Government has confirmed new EV charging permitted development rights for England, including a 45m³ cumulative limit for equipment housing in non-domestic off-street car parks and a new right for cross-pavement charging solutions.
The Department for Transport’s consultation response, published on 11th September 2026, commits to the reforms. The new rights are not yet in force. They still require legislation amending the GPDO and commencement of those provisions.
The distinction matters for householders as well as charging operators. Even after the new planning rights start, installing a charging channel in a public pavement will still require the relevant highway permissions and approvals.
EV charging equipment housing: 45m³ limit confirmed
The equipment-housing change concerns Class E of Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015.
This is the Class E dealing with electrical charging upstands and associated equipment. It is not the Class E for garden outbuildings, nor the commercial Use Class E.
The present right permits one unit of equipment housing at ground level within a non-domestic area lawfully used for off-street parking, subject to its limits and conditions. Its current volume limit is 29 cubic metres.
The consultation proposed allowing multiple units while retaining a cumulative 29m³ cap. Government has now decided to go further: it will allow multiple units and increase the combined maximum volume to 45m³.
That is a cumulative limit, not 45m³ for every cabinet or enclosure. The detailed statutory wording defining and applying the revised limit is still to come.
Our Class E charging upstands and equipment-housing guide explains the existing right. Its current-law provisions should not be read as already allowing the announced expansion.
Why ultra-rapid charging influenced the change
Modern charging hubs need more than the posts beside the parking bays. Higher-powered systems can require transformers, control equipment and battery systems in separate external enclosures.
The government response explains that the existing single-unit arrangement does not accommodate all of those needs. Requiring a separate planning application for the associated equipment can add time and cost even where the charging upstands themselves qualify as permitted development.
The 45m³ decision follows evidence submitted through the consultation about the scale of equipment needed for contemporary, higher-capacity and ultra-rapid charging installations. Government intends the housing to remain proportionate and ancillary to the charging infrastructure.
Which limits apply now, and what remains undecided?
Under the existing Class E equipment-housing provisions, the unit must not exceed 3 metres in height from the parking surface. It must not be within 5 metres of a highway or within 10 metres of the curtilage of a dwellinghouse or block of flats.
The current right also excludes equipment housing within a scheduled monument site or the curtilage of a listed building. Its removal and reinstatement conditions apply when the development is no longer needed for charging.
Those are existing-law controls, not a reconstruction of the future Order. The response confirms the change in the number of units and cumulative volume, but does not publish the final package of statutory limitations and conditions.
Government says the new or amended rights will include appropriate safeguards and, where appropriate, prior approval. It has not settled the complete prior-approval procedure or the precise matters it would cover in the response.
Suggestions such as relaxing the five-metre highway setback were raised by respondents. They should not be reported as agreed changes merely because they appear in the consultation summary.
What is cross-pavement EV charging?
A cross-pavement charging solution typically provides a channel or similar installation through the pavement for a cable running from a home to a vehicle parked at the kerb. The aim is to provide access to home charging without leaving a loose cable trailing across the footway.
Government has confirmed that it will introduce a new permitted development right for these installations and the associated domestic charge point. The response also commits to covering homes which immediately adjoin the highway, rather than assuming every property has a front garden.
The existing Class D right for wall-mounted chargers is tied to an area lawfully used for off-street parking. It should not be assumed to authorise the different arrangement of charging a car parked on the street across a public pavement.
The final cross-pavement right will need to be checked once the legislation is made, including its boundaries, the associated charger, any location exclusions and any prior-approval requirements.
Planning permission is not highway consent
Homeowners cannot treat this announcement as permission to cut a charging channel into the pavement.
Permitted development is a grant of planning permission subject to the applicable rules. It does not remove separate controls governing interference with the highway, street works, electrical safety or other legal rights.
The response confirms that relevant highway permissions and street-works approvals will remain necessary. Government expressly rejected removing the Section 50 licensing requirement where works on the public highway require it.
The relevant legislation includes Section 178 of the Highways Act 1980, concerning cables across a highway, and Section 50 of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, which provides for street-works licences.
The appropriate route depends on the installation and highway authority’s requirements. Our highways agreements and licences guide explains why a planning approval and a highway consent do different jobs.
The government response places particular emphasis on maintaining safe and accessible pavements. A simpler planning route will not make the practical questions about installation, maintenance, obstruction and safety disappear.
When will the new rights start?
The official consultation outcome page identifies autumn 2026 for laying the secondary legislation before Parliament, subject to parliamentary time and subsequent commencement.
That is an intended legislative timetable, not an operative date. Publishing a consultation response does not amend the GPDO.
The relevant statutory instrument must be made, and its commencement provisions must bring the new rights into force. Until then, applicants and charging operators must assess proposals against the current law.
All of these announced planning changes concern England. They should not be applied automatically to Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Planning Geek analysis: a useful reform, but not a permission to start work
The equipment-housing reform addresses a practical mismatch between a charging post and the plant needed to operate it. Allowing several enclosures within a combined limit should give operators more flexibility, provided the eventual installation meets all the new conditions.
The domestic reform tackles a different barrier: a home without off-street parking may need a planning route for both the charger and the channel to the kerb. Keeping that distinction clear avoids presenting the two reforms as one unrestricted right.
For a scheme being designed now, establish which parts qualify under existing permitted development rights, which need a planning application and which require separate highway or other permissions. Do not specify 45m³ equipment housing as currently permitted simply on the strength of this announcement.
We have retained the existing one-unit and 29m³ position in our current-law guidance. The statutory wording will need updating only once the relevant changes have been made and their commencement has been checked.
Read the government response
Changes to various permitted development rights for EV charging: government response, Department for Transport, September 2026, published on 11th September 2026.
The full 37-page response covers equipment housing at pages 9–13, cross-pavement solutions at pages 14–24, equality considerations at pages 25–35 and the legislative next steps at page 36. The autumn timetable is stated on the accompanying GOV.UK outcome page.
Report prepared: 12th September 2026
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