Your neighbour pays 5p per kWh. You pay 74p. The only difference? Because you dont 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 allow cross-pavement charging?
Over 80% of English councils have received government funding for cross-pavement EV charging — but 21 councils refused the money, and policies vary enormously. Enter your postcode to check yours.
How this works. Built from the official DfT EV Pavement Channels Grant table (GOV.UK, April 2026) covering all English local authorities, The Fast Charge FOI (Dec 2025), council cabinet minutes and published reports. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have separate devolved transport powers — results for those areas reflect available data only. Even where gullies are permitted, each installation needs a street works licence and a parking space outside your property. Policies change fast — tell us if something’s out of date.
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, and tell our members first when their area opens up. 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.
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.