The EV Charger “Driveway Rule Change”: What Actually Changed
Planning permission for pavement charging gullies is being scrapped — but your council’s licence still decides, only 7 schemes are live, and the space outside your house still isn’t yours. The honest version.
The short answer
The rule change is real, useful — and narrower than the headlines. In April 2026 the government announced it will legislate this summer to give cross-pavement charging gullies permitted development rights: no more planning permission for the channel that carries your charging cable through the pavement. What remains: your council’s highways licence — the gully sits in public pavement, so the council still assesses your street and says yes or no. Quicker and cheaper, not permission-free.
The state of play: 7 councils fully live, 21 trialling, 42% planning to offer it by end-2026 — a genuine postcode lottery for now. The money: gully costs run free (subsidised councils) to £1,500+, the £500 chargepoint grant (raised from £350 in April) covers owners and renters installing alongside a permanent gully, and the prize is the point: ~8p home charging versus 54p kerbside — £1,000+ a year for a typical driver. The process, the four gully brands, and the catch nobody mentions (the space outside your house still isn’t yours), below.
What this guide covers
Roughly 2,400 searches a month ask some version of “what’s the EV charger driveway rule change?” — a genuine news query with genuinely muddled press coverage. Here’s the accurate version: what was announced, what it changes, what it doesn’t, and what a no-driveway household should actually do about it.
What actually changed — and the layer that didn’t
Planning permission: going. Council licence: staying.
On 21 April 2026, the government confirmed it will “legislate this summer to introduce permitted development rights” for cross-pavement charging solutions and their associated chargepoints. Translation: installing a cable gully will no longer need planning permission — removing the slow, costly application layer that made some councils’ processes take months and blocked access to grant funding. Here’s the nuance the headlines flatten: planning was only one of two approvals. A gully is cut into the public highway, so you also need a highways licence from your council (typically under Section 178 of the Highways Act) — and that layer remains, rightly: the council still checks your pavement’s width and construction, tree roots, and distance from street furniture before saying yes. The honest reading: the process gets faster, simpler and cheaper — it doesn’t become permission-free, and your council remains the gatekeeper. As of publication the legislation is due imminently; check the live position when you apply.
The 54p problem: why this unglamorous strip of plastic matters
The entire case is one price gap. Households with driveways charge overnight at 6.5–8p per kWh on tariffs like Intelligent Octopus Go; households without pay 54p average at kerbside chargers, 76p at rapids — seven to ten times more for identical electrons. Across a 10,000-mile year, that’s roughly £200 versus £1,500. And this isn’t a niche: around 44% of UK homes can’t do conventional home charging — the terraces, flats and on-street majority of urban Britain — meaning the people least likely to have driveways have been paying the most per mile. Cross-pavement charging is the first fix that closes the gap properly (a cable trailed over the pavement is a trip hazard most councils prohibit, and lamp-post charging at 30–40p only narrows it). That’s why government is legislating and councils are moving: the equity maths finally beat the inertia.
How a gully works — and the four approved brands
A gully is a narrow reinforced channel set flush into the pavement between your property and the kerb. To charge: press the cable into the channel — a self-closing lid seals over it like a zip, keeping the surface flat for pedestrians, prams and wheelchairs — plug car to wall charger, done in under a minute. Cable out when finished; channel sits closed. Four British-Standard-approved products dominate, and councils typically approve these by name: Kerbo Charge, Charge Gully, Gul-e and Pavecross. Installation is a half-day job by a street-works-accredited contractor. On the house end sits an ordinary wall-mounted 7kW charger — our 7kW guide covers that purchase, and the tariff-compatibility list decides which box unlocks the 7p nights that make the whole exercise pay.
Getting one: the five steps (and the postcode lottery)
1. Check your council. This decides everything today: only 7 councils are fully live, 21 are trialling, 28 more launch in 2026 — 42% intend to offer schemes by year-end. Search “[your council] cross-pavement charging“. 2. Apply for the licence through the council’s process — they assess the street (criteria below). 3. Accredited installation — half a day, council-approved product. 4. Wall charger install — this is where the £500 grant applies, claimed through your OZEV-approved installer, and it can’t be backdated: gully permission first, charger after. 5. Park adjacent, cable in, charge at 8p. If your council has nothing yet: register interest anyway — documented resident demand is precisely what’s converting “no plans” councils into 2026 launches, and several schemes began as responses to resident requests.
