway and the enclosure is large, moving it to a side or rear elevation and running the supply in conduit is usually cheaper than a householder application.

Free standing upstands in the curtilage

The upstand class has three limits worth memorising: a maximum height from ground level, a minimum distance from the highway, and one upstand per parking space.

The distance from the highway is the one that bites in a small front garden. On a terrace with a two metre deep forecourt, there may be no point in the curtilage that satisfies it, which means the post needs planning permission or the installation moves to the wall.

Height is rarely a problem for a domestic post. The one upstand per parking space limit matters where a household wants two chargers on one hardstanding, or where a driveway is shared.

Charging across a public footway

This is the real issue in terraced streets, and it is not a planning question. A cable trailed across a public footway is an obstruction of the highway, and the highway authority can require it to be removed regardless of how carefully it is covered.

Some authorities now operate cross pavement charging schemes, permitting a channel or gully set into the footway under a licence, with conditions about the product used, the reinstatement standard, insurance and future maintenance liability. Others do not, and instead point residents towards on street charging or a dropped kerb.

If you want to park on your own land instead, that is a separate consent. A vehicle crossover needs the highway authority's approval under section 184 of the Highways Act 1980, and forming an access onto a classified road also needs planning permission. Front garden hardstanding of more than five square metres has to use permeable surfacing, or direct run off to a permeable area within the garden, to stay within permitted development.

Ask the highway authority before you order anything. Their answer determines the whole design, and it varies between neighbouring councils.

Conservation areas and listed buildings

In a conservation area the charging classes still operate, but Article 4 directions are common on front elevations, and a direction that removes permitted development for alterations visible from the highway will catch a charger on a front wall. Check the council's register of directions for the address.

For a listed building, the permitted development classes do not apply within the curtilage, so you are looking at planning permission plus listed building consent for any works affecting the character of the building. The conversation is about where the equipment goes and how the cable is routed rather than whether charging is acceptable in principle.

Expect the council to want a short Heritage Statement identifying the significance of the building, the effect of the installation and the alternatives considered. The same reasoning applies to other externally visible equipment on historic buildings, and the approach is set out in our note on solar panels and listed buildings.

Fixing through historic fabric, running surface conduit across a principal elevation and siting a post in a designed forecourt are the three things that attract objection. A discreet position at the side, a cable run behind a downpipe and a dark finish on the unit resolve most of it.

Flats and communal parking

Communal car parks serving blocks of flats are not within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse, so the householder classes do not help. What applies depends on the land, the building and the ownership, and the starting point is the lease and the freeholder rather than the planning system.

Practically, a resident needs three things: the freeholder's consent to alter the common parts, an electrical supply with enough capacity, and, where the installation involves new structures, cabinets or trenching, a decision on whether planning permission is required. Management companies increasingly deal with this through a block wide scheme rather than resident by resident, which is usually the better route.

Where a scheme does need an application, the council will want a site plan showing the units and cable routes, details of any cabinet or substation, and a short Planning Statement dealing with appearance and parking layout.

The consents that sit alongside planning

Three things run in parallel with the planning position, and skipping them is the commonest mistake.

The electrical installation is notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations, and Approved Document S sets requirements for charge point provision in new and materially altered buildings. Use an installer registered under a competent person scheme, and keep the certificate.

The distribution network operator has to be notified, and on some supplies will need to approve the load before energisation. Older terraces with shared service heads are the usual constraint.

And where the works involve digging in or over the public highway, that needs the highway authority's permission under the street works regime, carried out by an approved contractor.

Where the installation falls within permitted development and you want certainty, apply for a Lawful Development Certificate under section 192 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. It is the only formal way to confirm that the works are lawful, and it takes the question off the table when the house is sold.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. If the installation needs a householder application, enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which supporting documents it is likely to need. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.