The on-street chargepoint grant: £500 for kerbside charging
If you park on the street and want to charge from your own home, the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant for Households with On-Street Parking pays 75% of the cost to buy and install a chargepoint, up to £500. It closes on 31 March 2027 at 11pm. The catch is the order of events: you need your council's consent for a cross-pavement solution before you can apply, and you cannot install anything until the grant scheme confirms you are eligible. Everything below comes from the government grant page, checked on 31 October 2026. It is a plain-English summary, not legal advice.
Who can get the grant?
According to the grant page, you need to:
- own or rent a home you live in, anywhere in the UK (the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are excluded)
- have adequate on-street parking, and no private, exclusive off-street parking such as a driveway, garage or residential car park
- have, or have ordered, an electric vehicle on the government's eligible list, as the registered keeper, through a lease, or as the main user of a company car
- install a permanent cross-pavement solution alongside the chargepoint
That last point rules out the cheap fixes. Cable covers and mats do not count, because the grant needs something permanent set into the pavement, such as a channel or gully.
If you rent, or live in a flat, you need permission from your landlord, freeholder or managing agent before you apply.
Who cannot get it?
The grant page lists several situations that rule you out:
- you have already installed the chargepoint (no backdating)
- you are moving house, or planning to
- you already have a chargepoint, or want to move one
- your home has already had a grant under the older schemes for renters and flat owners, or their predecessors
- the chargepoint is being installed because building regulations require it, for example in a new build
The grant also does not give you a parking space. You cannot reserve the bay outside your home, so there is no guarantee your car will be next to the channel.
Why does council consent come first?
This is where most applications will stall. The grant page says installing a cross-pavement solution needs your local highway authority's consent, that your application has to include evidence of that consent, and that you must not install anything on the public footway yourself.
So the grant only works where your council will authorise a channel. Councils differ a great deal. Some run a scheme you can apply to now, some are running trials on a few streets, and many have published nothing. You can see each council's position, its fees and its application link on our council list.
If your council has published nothing, that is not the same as a no. Ask it in writing what its process is, so there is a record and a date.
Do you need planning permission?
Since 21 October 2026, a new permitted development right in England covers cross-pavement solutions installed by, or with the authorisation of, a highway authority, so most do not need a planning application. It does not apply in a conservation area, within the curtilage of a listed building, or at a scheduled monument. The grant asks you to declare that you will get planning permission if you need it. Our post on planning permission for pavement cable channels covers the detail.
What does the grant pay, and what does it not?
The grant pays 75% of the cost to buy and install the chargepoint, capped at £500. On a chargepoint that costs £800 fitted, that is £500 off rather than £600, because the £500 cap applies.
The grant page talks about the cost of the chargepoint and its installation. It does not say the grant covers the cross-pavement channel itself, or the council's fees for authorising it. Plan on paying those separately. Council fees vary widely, from an application fee of under £100 to more than £1,000 once installation and annual licences are counted. Bradford, for example, charges a £95 assessment fee and from £999 plus VAT to install, while Manchester quotes £949 to £1,424.50 per household. Each council page lists what the council publishes, with its source.
You do not receive the money yourself. You must use an installer on the government's approved installer list, the chargepoint has to be a model on the eligible list, and once the work is done the installer claims the grant and takes it off your invoice.
What order should you do it in?
- Check your council's position and what it charges. If it has no scheme, ask it in writing.
- Get any permissions you need from a landlord, freeholder or managing agent.
- Get a quote from an approved installer. Many councils ask for installer details, so this and the next step often run together.
- Get the council's consent for the cross-pavement solution, and keep the evidence.
- Apply for the grant with your evidence, and wait for confirmation that you are eligible.
- Then install. Installing before confirmation loses you the grant.
- The installer claims the grant and deducts it from your bill.
Why does the deadline matter?
The grant closes on 31 March 2027 at 11pm, and funding is confirmed only until then. The government also says it may end or change the grant with four weeks' notice where possible. Council consent is the slow step: a scheme with an assessment, an inspection and an installation queue can take weeks or months. If you want the grant, start with the council now rather than in March.
Check what your council allows for free at hedgevolt.co.uk.