Costs and the £500 grant — the honest ledger
The gully: council-dependent, wildly. Subsidised schemes install free (Stoke-on-Trent covers 100% — a £1,200+ value — via LEVI funding; Reading gave 400 households free equipment); unsubsidised residents pay £500–£1,500 all-in including the licence fee, sometimes more — and some councils use the government’s £25m Pavement Channel Grant to waive the licence cost. The charger: the EV Chargepoint Grant for Households with On-Street Parking pays 75% up to £500 (raised from £350 on 1 April 2026; runs to 31 March 2027), for owners and renters — conditions: a permanent cross-pavement solution alongside (mats and cable covers excluded), no private off-street parking, council permission secured first. A £400-class charger can land near-free after it. Scotland: a separate, richer pilot — up to £3,500 per household in East Lothian, Renfrewshire and Perth & Kinross. The payback: even the worst case (£1,500–£2,000 unsubsidised, post-grant) repays inside ~18 months against kerbside rates; subsidised cases repay in months.
The honest catches
The space isn’t yours. The licence covers the pavement, not the road: the spot outside your house stays public, first-come-first-served, and no council will reserve it for you. On most residential streets this matters less than feared — cables reach 5–10m, and users report managing most nights — but on fiercely contested streets it’s real: budget emotionally for the neighbour’s Fiesta. Street criteria exclude some homes: hard footway only (no grass verges or unmade surfaces), clear of tree roots, typically 2.5m from electrical street furniture, adequate width. The licence has small print: maintenance responsibility, safe-use conditions, and reinstatement terms usually sit with you — read before signing. And the lottery is real for now: if your council is in the 58% without plans, the change that matters most is the one you trigger by registering interest. None of it dents the core maths — 8p charging transforms EV ownership — but this site’s job is the whole ledger.
Frequently asked questions
What is the driveway rule change?
Announced April 2026, legislating this summer: cross-pavement charging gullies get permitted development rights — no planning permission needed. The council highways licence remains, since the gully sits in public pavement. Faster and cheaper, not permission-free.
How does a gully work?
A flush channel in the pavement with a self-closing lid: cable pressed in while charging (under a minute), pulled out after, surface stays trip-free. Four approved brands — Kerbo Charge, Charge Gully, Gul-e, Pavecross — installed in half a day by accredited contractors.
How do I get one?
Check your council has a scheme (7 live, 21 trialling, 42% by end-2026), apply for the licence, accredited install, then the wall charger (claim the £500 grant — never before permission), park adjacent and charge at ~8p. No scheme? Register interest — demand drives rollouts.
What does it cost — and what’s the grant?
Gully: free (subsidised councils) to £1,500+ all-in. Charger: 75% up to £500 off (from April 2026, owners and renters, permanent solutions only, to March 2027). Scotland pilots up to £3,500/household. Worst-case payback vs kerbside rates: ~18 months.
Can I reserve the space outside my house?
No — the licence covers the pavement, never the road. The spot stays public parking. Most users manage most nights (cables reach 5–10m), but contested streets should weigh this honestly before spending.
Is it worth it vs public charging?
Overwhelmingly, for average-mileage drivers: ~£200/yr at home rates vs £1,500+ kerbside — a £1,300 gap that repays any setup fast. Lamp-post charging (30–40p) is the interim option where schemes are years away.
Real change, narrower than the headlines — council still decides
The bottom line: Planning permission for charging gullies is being scrapped (legislation due this summer); the council highways licence stays. Seven live schemes today, 42% of councils by year-end — check yours, register interest if they’re behind, secure permission before touching the charger, claim the £500, and know the space outside your house remains public. The prize justifies the paperwork: ~8p home charging versus 54p kerbside is £1,000+ a year, every year.
Get my free quotes →The verdict
The “driveway rule change” is that rare policy story where the boring accurate version is still good news: the state is removing its slowest layer of permission from a fix that works, councils are converting faster than cynics expected, and the equipment itself — a plastic channel with a zip lid — costs less than two months of the kerbside charging it replaces. The muddle is only in the telling: permitted development doesn’t dissolve the council’s role, and no gully ever will reserve you a parking space.
For the 44% of homes this serves, the sequence is short: council scheme, licence, gully, charger, grant, tariff — and suddenly the terrace charges like the detached house, at 7–8p a night. And if you’re upgrading the house end anyway, it’s worth pricing the fuller picture: a wall charger today, and the roof that could feed it — a couple of free, no-obligation quotes from MCS-certified installers covers both conversations at once.
Important
Going Solar UK is an introduction service, not an installer, legal adviser or grant administrator. This guide reflects announcements, grant terms and council schemes as of August 2026, with legislation due but not yet in force at publication: rules, grant rates, eligibility and council policies change and vary by area – always confirm the live position with your local authority and gov.uk before purchasing or applying. Figures are typical estimates, not guarantees.
We may receive a commission when we introduce you to an installer, at no cost to you. Any contract for work is directly between you and the installer.