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Cross-pavement charging can help a household charge an electric vehicle from home when it has no driveway. Part 9 Class F provides planning permission for a qualifying pavement-embedded cable channel, subject to highway authority involvement, heritage exclusions and removal conditions.
The right is introduced by article 7 of SI 2026/1056. It covers the installation, alteration or replacement of the channel. It does not itself authorise the electrical charger, give a householder permission to excavate the highway or reserve a parking space outside a property.
Read this guide alongside Part 2 Class D for wall-mounted charging outlets and Part 2 Class E for charging upstands. Those rights are also amended from 21st October 2026. The channel and the charger need to satisfy their respective requirements.
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What does cross-pavement charging mean?
The legislation defines the relevant “cross-pavement solution” as a pavement-embedded cable channel allowing an electric vehicle charging cable to cross a footway safely from domestic premises to a parked vehicle. It is the channel set into the pavement that Class F addresses.
A loose cable laid across the pavement is not that channel. Neither is a surface cable cover simply placed over a cable. Choosing a product marketed for EV charging does not, by itself, establish compliance with the statutory definition or highway authority requirements.
The domestic starting point matters. Class F is not a general planning permission for commercial charging infrastructure or for every trench carrying electricity. Check what the installation serves and whether the proposed works fall within the actual description of development.
Who can install the channel?
Class F permits development “by, on behalf of, or with the authorisation of, a highway authority”. A householder or installer cannot rely on the right merely because the channel would connect a domestic charger to a car.
Contact the highway authority responsible for the particular road before arranging works. In a two-tier council area, this will normally be the county council for local roads, while the district or borough council usually handles the planning application. In unitary areas, the same council normally performs both functions, but they remain separate approvals.
Metropolitan boroughs and London boroughs also perform highway functions, with separate arrangements for some roads. Identify the authority for the actual road rather than assuming that the council handling household planning applications controls the pavement. Agreement from a planning officer does not itself provide highway authorisation.
The Government’s explanatory memorandum states: “Separate permissions are still required”. It identifies highway authority permission under section 178 of the Highways Act 1980 for laying a cable across the pavement. Planning permission under the GPDO does not replace that separate control.
Separate licences, permits and landowner consent
Class F provides a planning route, not a general licence to excavate a pavement. The highway authority must agree the installation arrangements. Who applies and who holds the resulting responsibilities will depend on the ownership model and installer.
A section 50 licence under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 is normally the route for installing apparatus where the person or organisation lacks the relevant statutory right and does not qualify for the permit route. It can cover installation, retention and subsequent works to the apparatus.
It would be wrong to say every resident must personally obtain a section 50 licence. Council-led works may proceed under the authority’s arrangements. The Department for Transport’s section 50 guidance, updated on 19th March 2026, also distinguishes eligible EV chargepoint operators with the appropriate Street Works Act code, whose works can use permits.
Before installation, confirm the applicable licence or permit, any section 178 consent, the approved installer and the written terms for use. Agree responsibility for maintenance, liability, access to other utilities, removal and pavement reinstatement. Highway authorisation for Class F does not remove these separate requirements.
Traffic regulation orders are not normally required simply to install a channel without a reserved bay. Temporary traffic arrangements during works, or a proposal to designate parking, may require an order. A channel does not reserve the adjoining parking space.
For an unadopted road, obtain the landowner’s agreement and establish the highway status and applicable controls. Landowner consent alone does not satisfy Class F’s express requirement for development by, on behalf of, or authorised by a highway authority. Do not assume that an unadopted road has no public highway rights.
Reading the older government guidance alongside Class F
The government’s cross-pavement charging guidance explains ownership models, permissions and ongoing responsibilities. Its planning section predates SI 2026/1056 and describes Class E as limited to lawful off-street parking areas.
From 21st October 2026, that planning passage must be read alongside new Part 9 Class F and the amended Part 2 Classes D and E. A qualifying scheme can then benefit from permitted development, subject to every relevant restriction and condition. The older guidance does not justify requiring a full planning application for every such installation after that date.
The separate highway and street-works requirements still need to be checked. Class F contains no power compelling a highway authority to approve a particular channel or offer a local scheme.
