Is Coventry about to allow cross-pavement EV charging?

Probably, but not yet. According to a summary published by the Coventry Society on 30 October 2026, Coventry City Council has drawn up a Cross-Pavement Gully Channel Installation Policy and put it to the Cabinet Member for City Services, with a decision date of 27 October. If it goes ahead, residents without off-street parking will be able to apply for a cable channel across the pavement outside their home, pay a licence fee of £72 a year, and, while grant funding lasts, have eligible installation costs covered up to £1,200 per channel. The society reports that the council is finishing preparations before launch, and there is no application page or start date yet. So Coventry's Hedgevolt page now shows Scheme planned, up from Under review.

One caveat first. The figures here come from the Coventry Society's write-up of the council report, not from the report itself, which we could not find on the council's committee website. Treat the fee and the grant cap as reported rather than confirmed until the council publishes its own page.

What Coventry has done so far

Coventry ran a trial of self-closing, lockable cable ducts on seven streets, with each user given a personal key. A council reply to a Freedom of Information request in December 2025 said the trial ran from November 2024 to November 2025 and that the council was writing a formal policy. Its electric vehicle charging page still describes the trial and says a policy would follow. The October report appears to be that policy.

The Coventry Society describes how it would work:

• The channel is fitted flush in the pavement by the council's own highways team. The standard product is the ACO EV Power Channel.
• E.ON, the council's energy partner under its On-Street to On-Charge programme, handles the work on your property, including the home charger and electrical checks.
• Nearly £193,000 of government funding, allocated through the West Midlands Combined Authority, pays for the cover of up to £1,200 per channel. Applicants pay anything above that, and the summary does not say what the full cost would be once the money runs out.

The conditions worth knowing about

The reported conditions are similar to other councils' schemes:

• The channel becomes council-owned, as part of the highway.
• Each application gets its own site check for utilities, drainage and access for people on foot.
• The clear pavement normally has to be at least 2 metres wide, and channels cannot cross tactile paving or pedestrian crossings.
• Approval does not reserve a parking space or give you any rights over the road, so normal parking rules still apply.
• The cable must come out of the channel as soon as charging finishes.

The £72 a year is reported to cover yearly highway inspections, administration, routine cleaning and minor repairs.

Get the order right

This is the part most worth getting right, because doing things in the wrong order can cost you the grant.

First, the council's permission for the channel. Since 21 October 2026, a new planning right in England (the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2026) means the channel itself does not need planning permission when the council authorises it, except in conservation areas, within the grounds of a listed building or at scheduled monuments. But as the RAC said when the change came in, you still need the council's authorisation. In Coventry that means applying under the new policy once it opens.

Check the charger's planning position separately. The new right covers the channel, not the charger on your wall. Coventry's page, written before the change, still says homes without off-street parking need planning permission for a home charger. Ask the council before you buy one.

Then the grant. The on-street chargepoint grant pays 75% of the cost of a home chargepoint, up to £500, if you park on the street and have the council's consent for a cross-pavement solution. It closes on 31 March 2027. Your installer claims it for you and will want the council's permission as evidence.

Install last. Do not fit the charger until the grant scheme has confirmed you are eligible, because chargers installed before that cannot be claimed for. In Coventry the channel would be fitted by the council's own team, so expect the council to set the timetable.

How Coventry compares

A reported £72 a year sits in the middle of the yearly fees we have checked. Suffolk charges £50 a year, as do Bradford from year two and Milton Keynes after three years; Richmond upon Thames £150 for three years, and Oxfordshire about £100 a year once the first two years are up. Coventry's up-to-£1,200 cover for installation would be among the more generous offers while the funding lasts: in Hartlepool, for example, a £500 grant goes towards a Kerbo Charge install and you pay the rest. Every council does this differently, which is why we built Hedgevolt: to turn 152 sets of rules into one plain answer per postcode.

What to do now

If you live in Coventry, park on the street and want to charge at home, you cannot apply yet. Keep an eye on the council's EV charging page, or sign up for Coventry updates on our Coventry page and we will email you when the council publishes its policy, fee and application link. If you have not bought a charger yet, wait.

Elsewhere, check what your council allows by entering your postcode at hedgevolt.co.uk. This post is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the Coventry details against the council's own documents once they are published.

Sources

• https://www.coventrysociety.org.uk/2026/10/30/crossing-the-pavement/
• https://www.coventry.gov.uk/roads-highways-pavements/electric-vehicle-charging/7
• https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/46368/foi766960641
• https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/1056/made
• https://www.find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/grants/electric-vehicle-chargepoint-grant-for-households-with-on-street-parking-1
• https://media.rac.co.uk/government-slashes-red-tape-on-ev-gullies-rac-reaction