Electric vehicle charge points under Part 2 of the GPDO

Most electric vehicle charge points do not need planning permission, and the rights that allow them sit in Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015, the part dealing with minor operations. There is no prior approval step, no application and no fee. What there are, instead, are size and siting limits, an exclusion for listed buildings, and a condition requiring removal when the equipment is no longer needed.

For a landlord converting a house or fitting out parking for a block, the practical risks are three: a unit that faces a highway and sits too close to it, a listed building or its curtilage, and an article 4 direction that has quietly removed the right. Everything else is usually straightforward.

What the class permits on a wall or within curtilage

Part 2 separates wall-mounted outlets from freestanding upstands, and separates domestic settings from off-street parking areas serving other premises.

A wall-mounted outlet on a house, or on a building within its curtilage, is permitted subject to a size limit and a restriction on position relative to the highway. A freestanding upstand within the curtilage is permitted subject to a height limit and the same highway restriction, with one upstand per parking space.

For an off-street parking area used with other premises, the equivalent classes apply to the parking area itself rather than to a dwelling's curtilage, with their own height limit for upstands. The parking area has to be lawfully used for parking, which matters if the area was created without permission.

Size and height limits

Read the current class wording before you order equipment, because the dimensions have been revised more than once and manufacturers quote unit heights without the plinth. An upstand at 2.2 metres on a 150 millimetre concrete base is over the domestic limit.

The highway restriction catches more installations than the height limit. It is about facing onto and being within 2 metres of a highway, so a unit on a front boundary wall serving a hardstanding is the classic failure, while the same unit on the flank of the house usually passes.

Charge points on off street parking

Two questions decide this for a landlord. Is the parking area lawfully used for parking, and whose curtilage is it in.

For a single dwelling with a driveway, the domestic classes apply. For a converted house in multiple occupation, the position depends on the planning use of the property, and for a large house in multiple occupation in sui generis use the domestic classes may not apply at all. Check with the council rather than assuming, because the answer also affects other permitted development rights you may be relying on. Our note on curtilage and principal elevation in Class A cases covers the curtilage question that runs through all of this.

For a block of flats with a shared car park, the off-street parking classes are usually the right route, and the practical constraints become cable routing, trenching and whether the substation has capacity.

Listed buildings and article 2(3) land

The listed building exclusion is absolute for these classes: not on the building, and not within its curtilage. A charge point at a listed terraced house therefore needs planning permission, and fixing anything to the building needs listed building consent as well, which is a separate application with its own tests under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

In a conservation area the rights generally survive, subject to the same highway restriction, which is why so many conservation area installations end up on a side elevation or as an upstand set back from the frontage. Check for an article 4 direction as well, because a direction can remove permitted development rights for particular classes across a defined area, and several authorities have made directions covering householder alterations in historic streets.

Where the class does not apply, a full application is the route, supported by a short Planning Statement explaining the siting choice and the alternatives tested.

Non-domestic premises and the limits there

For commercial and mixed premises the classes work in the same way, with a higher upstand limit, but three other issues bite harder.

1. Grid capacity, which is a distribution network operator question rather than a planning one, and often the longest lead item
2. Any substation or switchgear enclosure, which is development in its own right and may need permission
3. Loss of parking spaces to equipment and bollards, which can engage a condition on an earlier permission that specified a number of spaces

That third point catches landlords with a permission that ties the site to a set number of spaces. Removing two bays for charging infrastructure may need a variation, however sensible the change is.

Removing equipment when no longer needed

The classes carry a condition that the equipment is removed as soon as reasonably practicable when it is no longer needed as a charging point, and the surface or land made good. It is rarely enforced, but it matters in two situations: when a property is sold and the buyer's solicitor asks whether the installation was lawful, and when a unit is abandoned in place while a site is redeveloped.

Keep a note of the installation date, the class relied on, the dimensions and photographs. Permitted development is a legal question rather than a council opinion, and the only formal way to confirm that works are lawful is a lawful development certificate, which a purchaser may ask for years later.

Where a full application is required

Assume an application where any of these apply:

• The building is listed, or the installation is within a listed building's curtilage
• The unit would face onto and sit within 2 metres of a highway
• An upstand exceeds the applicable height limit, including its base
• An article 4 direction has removed the right for the area
• The parking area is not lawfully used for parking
• A substation or enclosure is needed alongside the charge point

Building regulations run separately from all of this. Approved Document S sets requirements for charge point provision in new dwellings and in certain building work, so a conversion creating flats may have to provide charging infrastructure whether or not the landlord wants it. That is a building control matter, not a planning one, but it lands on the same project.

As an illustrative example, a three storey terraced house converted to flats, in a conservation area but not listed, with a rear yard reached from a service lane, can usually take a wall-mounted unit on the rear elevation under the class, because it does not face a highway within 2 metres. The same unit on the front elevation facing the pavement does not qualify, and the quickest answer is to move it rather than to apply.

Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports a conversion or a new access is likely to need, and check the prior approval mechanics for other classes in our note on how the prior approval procedure actually works, since Part 2 has no such step.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. A lawful development certificate is the only formal way to confirm that works are lawful. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.