{"id":126821,"date":"2026-10-12T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=126821"},"modified":"2026-10-11T22:42:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T21:42:40","slug":"new-october-driveway-rule-under-andy-burnham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/new-october-driveway-rule-under-andy-burnham\/","title":{"rendered":"New October Driveway Rule Under Andy Burnham Comes With a Major Catch for Drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New electric vehicle charging rules taking effect in England this October could make cheaper home charging accessible to more households. But residents in conservation areas will face an additional hurdle that could delay their savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New October Rules Make Home EV Charging More Accessible<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The changes form part of a wider effort to reduce the cost of owning an electric vehicle (EV), particularly for drivers <\/a>without private parking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Express<\/a>, the government has introduced two measures affecting domestic EV charging this October. The first reduces VAT on domestic electricity from 5% to 0%, potentially saving EV owners with driveways up to \u00a340 annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second, scheduled for October 21<\/strong>, changes the planning requirements for installing cross-pavement charging systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These installations allow drivers to connect a charger at their property to a vehicle parked on the street, using a specially designed channel or gully that carries the cable safely across the pavement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previously, homeowners and renters generally needed conventional planning permission for such installations. The new rules remove that requirement in eligible locations, potentially shortening the approval process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The financial difference matters. While domestic electricity benefits from the reported 0% VAT rate, public EV charging remains subject to 20% VAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Electric
For households that regularly rely on public chargers, access to domestic electricity could reduce the cost of running an electric car.
\u00a9 Canva<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Conservation Areas Face a Different Set of Rules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not everyone will benefit from the simplified approval process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government has excluded properties in conservation areas, where residents must still obtain full planning permission before installing cross-pavement charging infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England has approximately 10,000 conservation areas<\/strong>, and the restriction could affect access to the new arrangements for some of the estimated 3.5 million people without driveways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Government spokesperson told The Times: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWe want to support households without off-street parking to access domestic electric vehicle charging, but it\u2019s vital that we continue to protect the special character of our conservation areas.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The spokesperson added: \u201cPeople in conservation areas without off-street parking can still apply for planning permission to install a cross-pavement solution. Local authorities also have powers to grant blanket permission for these installations in an entire area if they choose to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means the restriction does not amount to an outright ban on pavement charging installations. Instead, residents in protected neighborhoods face an additional approval requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local Councils Could Determine How Quickly Drivers Benefit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even outside conservation areas, removing traditional planning permission does not mean drivers can install charging cables without authorization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local highway authorities must still approve cross-pavement installations. Under the revised arrangements, approvals could take a couple of weeks rather than the several months associated with conventional planning procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the speed of implementation may differ between councils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Briggs, CEO of car discount company Motorfinity, warned that inconsistent local approval processes could undermine the benefits of the reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cScrapping planning red tape is an overdue win for fair access to EV charging, making it easier for those wanting to make the switch from petrol to EV. That said, the bottleneck hasn’t entirely vanished. The decision has shifted parking planning permission approval to local highway authorities, which could create a postcode lottery of enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drivers whose applications take longer may have to continue using public charging stations while awaiting approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The October 21 changes therefore remove one planning obstacle for eligible households, but local highway authority approval remains necessary, while residents in conservation areas must still secure planning permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New driveway and EV charging rules arriving this October could help drivers cut costs, but fresh restrictions mean millions of households may face additional hurdles before accessing cheaper home charging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126821"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126830,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126821\/revisions\/126830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}