Updated
Listed Building, Conservation Area Or Nowhere To Mount It
You want a charge point but the house is listed, the front is in a conservation area, or there is no wall to fix it to.
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What's happening?
Most home charge points in England need no planning application at all, because the General Permitted Development Order grants permitted development rights for them. Class D of Part 2 covers a wall-mounted outlet within an area lawfully used for off-street parking, provided the outlet and its casing do not exceed 0.2 cubic metres, and provided it is not within a site designated as a scheduled monument or within the curtilage of a listed building. Class E covers an upstand — a post — in the same off-street parking area, capped at 1.6 metres high measured from the parking surface when it is within the curtilage of a house or block of flats, and limited to one upstand per parking space. Both carry a condition people forget: when the charge point is no longer needed, it has to be removed and the wall or ground reinstated. The two situations that break permitted development are the listed building and the scheduled monument, and in a listed building's curtilage you are into listed building consent, not just planning.
What usually causes it?
- A listed building, where the curtilage exclusion removes permitted development for both wall units and posts
- A site designated as a scheduled monument, excluded in the same way
- No off-street parking area at all, since both classes only apply within one
- A parking space with no adjacent wall, so an upstand is the only option and its height is capped
- A large or enclosure-mounted unit whose casing takes it over the 0.2 cubic metre limit for Class D
- Wanting more than one upstand serving a single parking space
Is it dangerous?
There is no safety issue in this one — it is a consent issue. The risk is money and time: fitting to a listed building without consent is an offence, and unauthorised work to a listed building can be enforced against long after it is done. Conservation areas are gentler for charge points than they are for solar, because the class conditions do not single them out, but a local Article 4 direction can withdraw permitted development rights in a specific area, so it is worth checking.
Can I fix it myself?
Check three things yourself. Whether the building is listed, using the National Heritage List for England or your council's map. Whether the council has made an Article 4 direction covering your street. And whether the parking area is lawfully used for parking, since the permitted development classes both depend on that. The Planning Portal's pages set the rules out in plain terms, and your council's planning team will answer a listed-building question by email.
When should you call an EV charger installer?
Bring the installer in early where the building is listed, because the position that satisfies the conservation officer — a discreet unit at the side, a post set away from the elevation, a cable run inside rather than across a facade — is a design decision that affects the electrical route. For an ordinary house within permitted development, no planning step is needed and the installer can simply proceed.
What will the EV charger installer actually do?
- Confirm the parking area, mounting position and unit size sit within the permitted development classes
- Propose a position and cable route acceptable for a listed building or a designated site
- Choose a compact unit or a low upstand where the size and height limits are tight
- Install and certify the work as notifiable electrical work under the Building Regulations
- Record the installation so the removal and reinstatement condition can be met years later
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