No driveway? Check what your council allows.
Your neighbour pays 5p per kWh. You pay 74p. The only difference? Because you don’t have a drive.
If you park on the street, charging your EV at home should be simple: A cable, a channel in the pavement, done. Cheap overnight electricity, same as anyone with a drive. But whether you’re allowed to do it comes down to one thing you didn’t choose: which council you live under.
Some councils have made it easy. Some have banned it outright. Most haven’t decided. Check yours below.
Will your council let you charge across the pavement?
From 21 October 2026, cross-pavement charging channels no longer need planning permission in England. Your council still decides whether one goes in outside your home. Enter your full postcode to see where yours stands.
How this works. We look up your full postcode against ONS data to find your highway authority: the county council in two-tier areas, otherwise your unitary, metropolitan or London borough council. In Northern Ireland it’s the Department for Infrastructure. Each council’s position comes from the DfT pavement channels grant table (GOV.UK, 30 April 2026) and council sources, each dated.
Even where channels are permitted, each installation needs your highway authority’s consent and a parking space outside your home. Policies change fast, so tell us if something’s out of date. We keep the postcode you enter for up to 5 years to track demand over time, then shorten it to the first part plus one digit (e.g. SW11 1). We only ever share it in that grouped form. How we use it.
Why this is a postcode lottery
There’s no national rule. The government scrapped the need for planning permission, but every council still controls whether a cross-pavement channel can go in, and they’ve landed in wildly different places. One borough subsidises the whole installation. The one next door calls it a trip hazard and refuses. Same country, same technology, opposite answers.
The result: around 11 million UK households without off-street parking (roughly 40% of all homes) locked out of the cheapest way to charge.
What you can actually do about it
If your council allows it: you’re clear to look at a cross-pavement channel. Several approved installers operate across the UK, and some councils fully subsidise the installation cost. Where available, the checker links you to the right next step for your area.
If it’s blocked or undecided: you’re not stuck, and you’re not alone. We track every council’s position and push for the ones dragging their feet. Join the Club below and we’ll tell you the moment yours changes – plus where to charge cheapest in the meantime.
We’re keeping score so you don’t have to.
Council positions shift constantly. We track all of them, update this checker as they move. Free to join, and you’ll also get the cheapest public charging rates in the UK every month, so you’re never overpaying while you wait.
Shared path or new-build estate?
Council permission only covers council land: the public pavement. If your cable would cross a shared path, a private drive or land owned by a management company, you’ll also need written agreement from whoever owns it, and often your neighbours.
On new-build estates, the roads and pavements are sometimes not yet adopted by the council, so the council can’t give permission. Ask the developer or management company first.
Primetime EV has covered electric vehicles independently for 21 years. We don’t take money from charging networks to favour their rates which is exactly why this tracker tells you the truth, not a sales pitch.