According to legislation.gov.uk, the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2026 was made on 25 September 2026, laid before Parliament on 30 September 2026, and comes into force on 21 October 2026. Signed by Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook, it widens permitted development rights for electric vehicle charging and related electricity equipment across England's planning regime. This is a technical planning change with practical weight. The Order moves beyond a narrow off-street parking model and gives households, block owners, highway authorities and electricity undertakers more room to install charging and supporting kit without a full planning application, while keeping checks around pavements, heritage areas and protected habitats.

One of the clearest shifts is for wall-mounted EV chargepoints. The revised Class D now covers an outlet within land lawfully used for off-street parking or within any other part of the curtilage of a dwellinghouse or block of flats. For residents, that creates more flexibility over where a charger can sit on a property. The right is not open-ended. An outlet cannot be installed more than 1.6 metres above ground level, and where the wider curtilage route is used it cannot deliver more than one outlet within the curtilage or be used in a conservation area. If the wall directly adjoins a highway, the charger must project no more than 0.2 metres and at least 1.5 metres of footway must remain between the charger and the carriageway. The rule is designed to support home charging without squeezing pedestrian space.

Class E, which covers an upstand with an electrical outlet mounted on it, has been widened in much the same way. It now applies not only in areas used for off-street parking, but also elsewhere within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse or block of flats. That matters on tighter plots and on streets where the best location for charging equipment is not right beside a private bay. The safety condition is blunt and useful. Where a footway sits between the chargepoint and the vehicle, the cable must cross by means of an authorised cross-pavement solution rather than being trailed loose across the pavement. In plain terms, the Government is backing a cleaner route into domestic charging, but only where the crossing point has been approved by the highway authority.

To make that workable, the Order inserts a new Class F in Part 9 of the GPDO. It allows a cross-pavement solution to be installed, altered or replaced by a highway authority, on its behalf, or with its authorisation. That gives councils a clearer legal route to support residents who cannot charge directly on a driveway but still need a safe connection to a vehicle parked at the kerb. The same paragraph also shows where ministers have drawn a line. This new permitted development right cannot be used in a conservation area, within a scheduled monument, or within the curtilage of a listed building. And if the solution is no longer needed, it must be removed and the pavement reinstated as soon as reasonably practicable. For streetscape management, that is a sensible test: support access, then restore the surface when the equipment has reached the end of its use.

The Order also makes more space for the less visible kit that keeps charging networks running. Under the amended Class E, additional equipment housing can be installed in non-domestic areas so long as the cumulative volume does not exceed 45 cubic metres. Once that total would go beyond 29 cubic metres on article 2(3) land, the developer must seek prior approval from the local planning authority on siting and appearance before work starts. There are firmer environmental limits once larger volumes are involved. The wider Class E right does not apply where cumulative equipment housing would exceed 29 cubic metres on a site of special scientific interest, a European site or land used for the display of an advertisement. Part 15 is also widened so electricity undertakers can install substations up to 45 cubic metres. But chambers for housing apparatus that exceed 29 cubic metres face extra checks where any part would be above three metres high, within five metres of a dwellinghouse, on a site of special scientific interest or on a European site, and proposals on article 2(3) land can trigger prior approval on siting and appearance.

Local authorities still keep a meaningful role. Where prior approval is triggered, the developer must submit a written description, a plan and contact details, and the authority can refuse if the proposal breaches the class rules or if too little information has been provided. The authority must also publicise the proposal for at least 21 days either by site notice or by notifying adjoining owners or occupiers, take representations into account and decide within 56 days. The Order also updates the legal plumbing around the planning system. It adds a definition of 'European site' from the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, updates the GPDO's reference to the National Planning Policy Framework from December 2024 to August 2026, and replaces references to the Health and Safety Executive with the Building Safety Regulator in Part 20. According to the explanatory note published with the instrument, no full impact assessment has been produced because no significant effect on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.

There are a couple of wider housekeeping changes in the same instrument. The temporary permitted development right for school buildings where a school has a RAAC-affected building is extended from 24 October 2026 to 24 October 2028. And where a scheme was permitted under the old EV charging rules but will no longer be permitted after the amendment takes effect, developers have until the end of 20 October 2027 to carry it out. For the clean transport shift, the main message is straightforward. From 21 October 2026, England's planning rules will do more to fit charging infrastructure into ordinary homes, pavements and local power networks, while still protecting conservation areas, listed settings and sensitive habitats. The next test will be delivery on the ground: clear highway authority processes, consistent local decisions and street designs that make home charging safer for walkers as well as drivers.