Where is cross-pavement charging excluded?
Class F does not permit a channel in any of these three locations:
- Within a site designated as a scheduled monument
- Within the curtilage of a listed building
- Within a conservation area
Check the position of the channel itself against the relevant boundaries. A modern or unlisted house can still stand in a conservation area. Equally, listed building curtilage is a legal question and should not be assumed to match an ownership boundary.
These are exclusions from this particular permitted development right. They should not be read as a statement that every proposal in such a location must fail. A proposal outside Class F needs its own assessment of planning permission and any separate heritage or highways consents.
Does Class F require prior approval?
Class F contains no prior approval application procedure, notification period or 56-day decision mechanism. Its planning permission depends on complying with the class and the wider GPDO. The highway authority’s authorisation remains a distinct requirement.
Do not import the new prior approval procedure for larger charging equipment housing under Part 2 Class E into this right. That procedure concerns different development. Likewise, an absence of a Class F prior approval requirement does not mean that no application or agreement is needed under highways legislation.
Check relevant Article 4 directions, planning conditions and the planning history before relying on permitted development. Where formal confirmation of the planning position is appropriate, a proposed development lawful development certificate is a separate option.
What happens when the channel is no longer needed?
Class F requires the development to be removed as soon as reasonably practicable when it is no longer needed as a cross-pavement solution. The pavement must also be reinstated to its condition before the development, as soon as reasonably practicable.
This is an ongoing condition, not simply an installation check. Before commissioning a channel, establish who will maintain it and who will arrange removal and reinstatement if it ceases to be needed. Keep the highway authority’s written authorisation and agreed details with the property records.
How does it relate to the charger?
A compliant channel does not make an otherwise non-compliant charger permitted development. Wall outlets and upstands have separate limits, including location, height and heritage restrictions. The amended Part 2 rights also require a charging cable to use an authorised cross-pavement solution where a footway lies between the outlet or upstand and the vehicle.
Assess the whole arrangement, including the charger’s position, the footway and the intended parking location. Cross-pavement charging does not create an exclusive right to park outside the home or override parking restrictions. Avoid committing to equipment before checking whether the arrangement is feasible with the highway authority.
Checks before arranging cross-pavement charging
- Confirm that the works will take place on or after 21st October 2026
- Check that the channel serves domestic premises and meets the statutory definition
- Establish whether the location falls within any of the three heritage exclusions
- Obtain the relevant highway authority’s authorisation and check separate permissions
- Assess the charger under its own planning route and agree installation, maintenance and reinstatement responsibilities
The transitional saving until 20th October 2027 in article 10 of SI 2026/1056 concerns specified previously permitted development under Part 2 Classes D and E. It does not bring Class F into force early or postpone its commencement.
Planning Geek is a planning consultancy. We can assess the planning route and coordinate with appropriate specialists, but highway engineering, electrical installation and legal advice require the relevant professionals. Ask for a planning fee proposal if you need help assessing a particular property.
Class F legislation from 21st October 2026
The wording below is inserted into Schedule 2, Part 9 of the English GPDO by article 7 of SI 2026/1056. Check the official Part 9 legislation for later amendments. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Class F statutory wording from 21st October 2026
Permitted development
F. The installation, alteration or replacement of a cross-pavement solution by, on behalf of, or with the authorisation of, a highway authority.
Development not permitted
F.1. Development is not permitted by Class F if the cross-pavement solution would—
(a) be within a site designated as a scheduled monument;
(b) be within the curtilage of a listed building; or
(c) be within a conservation area.
Conditions
F.2. Development is permitted by Class F subject to the conditions that when no longer needed as a cross-pavement solution—
(a) the development is removed as soon as reasonably practicable; and
(b) the pavement within which the cross-pavement solution was set is, as soon as reasonably practicable, reinstated to its condition before that development was carried out.
Interpretation of Class F
F.3. For the purposes of Class F—
“cross-pavement solution” means a pavement-embedded cable channel that allows a cable for the recharging of electric vehicles to safely cross a footway from a domestic premises to a parked vehicle;
“footway” has the meaning given by section 329(1) of the Highways Act 1980.
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Page Created: 1st October 2026