Domestic EV charge points are permitted development in England — no planning permission is needed in most cases. Here’s what the rules allow and where they don’t apply.
The installation of an electric vehicle charging point (including upstand) on a dwellinghouse or within its curtilage is permitted development under Part 2, Class B of the GPDO 2015. The main restrictions are: the charger cannot be within 2 metres of a highway boundary; it cannot be on a wall or roof fronting a highway; it must not project more than 0.2m from a wall surface; and it must be removed when no longer needed. In conservation areas, additional restrictions apply to visibility from highways.
Part 2, Class B of the GPDO 2015 permits the installation of an EV charging upstand or wall-mounted charging unit on a dwellinghouse or within its curtilage. The right covers:
Most home chargers (7kW or 22kW units) are straightforward permitted development. This covers the standard home charge point types — tethered or untethered, smart chargers, and Zappi/Ohme/Pod Point style units.
| Condition | Detail |
|---|---|
| Highway distance (upstand) | A free-standing charging upstand must be at least 2 metres from any highway boundary |
| Highway-facing wall | A wall-mounted unit cannot be on a wall or roof that fronts a highway |
| Projection | A wall-mounted unit must not project more than 0.2 metres from the wall surface |
| Height | A free-standing upstand must not exceed 1.6 metres in height |
| Listed buildings | Does not apply to listed buildings |
| Removal | The unit must be removed when no longer needed and the wall/ground made good |
| Only one per parking space | A maximum of one charging upstand per parking space |
In conservation areas, EV chargers on walls or roofs are restricted if they face a highway — the same restriction as the general rule. In practice, a charger on the front of a house in a conservation area that faces the street will require planning permission. A charger in a rear courtyard or side wall not visible from the highway will generally be permitted development.
Listed buildings: Part 2, Class B does not apply to listed buildings. For a listed building, planning permission and potentially listed building consent are needed for an EV charger installation — depending on whether the works affect the fabric of the listed building (drilling into a listed wall, for example, may require listed building consent).
Part 2, Class B covers dwellinghouses (Class C3) and does not extend to the common areas of flatted developments. Individual flat owners cannot use Part 2, Class B to install a charger in the communal car park or on an external wall of the block.
However, Part 2, Class B does permit a charge point within the curtilage of a building containing one or more dwellings (which could include a block of flats), subject to the same conditions. The building owner (freeholder or management company) could potentially use this right. In practice, many communal charging installations in flat developments proceed via planning permission or through the Permitted Development rights under Class B of Part 2 as applied by the building owner.
The government’s Approved Document S (electric vehicle infrastructure) also imposes requirements on new residential developments to provide EV charging infrastructure — but this applies to new builds, not retrofits.
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